168. Many beautiful kinds of marble are obtained from the island of SICILY, particularly one called _Sicilian jasper_, which is red, with stripes like ribbons, white, red, and sometimes green. SWITZERLAND abounds in marbles; PORTUGAL, SWEDEN, and NORWAY afford few. In the RUSSIAN EMPIRE many have been noticed, particularly among the Uralian mountains. The late Empress Catharine caused an immense palace to be built for her favourite Orloff, which is entirely coated, both inside and outside, with marble. She built the church of Isaac with marbles of different kinds, on a vast space, near the statue of Peter the Great, in Petersburgh. We are at present very imperfectly acquainted with the marbles of ASIA. Dr. Shaw mentions a red marble obtained from Mount Sinai; and Mr. Morier, in his journey through Persia, speaks of a beautiful translucent kind which he calls _marble of Tabriz_, and the colours of which are light green, with veins sometimes of red, sometimes of blue. He says it is cut into large slabs, some of which he describes to have measured nine feet in length, and five feet in breadth.—No account has hitherto been published of the marbles of AFRICA.—In the United States of AMERICA many kinds of marble have been discovered, some of which have been wrought, and polished; but very imperfect descriptions have yet been given of them. 169. Few countries produce a greater variety of excellent marbles than the BRITISH ISLANDS. Although these marbles are seldom noticed much beyond the limits of the districts in which they occur, many of them are admirably adapted for ornamental purposes; particularly for slabs and chimney─pieces. It is much to be regretted that we should send to foreign countries for stones which, in many instances at least, could certainly be as well supplied from our own. The following is an enumeration of a few of the most important kinds. _ENGLISH MARBLES._—170. PETWORTH MARBLE, when cut into slabs, is equal, both in beauty and quality, to many of the marbles imported from the Continent. The Earl of Egremont has, at Petworth, several chimney─pieces formed of it. Much of this marble was used in the cathedral church of Canterbury. The pillars, monuments, vaults, pavement, and other parts of that venerable structure, have been formed of it. The archbishop’s chair is an entire piece of Petworth marble. This marble is found in greatest perfection upon an estate of the Earl of Egremont, at Kirdford. It lies at the distance of from ten to twenty feet under the surface of the ground, and in flakes or strata nine or ten inches in thickness. Petworth marble is also an excellent stone for walls; and, for paving, it cannot be excelled. When burned, it also constitutes a valuable manure, superior, as some farmers imagine, even to chalk.