Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/162

 154 GRANSON occupied the first rank among building stones. Its great strength to resist pressure is exhib- ited in the trial of the Aberdeen granite used in the construction of the piers in the vaults of the London custom house. A half-inch cube of the best stone required to crush it the pres- sure of 24,556 Ibs. It is easily split in large blocks by a very simple process. With a hand drill and hammer a workman bores a succes- sion of holes from 3 to 6 in. in depth, and 2 to 6 in. apart, along the line where he wishes to open the stone. The depth and number of the holes are proportioned to the size of the block. Into each of the round holes thus made he in- troduces two slips of iron called half-rounds, buckings, or feathers, being of wedge form, but round on one side, and running to a point. He then inserts a small steel wedge between the flat faces of the two half-rounds and gently tightens it with the hammer. This being done, he moves along the line tapping each wedge in order, and repeating the process till the strain causes a crack, which gradually opens, sepa- rating the block. Good granite of close grain and uniform texture should in this way make a clean separation, the crack going straight through twice or three times the depth of the holes. It may even be quarried out of the solid ledge in the same manner, provided there are natural seams; and where practicable the pro- cess is much to be preferred to blasting, which wastes the stone, breaking it into irregular frag- ments. But the latter is necessary in quarrying, to expose suitable faces for splitting, and to open seams. Blocks of great size may be ob- tained from good quarries, much larger indeed than there is any demand for. They are often split out from 40 to 80 ft. in length, and are afterward reduced to smaller sizes. They are sold in the rough blocks commonly by the ton of 14 cubic feet, or if dressed, by the superficial foot of hammered surface. In many parts of the country gneisses of great homogeneousness and with little evidence of stratification are quarried under the name of granite, for which they furnish an excellent substitute. Such is the case with some of the gneisses of the Lau- rentian in New York, and still more with the fine-grained gray gneisses of the Montalban series in New England and further southward in the Blue Ridge. The so-called granites of Hallowell and Augusta in Maine, and of Con- conl in New Hampshire, are examples of these granite-like gneisses. They are somewhat more U-M.I.T than the true granites, but are more easily wrought, and from their beauty of color ami t.-xture are greatly esteemed for architec- tural purposes. A very fine variety of so-called granite is largely quarried on the James river near Richmond. Virginia, but it is not certain whether it is a true granite or one of the gneisses above described. <;Uso. or Grandson, a town of Switzer- land, in the canton of Vaud, on the lake of ' Nrnt'rlmtel, near its S. W. extremity; pop. about 1,600. It is chiefly memorable for the GRANT victory achieved near it, March 3, 1476, by the Swiss over Charles the Bold of Burgundy. (See CHARLES THE BOLD.) GRANT, a word constantly used in deeds of conveyance, and which once had a specific meaning, that now is almost lost. By the rules of the early common law all estates of land of which actual delivery could be made, could be transferred only " by livery (delivery) of seisin (possession) ; " that is, by open and actual or symbolic (a key for a house, a sward for a field, &c.) transfer of possession from the one party to the other. But there were valuable interests which could not be transferred in this way, as rents, estates in expectancy, reversions and remainders, and generally all mere rights and all incorporeal hereditaments. These could be transferred only by deeds containing the proper words of transfer. Of these, one of the principal was concedo, translated by "grant;" and all things which could be transferred only in this way were said "to lie in grant," while all of the first named class of interests and es- tates were said " to lie in livery." With con- cedo (grant), do (give) was always used; and these two words, " give and grant," were said to be the appropriate and peculiar words of a grant. This distinction between livery and grant was once very important ; but it is now little more than a part of the obsolete learning of the law. In all deeds of land, or of any in- terest in land, corporeal or incorporeal, it is customary to say " give and grant." In several of the United States the peculiar meaning and force of the word may be regarded as abrogated by statute ; for all deeds of bargain and sale, of lease and release, and all conveyances of the freehold, are declared to be grants. The same broad construction is given to the word by the practice of conveyancers and of courts in other states, and it would probably be found to pre- vail generally for all practical purposes. GRANT, the name of 11 counties in the United States. I. A N. E. county of West Virginia, bordering N. W. on Maryland, crossed by the Alleghany mountains, and watered by the N. and S. branches of the Potomac ; area, 500 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 4,467, of whom 331 were col- ored. The soil of the valleys is fertile. Iron ore is found. The chief productions in 1870 were 31,631 bushels of wheat, 52,350 of Indian corn, 10,593 of oats, 67,587 Ibs. of butter, 20,- 689 of wool, and 4,787 tons of hay. There were 1,435 horses, 1,739 milch cows, 4,730 other cattle, 7,551 sheep, and 3,116 swine. Capital, Grant Court House. II. A N. central parish of Louisiana, bounded E. by Little river and S. W. by Red river ; area, about 500 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 4,517, of whom 2,414 were colored. It is well watered. The surface is level, and the soil productive. Pine timber abounds. The chief productions in 1870 were 58,786 bushels of Indian corn, 9,948 of sweet potatoes, 2,119 of peas and beans, and 4,377 bales of cotton. There were 651 horses, 1,097 milch cows, 1,771 other cattle, and 4,791