The soil has been already mentioned. They have scarce any clay; and, what they do meet with, has so little tenacity, that it is with difficulty they can form a very ordinary sort of bricks; which, as well as the water-jars they make of it, frequently fall to pieces of themselves. The potters clay, of which the holes of their pipes are made, is brought from _Damascus_ and _Sidon_. About six hours from _Aleppo_ is found a sort of fullers earth, called by the natives _bayloon_, which is often used in the bagnio instead of soap, and particularly by the women for cleansing their hair; for which purpose it is kept in balls, made up with rose-leaves, to give it an agreeable smell. I may add, that a good deal of it is ate by longing women, and such as have a depraved appetite from a chlorosis. For common buildings they make use of a white gritty stone, every where plenty about the town; and is very proper for the purpose, as it is easily cut, and grows hard afterwards. For the gateways, pillars, and pavements of their best buildings, they employ a yellow marble, which is capable of a tolerable polish, and is likewise the produce of this country. This is often intermixed with a red, white, and coarse black marble in their buildings, by way of ornament. None of the three last mentioned are found in the neighbourhood of _Aleppo_; being brought, the first from _Damascus_; the second, either from _Italy_, or extracted from old buildings, chiefly about _Antioch_; and the last, both from _Damascus_ and _Killis_. When they are in want of the red, they can dye the yellow marble of _Aleppo_, so as to have much the same appearance, by rubbing it over with oil, and then putting it into a moderately-hot oven for some hours. The slight partition-walls are built of a coarse sort of chalk, of which there is abundance to the northward of the city. Lime-stone is met with in plenty near the city, affording them good cement for their buildings; which they carry on with great ease and dexterity, and generally without any scaffolding. A few hours distance is found the gypsum in small quantities, of which their plaister of _Paris_ is made. This is chiefly used in cementing the earthen pipes employed in carrying water, and for a few other purposes about their best buildings.