Neighloiirhood of the GlanVs Causeway^ &c. 381 



But it is not by exposing the errors of others that science, 

 and especially natural fmtory, is to be advanced ; nor is it 

 by puzzHng ourselves to find out in what manner, and by 

 what process, nature has exec uted her work ; let us rather 

 examine attentively what she has actually done; let us 

 quit disputing abcmt the whimsies of our own brains, and 

 siudy the code of facts. 



In our basaltic country these are curious, as well as abun- 

 dant; and it will be from such of these alone as have 

 escaped the attention of my predecessors, and from the 

 geological construction of the country, that the arguments 

 to be applied to the question of the igneous origin of basalt 

 will be drawn ; atid whatever may be their weight, at least 

 they will have the merit of novelty to recommend them, 

 I am. with great respect. 

 Your lordship's 

 Most obedient humble servant, 



Portrush. W. Richardson. 



P. S. When I found an opportunity for examining the 

 whvnn dykes to the northward of VVhiiehouse-poinl, I 

 omitted several under the demesne called Macedon, which 

 were much covered by sea-wrack ; here I knew the surfaces 

 of the dykes were decomposed, and their distinctive cha* 

 racters defaced. 



Between Macedon and Carrickfergus there are many, all 

 as usual differing from each other; some not so recti- 

 lineal in their course as those I have hitherto described ; iu 

 one or two the prismatic construclif)n wai? scarcely perceiva- 

 ble, while in the greater number the arrangement of these 

 prisms laid across the dyke was most distinct. 



In two contiguous dykes I observed, that the axes of 

 these prisms were not horizontal as usual, but in one greatly 

 elevated to the north, and in the other towards the south, 



Hutnan attention could not follow the variety which na- 

 ture has displayed in the tormalion of these dykes; there- 

 fore, not to fatigue the reader, I will describe but two 

 more particularly ; I select these, both on account of the 

 new circumstances attending them, and also because thev 

 are easy of access, being within a few yards of the great 

 road from fiell'ast to Carnckfergus. 



The first of these runs eastward along the strand, about 

 400 yards south of the gallery ; we approached it from the 

 north, and found it composed of louii; well-formed hori- 

 zontal prisms, lined on the north side by a sort of basaltic 

 wail about 18 inches thick: this a military gentleman of 



* ' our 



