to adorn our Work, I &longs;hall omit them, and <lb/>
proceed to treat of the Method of Building as <lb/>
addre&longs;&longs;ing my&longs;elf to Artificers approv'd for <lb/>
Skill and Experience, with more Freedom <lb/>
than perhaps would be allow'd by tho&longs;e who <lb/>
are &longs;or more exact philo&longs;ophi&longs;ing. <emph type="italics"/>Cato<emph.end type="italics"/> advi&longs;es <lb/>
to dig the Stone in Summer, to let it lie in the <lb/>
open Air, and not to u&longs;e it under two Years: <lb/>
In Summer, to the Intent that it may grow <lb/>
accu&longs;tom'd by Degrees to Wind, Rain, and <lb/>
Fro&longs;t, and other Inclemencies of the Weather, <lb/>
which it had not felt before. </s> <s>For if Stone, <lb/>
immediately upon its being dug out of the <lb/>
Quarry, while it is full of its native Juice and <lb/>
Humidity, is expos'd to &longs;evere Winds and <lb/>
&longs;udden Fro&longs;ts, it will &longs;plit and break to Pieces. <lb/>
</s> <s>It &longs;hould be kept in the open Air, in order to <lb/>
prove the Goodne&longs;s of each particular Stone, <lb/>
and how well it is able to re&longs;i&longs;t the Accidents <lb/>
that injure it, making Experiment by this &longs;mall <lb/>
Trial, how long they are likely to hold again&longs;t <lb/>
the A&longs;&longs;aults of Time. </s> <s>They &longs;hould not be <lb/>
u&longs;ed under two Years, to the Intent that you <lb/>
may have Time to find out &longs;uch among them <lb/>
as are weak in their Nature, and likely to dam<lb/>
age the Work, and to &longs;eperate them from the <lb/>
good ones; for it is certain, in one and the <lb/>
&longs;ame Kind of Stones there is a Difference in <lb/>
Goodne&longs;s of any Sort of Stone, and its Fit<lb/>
ne&longs;s for this or that particular Situation, is be&longs;t <lb/>
learnt from U&longs;e and Experience; and you <lb/>
may much &longs;ooner come at their Values and <lb/>
Properties from old Buildings, than from the <lb/>
Writings and Precepts of Philo&longs;phers. </s> <s>How<lb/>
ever, to &longs;ay &longs;omething briefly of Stones in ge<lb/>
neral, we will beg Leave to offer the follow<lb/>
ing Ob&longs;ervations.</s>

 <s>ALL white Stone is &longs;ofter than red, the clear <lb/>
is more ea&longs;ily wrought than the Cloudy, and <lb/>
the more like Salt it looks, the harder it is to <lb/>
work. </s> <s>Stone that looks as if it were &longs;trew'd <lb/>
over with a bright &longs;hining Sand, is har&longs;h; if <lb/>
little Sparks, as it were, of Gold are intermix'd, <lb/>
it will be &longs;tubborn; if it has a Kind of little <lb/>
black Points in it, it will be hard to get out <lb/>
of the Quarry: That which is &longs;potted with <lb/>
angular Drops is &longs;tronger than that which has <lb/>
round ones, and the &longs;maller tho&longs;e Drops are, <lb/>
the harder it will be; and the finer and clearer <lb/>
the Colour is, the longer it will la&longs;t. </s> <s>The <lb/>
Stone that has fewe&longs;t Veins, will be mo&longs;t <lb/>
entire, and when the Veins come neare&longs;t in <lb/>
Colour to the adjoining Parts of the Stone, it <lb/>
will prove mo&longs;t equal throughout: The &longs;maller <lb/>
the Veins, the hand&longs;omer; the more winding <lb/>
they run, the more untoward; and the more <lb/>
knotty, the wor&longs;e, Of the&longs;e Veins that is <lb/>
mo&longs;t apt to &longs;plit which has in the Middle a <lb/>
reddi&longs;h Streak, or of the Colour of rotten <lb/>
Oker. </s> <s>Much of the &longs;ame Nature is that which <lb/>
is &longs;tain'd here and there with the Colour of <lb/>
faded Gra&longs;s, but the mo&longs;t difficult of all is <lb/>
&longs;uch as looks like a cloudy Piece of Ice. </s> <s>A <lb/>
Multitude of Veins &longs;hews the Stone to be de<lb/>
ceitful and apt to crack; and the &longs;traiter they <lb/>
are, the more un&longs;aithful. </s> <s>Upon breaking a <lb/>
Stone, the more fine and poli&longs;h'd the Frag<lb/>
ments appear, the clo&longs;er bodied it is; and that <lb/>
which when broken has its Out&longs;ide the lea&longs;t <lb/>
rugged, will be more manageable than tho&longs;e <lb/>
which are rough. </s> <s>Of the Rough ones, tho&longs;e <lb/>
which are white&longs;t will be wor&longs;t for working; <lb/>
whereas, on the Contrary, in brown Stones, <lb/>
tho&longs;e of the &longs;malle&longs;t and fine&longs;t Grain are lea&longs;t <lb/>
obedient to the Tool. </s> <s>All mean ordinary <lb/>
Stones are the Harder for being &longs;pungy, and <lb/>
that which being &longs;prinkled with Water is long<lb/>
e&longs;t in drying, is the mo&longs;t crude.</s>

 <s>ALL heavy Stones are more &longs;olid and ea&longs;ier <lb/>
to poli&longs;h than light ones, which upon rubbing <lb/>
is much more apt to come off in Flakes than <lb/>
&longs;uch as are heavy. </s> <s>That which upon being <lb/>
&longs;truck gives the be&longs;t Sound, is clo&longs;er made than <lb/>
that which &longs;ounds dull; and that which upon <lb/>
&longs;trong Friction &longs;mells of Sulphur, is &longs;tronger <lb/>
than that which yields no Smell at all. </s> <s>La&longs;t<lb/>
ly, that which makes the mo&longs;t Re&longs;i&longs;tance again&longs;t <lb/>
the Chizzel will be mo&longs;t firm and rigid again&longs;t <lb/>
the Violence of Storms. </s> <s>They &longs;ay, that tho&longs;e <lb/>
Stones which hold together in the large&longs;t Scant<lb/>
lings at the Mouth of the Quarry, are firme&longs;t <lb/>
again&longs;t the Weather. </s> <s>All Stone too is &longs;ofter <lb/>
when it is ju&longs;t dug up, than after it has been <lb/>
&longs;ome Time in the Air, and when it is wetted, <lb/>
or &longs;o&longs;tened with Water, is more yielding to the <lb/>
Tool than when it is dry. </s> <s>Al&longs;o &longs;uch Stones as <lb/>
are dug out of the moi&longs;te&longs;t Part of the Quarry, <lb/>
will be the clo&longs;e&longs;t when they come to be dry; <lb/>
and it is thought that Stones are ea&longs;ier wrought <lb/>
in a South-wind than in a North, and are more <lb/>
apt to &longs;plit in a North-wind than in a South. <lb/>
</s> <s>But if you have a Mind to make an Experi<lb/>
ment how your Stone will hold out again&longs;t <lb/>
Time, you may judge from hence: If a Piece <lb/>
of it, which you &longs;oak in Water, increa&longs;es much <lb/>
of its Weight, it will be apt to be rotted by <lb/>
Moi&longs;ture; and that which flies to Pieces in <lb/>
Fire, will bear neither Sun nor Heat. </s> <s>Neither <lb/>
do I think that we ought to omit here &longs;ome <lb/>
Things worthy Memorial, which the Ancients <lb/>
relate of &longs;ome Stones.</s>