STEATITE, Soapstone, Potstone.
nwah-ahi, . . . CHIN. I French chalk, . . ENG. Ilwah-shwui, . . „ Balpam, . . HIND.
Fig,ure stone, . liso.
Steatite is a silicate of magnesia, a soft mag nesian mineral, unctuous to the touch. It occurs in beds generally associated with talcose slate, common in Southern Asia,.of all sorts and colours. At Vellore, Kurnool, and Salem, and near Mysore there are very fine and beautifully white soap stones, and near Chittur there is a valuable description, procurable in large blocks, and suit able for many statuary and decorative purposes. There is a quarry of excellent potstone at the Nagery Hills. The stone is of fine. grain, easily worked with the chisel, and susceptible of a high polish ; when oiled, this stone resembles in a great degree black marble. It is abundant in the rocks of the Irawacli towards Khamti, and the white variety is used all over Burma for writing with on their black paper books. Like potstone and ser
pentine, which it nearly resembles in composition, it becomes considerably harder by exposure to the air. When first raised it may be easily turned with chisels ; the turned articles may be polished first with sand and water, and afterwards with tripoli and water, and, for the highest gloss, with rottenstoue and oil, woollen cloths being used in each case. When the steatite has become hard, the methods employed for alabaster may be resorted to. Steatite is used as the material for idols and other figures, which form the household gods of the Chinese. It is also mixed with black lead in the manufacture of crucibles. It forms a polishing material for serpentine, alabaster, and glass, and removes grease spots from cloth. See Soapstone.