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ALABASTER , a name applied to two distinct See also:mineral sub-stances, the one a hydrous sulphate of See also:lime and the other a carbonate of lime. The former is the alabaster of the See also:present See also:day, the latter is generally the alabaster of the ancients. The two kinds are readily distinguished from each other by their relative hardness. The See also:modern alabaster is so soft as to be readily scratched even by the See also:finger-See also:nail (hardness =1.5 to 2), whilst the See also:- STONE
- STONE (0. Eng. shin; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Stein, Du. steen, Dan. and Swed. sten; the root is also seen in Gr. aria, pebble)
- STONE, CHARLES POMEROY (1824-1887)
- STONE, EDWARD JAMES (1831-1897)
- STONE, FRANK (1800-1859)
- STONE, GEORGE (1708—1764)
- STONE, LUCY [BLACKWELL] (1818-1893)
- STONE, MARCUS (184o— )
- STONE, NICHOLAS (1586-1647)
stone called alabaster by the ancients is too hard to be scratched in this way (hardness=3), though it yields readily to a See also:knife. Moreover, the See also:ancient alabaster, being a carbonate, effervesces on being touched with hydrochloric See also:acid, whereas the modern alabaster when so treated remains practically unaffected.
Ancient Alabaster.—This substance, the " alabaster " of scripture, is often termed See also:Oriental alabaster, since the See also:early examples came from the See also:East. The See also:Greek name hXaf3avrpirr7s is said to be derived from the See also:town of Alabastron, in See also:Egypt, where the stone was quarried, but the locality probably owed its name to the mineral; the origin of the mineral-name is obscure, and it has been suggested that it may have had an Arabic origin. The Oriental alabaster was highly esteemed for making small perfume-bottles or ointment vases called alabastra; and this has been conjectured to be a possible source of the name. Alabaster was also employed in Egypt for Canopic jars and various other sacred and sepulchral See also:objects. A splendid See also:sarcophagus, sculptured in a single See also:block of translucent Oriental alabaster from Alabastron, is in the See also:Soane Museum, See also:London. This was discovered by Giovanni See also:Belzoni, in 1817, in the See also:tomb of Seti I., near See also:Thebes, and was See also:purchased by See also:Sir See also:John Soane, having previously been offered to the See also:British Museum for £2000.
Oriental alabaster is either a stalagmitic See also:deposit, from the See also:floor and walls of See also:limestone-caverns, or a See also:kind of travertine, deposited from springs of calcareous See also:water. Its deposition in successive layers gives rise to the banded See also:appearance which the See also:marble often shows on See also:cross-See also:section, whence it is known as See also:onyx-marble or alabaster-onyx, or sometimes simply as onyx—a See also:term which should, however, be restricted to a siliceous mineral. The See also:Egyptian alabaster has been extensively worked near Suef and near See also:Assiut; there are many ancient quarries in the hills overlooking the See also:plain of Tell el Amarna. The Algerian onyx-marble has been largely quarried in the See also:province of See also:Oran. In See also:Mexico there are famous deposits of a delicate See also:green variety at La Pedrara, in the See also:district of Tecali, near See also:Puebla. Onyx-marble
occurs also in the district of Tehuacan and at several localities in See also:California, See also:Arizona, See also:Utah, See also:Colorado and See also:Virginia.
Modern Alabaster.—When the term " alabaster " is used without any qualification it invariably means, at the present day, a finely granular variety of See also:gypsum (q.v.). This mineral, or alabaster proper, occurs in See also:England in the See also:Keuper marls of the Midlands, especially at Chellaston in See also:Derbyshire, at Fauld in See also:Staffordshire and near See also:Newark in See also:Nottinghamshire. At all these localities it has been extensively worked. It is also found, though in subordinate quantity, at Watchet in See also:Somersetshire, near See also:Penarth in See also:Glamorganshire, and elsewhere. In See also:Cumberland and See also:Westmorland it occurs largely in the New Red rocks, but at a See also:lower See also:geological See also:horizon. The alabaster of See also:Nottingham-See also:shire and Derbyshire is found in thick nodular beds or " floors," in spheroidal masses known as " balls " or " See also:bowls," and in smaller lenticular masses termed " cakes." At Chellaston, where the alabaster is known as " See also:Patrick," it has been worked into ornaments under the name of " Derbyshire spar "—a term applied also to fluor-spar. The finer kinds of alabaster are largely employed as an ornamental stone, especially for ecclesiastical decoration, and for the walls of staircases and halls. Its softness enables it to be readily carved into elaborate forms,
but its solubility in water renders it inapplicable to outdoor See also:work. The purest alabaster is a See also:snow-See also:- WHITE
- WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
- WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
- WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
- WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
- WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
- WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
- WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
- WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
- WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
- WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
- WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
- WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)
white material of See also:fine See also:uniform See also:grain, but it is often associated with See also:oxide of See also:iron, which produces See also:- BROWN
- BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
- BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
- BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
- BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
- BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
- BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
- BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
- BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
- BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
- BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
- BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
- BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
- BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
- BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
- BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
- BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
- BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
- BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
- BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
- BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
- BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
- BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)
brown clouding and veining in the stone. The coarser varieties of alabaster are converted by calcination into See also:plaster of See also:Paris, whence they are sometimes known as " plaster stone."
On the See also:continent of See also:Europe the centre of the alabaster See also:trade is See also:Florence. The Tuscan alabaster occurs in nodular masses, embedded in limestone, interstratified with marls of See also:Miocene and See also:Pliocene See also:age. The mineral is largely worked, by means of underground galleries, in the district of See also:Volterra. Several varieties are recognized—veined, spotted, clouded, agatiform, &c. The finest kind, obtained principally from Castellina, is sent to Florence for figure-See also:sculpture, whilst the See also:common kinds are carved locally, at a very cheap See also:rate, into vases, See also:clock-cases and various ornamental objects, in which a large trade is carried on, especially in Florence, See also:Pisa and See also:Leghorn. In See also:- ORDER
- ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
- ORDER, HOLY
order to diminish the translucency of the alabaster and to produce an opacity suggestive of true marble, the statues are immersed in a See also:bath of water and gradually heated nearly to the boilingpoint—an operation requiring See also:great care, for if the temperature be not carefully regulated, the stone acquires a dead-white chalky appearance. The effect of See also:heating appears to be a partial dehydration of the gypsum. If properly treated, it very closely resembles true marble, and is known as marine di Castellina. It should be noted that sulphate of lime (gypsum) was used also by the ancients, and was employed, for instance, in See also:Assyrian sculpture, so that some of the ancient alabaster is identical with the modern stone.
Alabaster may be stained by digesting it, after being heated, in various pigmentary solutions; and in this way a See also:good See also:imitation of See also:coral has been produced (alabaster coral).
See M. See also:Carmichael, See also:Report on the Volterra Alabaster See also:Industry, See also:Foreign See also:- OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")
Office, See also:Miscellaneous See also:Series, No. 352 (London, 1895) ; A. T. See also:Metcalfe, " The Gypsum Deposits of Nottingham and Derbyshire," Transactions of the Federated Institution, vol. xii. (1896), p. 107; J. G. Goodchild, " The Natural See also:History of Gypsum,", Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, vol. x. (1888), p. 425; See also:George P. See also:Merrill, " The Onyx See also:Marbles," Report of the U. S. See also:National Museum for 1893, P. 539• (F. W.
End of Article: ALABASTER
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