In a message dated 07/17/2000 6:29:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<  If you stand a piece of this granite in water, then capillary
 action will take the water up the granite at least one foot, and possibly
 eighteen inches to two feet. >>

Tue 18/7/2000 12:04 AM MetHistory writes:

... sounds like a Sebastian Junger piece (The Perfect Stone?). I'm impressed
and humbled.  So David, I'm floored that granite will run water up a foot or
more - so what do I tell my 12 year old bill-collecting daughter, now that
she has "learned" that buildings use a granite base as a water table,
because
limestone would absorb water?

Sign me,   Fossil

Maybe you tell her that:

 ... I was exaggerating?
 ... it all depends on the colour of the granite?
 ... the difference between the granite and the limestone in that situation
is many more decades of service for the granite
 ... in Paris, they use limestone as the basecourse because it is more
durable (although the limestone is so hard that it might be more durable
than granite)

The trouble with generalisations is that there is always an exception.
The trouble with making any sort of statement is that somebody will
contradict you.
And some of us just can't keep our mouths shut!

david