Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 28.djvu/379

Rh whether any of the ornamental stones, such as jade, jasper, agate, or even the marbles, have the two desired qualities to such a degree.

As before stated, the deposit has been estimated at a million tons, but probably not more than a thousand tons would be suitable for the purposes of art, while for finer work only a small part of this would be available. One instance should be noted to show the high estimation in which this wood is held by foreigners. A Russian dealer recently paid five hundred dollars for a piece twenty-eight inches in diameter and thirty inches in length, to be cut into table-tops. A large lot was recently sent abroad for cutting, and we shall soon have a new decorative stone which will possess what very few now in use do—the proper hardness.

A piece of this material was selected by Mr. Joseph Pulitzer, to form the base for the beautiful silver center-piece, which is being made by Messrs Tiffany & C, to be given as a testimonial to the eminent sculptor, F. A. Bartholdi. This base is a low truncated pyramid, eleven inches square at the base, nine inches at the top, and seven and half inches high, and is made of a single section of a tree. It was chosen on account of its superior hardness and the warmth and pleasing combination of its colors. Besides, as the designer remarked, it is eminently fitting that the testimonial should rest "on a solid American base."

This is the largest piece of such hard material that has ever been cut into a definite shape in the United States.

One of the recent freaks of fashion has been the revival of the old Scotch jewelry. The leading objection to this is the stiffness of the designs. These have in many instances, however, been Americanized and improved upon; the tame, uninteresting bloodstones and agates giving place to our own richer and brighter stones and silicified woods.



OTHING like that which we now call Nonconformity can be traced in societies of simple types. Devoid of the knowledge and the mental tendencies which lead to criticism and scepticism, the savage passively accepts whatever his seniors assert. Custom in the form of established belief, as well as in the form of established usage, is sacred with him: dissent from it is unheard of. And throughout long early stages of social evolution there continues, among results of this trait, the adhesion to inherited religions. It is true that during these stages numerous cults co-exist side by side; but, products as these are of the prevailing ancestor-worship, the resulting polytheism does not show 