171. PURBECK MARBLE is obtained from the island of Purbeck, in Dorsetshire. _It is of dark colour, and contains numerous small round shells_, which, when it is cut and polished, mark it with roundish variegations of brown, dark green, and grey. This marble was formerly more used than it is at present. Several of the small columns, and many of the monuments, in the churches of Dorsetshire, and the adjacent counties, are formed of it. But it is not so durable as many other kinds. Wherever it is long exposed to the weather, the surface cracks, splits off, and becomes defaced. 172. BABBICOMBE MARBLE is one of the most beautiful kinds that is found in any country. _It varies in colour, from light brown to deep red_; and large slabs of it have been obtained that are elegantly and diversely marked, some in streaks, others in spots, and others in different coloured shades. This kind is quarried at Babbicombe, in Torbay, Devonshire, and is extensively manufactured into chimney─pieces in the West of England. An attempt was lately made to introduce it in London; but, from its not being the production of a foreign country, this has failed of success. 173. DERBYSHIRE MARBLE.—There are, in Derbyshire, several kinds of marble, most of which contain an abundance of fossil shells, and other remains of marine animals. At Wetton, near Ashbourne, a beautiful kind is obtained, of greyish black colour, which contains a vast number of whitish and very minute shells. This has the name of _bird’s eye marble_. Near Monyash a beautiful variety is found, of a cheerful colour, inclining to brown red, and full of large marine figures in all directions; these, when the marble is cut, appear white, and afford a pleasing contrast. 174. KENDAL MARBLE.—Some varieties of black, grey, and brown marble, are wrought near Kendal, in Westmoreland. These somewhat resemble the Derbyshire marbles; and, like them, are manufactured into chimney─pieces, and ornamental slabs for houses. Several of the slabs are found to contain corallines, and the remains of other marine animals, which vary their appearance in a very pleasing manner. The MONA MARBLE is a species of serpentine intermixed with white limestone: it has been already described (132). _SCOTTISH MARBLES._—Scotland affords many valuable and beautiful varieties of marble. 175. TIRIE MARBLE.—Few of the British kinds of marble have been more admired than that obtained from Tirie, one of the Western Islands of Scotland. _It is of a reddish, sometimes a delicate rose─coloured tint, and sometimes white; and is always intermixed with other minerals which add to its beauty._ The most common of these is of black colour, and called hornblende; the others are pale green sahlite, blackish brown mica (123), and green chlorite. In some varieties the hornblende is more abundant than the marble.