OOLITIC, OR JURASSIC LIMESTONES. 215 old St. Paul’s, ‘casing the outside, and adding a grand Corinthian portico to the west part, all of Portland stone.’ St. Paul’s Cathedral, and many of the churches in London erected in the reign of Queen Anne, were constructed of stone very superior to that now generally employed, as far as regards durability. The quarries from which this stone—used by Sir Christopher Wren—was obtained have long since been deserted; the only reason assigned being that the merchants find they cannot sell that stone on account of its being a little harder, and therefore more expensive to work. 1 Amongst the other public structures in London built of Portland stone, may be mentioned, the old Westminster and Blackfriars bridges, the Custom House, opened in 1817, Goldsmith’s Hall, the Reform Club, and the colossal statue, a copy of the Farnese Hercules sculptured by Mr. C. H. Smith, which stands in the hall of the Museum of Practical Geo logy, of which the original is in the Museum of Naples. Portland Oolite has been largely employed in the more prominent portions of some of the finest build ings in the City of Dublin ; amongst them are the columns and portico of the Bank of Ireland, formerly Parliament House, founded 1729, and com- 1 Mr. K. Hunt, Descriptive Guide Museum of Practical Geology, p. 30.
