QUARRY, a place under ground, out of which are got marble, free-stone, slate, lime stone, or other matters proper for buildings. Quarries of free stone are in many places opened, and the stone brought out in the following manner they first dig a hole in the manner of a well, twelve or fourteen feet in diameter, and the rubbish drawn out with a wind lass in large osier baskets, they heap up all around ; placing their wheel, which is to draw up their stones, upon it. As the hole advances, and their common ladder becomes too short, they apply a particular ladder for the purpose. When they have got through the earth, and are arrived at the first bank or stratum, they begin to apply their wheel and baskets to discharge the stones as fast as they dig through them.
In freeing the stone from the bed, they proceed thus : as common stones, at least the softer kinds, have two grains, a cleav ing grain, running parallel with the hori zon, and a breaking grain running perpen dicular thereto ; they observe by the grain where it will cleave, and there drive in a number of wedges, till they have cleft it from the rest of the rock. This done, they
proceed to break it; in order to which, ap plying the ruler to it, they strike a line, and by this cut a little channel with their stone-axe ; and in the channel, if the stone be three or four feet long, set five or six wedges, driving them in very carefully with gentle blows, and still keeping them equally forward. Having thus broken the stone in length, which they are able to do of any size within half an inch, they apply a square to the straight side, strike a line, and proceed to break it in breadth. This way of managing stone is found vastly preferable to that where they are broken at random : one load of the former being found to do the business of a load and a half of the latter. But it may be observed, that this cleaving grain being generally wanting in the harder kinds of stones, to break up these in the quarries, they have great heavy stone-axes, with which they work down a deep chan nel into the stone ; and into this channel, at the top lay two iron bars, between which they drive their iron wedges.