On Nov 21, 2012, at 1:56 AM, James Thompson wrote:

> But why would you start out with old stones?
Just to lighten this up a bit - I recently acquired a very interesting
"stone". It is inset into a wooden box with a lid, and has a 1" or so
hole drilled next to it (for tallow?). The base of the box is about 3"
tall. The shape of the stone is not rectangular but more or less an oval
shape. It is obviously old, but what drew me to it was the "1817" carved
into the top. The hinges, the amount of oil and swarf (great word), the
patina - everything points to that date being accurate. When I picked up
the box, it seemed awfully heavy. After checking it out, I lifted the
stone out of its recess, only to find that it really is a "stone". It is
half of a baseball shape and the recess fits it very tightly. So someone
found an appropriate rock, split it in half, flattened it, then built a
box for it.

By the way, it is pretty darn flat By the way, I use SStm

Ed Minch

------------------------------------------------------------------------