It is being built of white stone, one of the many
kinds found in this country. By the by, we omitted to state, in
describing the Capitol, that the balustrades of the staircases, and a
good deal of ornamental work about the building, are of marble, from a
quarry lately discovered in Tennessee, of a beautiful darkish lilac
ground, richly grained with a shade of its own colour; it is very
valuable, costing seven dollars per cubic foot.
From the President's house we went to the Observatory, which, though
unpretending in its external appearance, is said to be the finest in the
world next to the one at St. Petersburgh; so at least says the
Washington Guide Book, for I like to give our authority for what we
ourselves should not have supposed to be the case. Mr. Erskine
introduced himself, and then us, to Lieutenant Maury, who is at the
head of it, and is well known as a writer on meteorological subjects. He
is a most agreeable man, and we talked much about the comet, meteoric
stones, &c.; we asked him what he thought of Professor Silliman's notion
about the comet's tail being an electric phenomenon, but he seemed to
think little was known on the subject. He said this comet had never been
seen before, and might never return again, as its path seemed parabolic,
and not elliptical; but he said that what was peculiarly remarkable
about it was the extreme agitation observed in the tail, and even in the
nucleus, the motion appearing to be vibratory.
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