On the lower arcade are placed,
on the west side, the granitic series; on the east, the metamorphic; on
the north, calcareous rocks, chiefly from Ireland; on the south, the
marbles of England." The capitals and bases are to represent different
groups of plants and animals, illustrating the various geological
epochs, and the natural orders of existence. Thus, the column of
sienite from Charnwood Forest has a capital of the cocoa palm; the red
granite of Ross, in Mull, is crowned with a capital of lilies; the
beautiful marble of Marychurch has an exquisitely sculptured capital of
ferns;--and so through all the range of the arcades, new designs,
studied directly from Nature, and combining art with science, have been
executed by the workmen employed on the building.
To complete the beauty of the court, massive corbels have been thrown
out from the piers, upon which statues of the greatest and most famous
men in science are to be, or are already, placed. These shafts and
capitals and statues have been, in great part, the gift of individuals
interested in the progress and successful completion of such a
building.
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