152 GREAT STONES Chap. III. 



it is, that boulders which at some ancient 

 period have rolled down from a rocky moun- 

 tain or cliff on to a meadow at its base, are 

 always somewhat imbedded in the soil ; and, 

 when removed, leave an exact impression of 

 their lower surfaces in the underlying fine 

 mould. If, however, a boulder is of such 

 huge dimensions, that the earth beneath is 

 kept dry, such earth will not be inhabited 

 bv worms, and the boulder will not sink 

 into the ground. 



A lime-kiln formerly stood in a grass-field 

 near Leith Hill Place in Surrey, and was 

 pulled down 35 years before my visit ; 

 all the loose rubbish had been carted away, 

 excepting three large stones of quartzose 

 sandstone, which it was thought might here- 

 after be of some use. An old workman re- 

 membered that they had been left on a bare 

 surface of broken bricks and mortar, close to 

 the foundations of the kiln ; but the whole 

 surrounding surface is now covered with turf 

 and mould. The two largest of these stones 



justified, is of some little importance, as the so-called bench-stones, 

 which surveyors fix in the ground as a record of their levels, 

 may in time become false standards. My son Horace intends at 

 some future period to ascertain how far this has occurred. ^ 



