The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-24 00:00:00

South Australian—Clean sheep's is 7d to is 11d, scoured is
84 to 2s, handwashed is 8d to 2s, lambs' is 8d to 2s 2d.
skin is 4d to is sd, do. handwashed is to 4d, pieces is 44
to is 6d, grease 104 to is per lb. Numerous parcels of
!foreign have sold at from 3,;d to is per lb. Last week's
imports were 36 bales from Archangel, 229 from Mogadore,
31 from Hambro', 602 from the Mauritius, 819 from the
Cape, and 104 from Adelaide. By private contract very
little is doing.
The following are the current rates of English wool
Down teas, is '54 to Is 5d ; Down ewes, is 3d to is 44.
half-breShogs, is 44 to is 5d ; half-bred wethera, is 3d to
is 31d; Kent fleeee§, is 3:ld to Is 4d; Leicester do., 1.3 34
to is 44 ; flannel 'wool, lld to is 4d ; blanket wool, 9d to
is 2d : combing skins, lld to is 24 ; and old akin,"]. , 44
to la 6d per lb.

SEEDS.
Linseed—the imports of which continue goo-A
..--rnovell off slowly, ou former terms. In rape, very litt'Ae is doing.
Cakes, however, are in request, at full quotati one. Canary
is selling at high rates; but the demand for it is by no
means active. The few samples of closer seed in the
market are very dear to purchase. In other seeds only a
limited business is doing, on former terms.
Turnip,White,p er bush. 20s to 21e
5wede........ .. —s —s
Mustard, 8r0wn.... • . 168 224
White, new.... • • lOs 138
rares,Wlnter, new.. •• 5s Od 58 ii a
Canary, per quarter .. 70s 111031
)
Rye grass (new).• —•• 24s 28,
Clover,RedEng . (cwt.) --s _s
White •.••.. • • --a —s
Foreign Red.. • ... —s —s
White • ... —s —s
Trefoil, new.. •• . .. •• —5 ----,

iiCarra,,cay ..... 404 42s
; Coriander.....,,,• ••• 20 MB
; FP2mpseed, per quarter 488 52s
Linseed, Eng. Sowing • • 62s 643
t Crushing .. •• .• .. 528 60s
1 Baltic .. • • ...... 51s 603
Odessa .......... 59s 6.58/
Linseed Cake, pr. ton—
English .. ...101 5s 111 Os
Foreign, per ton 101 11110164
Rape Cakes, per ton 51 151 61 15s
Rapeseed, pr qr....." 86s sa

NATURAL MARBLE PAINT FOR
EXTERIORS.

Monsieur Claudot, architect, at Verdun, has recently
made a discovery which promises to prove of the greatest
lutility to architecture, despite all the nonsense Mr.
'Ruskin, Mr. Street, and the rest of the realists, may say
about the abominations of stucco, the hypocrisy and sham
of external facings, and which consists in the formation
of a coating of natural marble on surfaces of build.
ings. M. Claudot was led to his discovery by remark•
ing that up to the preseet time the powerful affinity
of hydrate of lime for carbonic acid has not been di-
rectly. turned to useful account ; nor, consequently, the
force of aggregation, which is the result of this chemical
combination. In common mortars this cohesive and
hardening force acts indirectly, because they contain but
a small quantity of hydrate, which is not enaployedin con-
ditions favourable for the development of the powers of
affinity. Hydrate of lime does not exist in a state of
nature, -Sl34i carbonic- acid, from always acting in
what may be termed an aggregating sense, some-
times produces a contrary effect. In fact, . when .
the carbonic acid is in excess, it dissolves the car-
bonates of lime, and forms calcareous, laminated, sac-
charoid, and concrete productions, such as the translucid
marbles of Faros, Carrara, and alabaster. After having
observed the great affinity of carbonate of lime for car-
bonic acid, when pure, and in large quantities, finely
divided, and remarked the effects of saturation, which
augments its density by 0'436, the inventor was in-
duced to believe that this powerful affinity might be
made of direct use in the production of mortar or facing.
In order that this affinity may act to the fullest extent
possible, not only must the hydrate of lime be perfectly
pure and free from the presence of foreign bodies, such
as sand, &c., but it must be employed in such a manner,
as that each molecule of hydrate may be exposed to the
action of the acid—that is to say, that actual contact
may take place ; and M. Claudot was thus naturally
led to the invention of a natural marble paint.
In taking the common calcareous stones from
the neighbourhood of Paris, which are composed
of 0.97 parts of lime, a marble paint was obtained
as pure as the marble of Carrara, and which acquired
considerable density. But limestones, not so rich in
lime, may be employed, and excellent coatings obtained.
The modus oporandi is as follows:—The lime is em-
ployed alone, ground very fine, and applied as a wash,
having the consistency of milk, by means of a brush.
When a compact and smooth coating has been obtained by
successive washes, it soon acquires, in the course of a
few days, a degree of hardness so as not to be removed by
the nail. Within two or three months, according to the
conditions of the atmosphere, the hardness of the coating
becomes equal to that of marble, and acquires the same
impermeability. That this hardness and impermea-
bility are the natural results of the saturation of the
lime by the carbonic acid absorbed from the at-
mosphere may be easily proved by secluding a por-
tion of hydrate of lime from the atmosphere, when
it will be found to remain permeable and soft., No
mortar composed of lime and sand pozzolana becomes
impermeable until years after its application,—not
even those which are termed hydraulic, which is
due to the presence of the sand, and by the little
freedom !afforded to the action of carbonic acid, of
which the volume, proportioned to the quantity of
hydrate employed, can only be 0.07, which is dis-
seminated by the sand. In the natural marble paint
the surface acquires the brilliancy and polish of
marble almost immediately, and the hardness of
marble, as before explained, in from two to three
months. The cost of material for a square yard of sur-
face is a halfpenny ; and a workman can easily lay on
and finish a square yard in an hour. The natural marble
paint may be applied to any holding surface, with which
It intimately unites, and, by means of colours, .may be
made to assume the appearance of any marble. From
its impermeability and resistance to frost it offers a
means of. preserving existing buildings ; arid, in
a sanitary point of view, for interiors, will prove of
the greatest utility, as it may be washed down like
Minton's tiles. We sincerely trust that some of our
architects will try their hands on this new preservative
and decorative material, which may be made to con-
duce so much to the comfort of our homes and the em-
bellishment of our cities. London houses faced with
marble, instead of wearing the air of dinginess now so
repulsive, will become, at all events—whatever their
design—cheerful and clean.—Building New..