Marble

(mar'bl.) [Fr. marbre, from obs. Gr. mairō, to gleam.] (Min.) Aname applied to the several varieties of carbonate of lime, which have more or le of a granular and crystalline texture, and capable of taking a polish. Saccharine or statuary M. is a white fine-grained rock, resembling loaf-sugar in color and texture,working freely in every direction, not liable to splinter, and taking a fine polish. The Pentelic and Parian were the white M. most valued by the ancients. The quarries of Currara, in Italy, almost supply the world withwhiteM. (mar'bl-hed,)a seaport and fishing township of Ma achusetts, E ex co., on a peninsula of same name, 18 m. N.E. of Boston. Its harbor is an excellent one, with two lighthouses at its entrance. Pop. 7,703. [s. 576]