Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 June 1889 — A PECULIAR STONE. [ARTICLE]

A PECULIAR STONE.

It Possesses the Flexibility of a Piece of India Rubber. The Washington Star gives an interesting account of a stone belonging to the chief clerk of the war department. It weighed about a pound and was thirteen Inches In length and two and oncihalf in width, and oue-eiglitk of an inch thick. On picking it up from liis desk, when his attention was called to it, a reporter noticed that it bent slightly at the ends, and had the feeling of an elastic substance, On removing the wiapper, however, it was seen to be a bard, conmact piece of sandstone of a light yellow color, with ends cut to points. The texture of the stone was fine, and presented no evidence of stratification, and was smooth over the entire surface. A knife blade made no impression on the particles. There win 40 doubt as to hi being a genuine stone, but it nevertheless possessed the flexibility of a piece of India rubber. When taken in the hand and shaken in the direction of its flat surface it would bend back and forth with a dull, muffled sound. The movement was more of a laxity in the adhesion, apparently, than an elasticity. When held horizontally by one end the other would drop and remain in that position. With the two ends supported on rests the free center could be pressed half an inch below tbe middle line. Witli one end held firmly on the desk the other could be bent upward over an inch. The movement was not confined to the one direction—in the plane of the flat surfaces—but the entire stone seemed to be constructed on tbe principle of a universal joint, with a movement perceptible in all directions under a pressure.