It would be impossible, in an elementary work like the present, to describe, or even to enumerate, all the different kinds of marble which were known to the ancients, or are known to the moderns. But it is, perhaps, requisite that an account should be given of some of the most important of them. _GREEK MARBLES._—143. PENTELIC MARBLE _is of beautiful white colour, and nearly resembles the Parian marble_ (145) of the Italians; but it is in coarser granulations. Sometimes it is splintery. It was obtained from quarries on Mount Pentelicus, near Athens, and was generally preferred, by the Grecian artists, to Parian marble. The Pantheon was built entirely of Pentelic marble; and many of the Athenian statues, and works carried on near Athens during the administration of Pericles, were executed in it. Dr. Clarke, however, has observed that while the works wrought of Parian marble remain perfect to the present time, those of Pentelic marble have been decomposed by the atmosphere, and sometimes exhibit a surface as rude and earthy as common lime─stone. There are numerous examples of Pentelic marble in those works of Phidias which form the Elgin collection in the British Museum. 144. GREEK WHITE MARBLE.—_The Marmo Greco, of Italian artists, is of snow─white colour, in fine granulations_; and somewhat harder, and consequently capable of higher polish, than most other white marbles. It is found near the river Coralus, in Phrygia. _ITALIAN MARBLES._—145. PARIAN MARBLE _is of snow─white colour, inclining to yellowish white_. It is obtained from quarries in the island of Paros, is finely granular, and, when polished, has somewhat of a waxy appearance. Parian marble hardens by exposure to the air, and is one of the most permanent kinds that is known. Varro and Pliny each state that it was named _lychnites_, by the ancients, from a Greek word signifying a lamp, because it was generally hewn in quarries by the light of lamps. The finest Grecian sculpture that has been preserved to the present time is of Parian marble. The principal statues of it now extant are the Medicean Venus, the Diana Venatrix, and Venus leaving the Bath. It is also Parian marble on which the celebrated tables at Oxford are inscribed. 146. CARRARA MARBLE, the purest of all the kinds with which we are acquainted, is to this day obtained from quarries near the town of Carrara. _It is of brilliant white colour, has a granular texture; and, when broken, sparkles like sugar._ This marble, which is almost the only one in use by modern sculptors, was also quarried and wrought by the ancients. It is susceptible of a high polish, and is applicable to every species of sculpture, except when, as is too often the case, dark veins intrude, and spoil the beauty of the work. In the centre of the blocks a beautiful kind of rock crystals, called _Carrara diamonds_, are sometimes found.