Professor Henry, in an account of testing the marbles used in building
the Capitol at Washington, states that every flash of lightning
produces an appreciable amount of nitric acid, which, diffused in
rain-water, acts on the carbonate of lime; and from specimens subjected
to actual freezing, it was found that in ten thousand years one inch
would be worn from the blocks by the action of frost.
In 1839, a report of the examination of Sandstones, Limestones,
and Oolites of Britain was made to the Government, with a view to
the selection of the best material for building the new Houses
of Parliament. For this purpose, 103 quarries were described, 96
buildings in England referred to, many chemical analyses of the
stones were given, and a great number of experiments related,
showing, among other points, the cohesive power of each stone,
and the amount of disintegration apparent, when subjected to
Brard’s process. The magnesian limestone, or dolomite of Bolsover
Moor, was recommended, and finally adopted for the Houses; but
the selection does not appear to have been so successful as might
have been expected from the skill and labour of the investigation.
It may be interesting to add, that the publication of the above
Report (for which see _Year-Book of Facts_, 1840, pp. 78-80)
occasioned Mr. John Mallcott to remark in the _Times_ journal,
“that all stone made use of in the immediate neighbourhood of its
own quarries is more likely to endure that atmosphere than if it
be removed therefrom, though only thirty or forty miles:” and the
lapse of comparatively few years has proved the soundness of this
observation.[29]