The burning altered the character of the stone completely. It became quite brittle and on being covered with water it slacked, bubbled and fermented in the process and became powdered lime.

During this process it was capable of inflicting severe burning if it got on one's flesh. A macabre note in this connection is the fact that executed persons are buried in quicklime, as this lime is called after first being slaked. On another note it was used in its hot state as an agricultural disinfectant in my childhood.

Christy Fox (SHS, 1974)