104 Dr Christie on the Meteorology^ Geology^ S^c. 



which our imagination cannot embrace. But, it is quite evi- 

 dent, that the perishable granite of loose texture, which is so 

 very common, has alone been removed ; and this removal, by 

 depriving the more solid masses of its support, has caused many 

 of them to split, and be precipitated into the neighbouring 

 valleys. 



The distribution of the perishable granite is often very irre- 

 gular ; and, in this case, when removed, it must necessarily 

 leave the solid masses with which it was associated in the most 

 fantastic situations ; and thus we can imagine how many of those 

 appearances of confusion met with in the granite of India may 

 have been produced. We can sometimes perceive how the ori- 

 ginal laminae might be renewed, by filling up the void spaces 

 between the different masses, and thus connecting together what 

 were formerly distinct portions of the same lamina. 



In regard to the mineral composition of the granite, it may 

 be said (speaking very generally) to consist of felspar, quartz, 

 mica, and hornblende ; but it is very seldom that all these in- 

 gredients are found associated in one specimen. Sometimes one 

 ingredient, sometimes another, is wanting, which produces a 

 very great number of varieties. By far the most common is 

 that composed of quartz, felspar, and hornblende, — tlie Syenite 

 of Werner. The felspar is in some instances white^ in others 

 red. A great part of the Indian Peninsula, therefore, consists 

 of a rock precisely similar to that found in the famous quarries 

 in Egypt, and it has the same geognostical situation ; for we 

 are told by Daubuisson that the latter, like the Indian rock, is 

 associated with granite*. 



The ingredients vary very much in their proportions and co- 

 lour ; and thus produce varieties that occur within a short dis- 

 tance of each other, in the same lamina. One variety is some- 

 times found passing imperceptibly into another, penetrating it 

 in the form of a vein, or imbedded in the form of a nodule. 



A very interesting variety is found associated with the gra- 

 nite at Roan, iii the Darwar district -f*. It consists of a very 

 dark red felspar, with small disseminated crystals and minute 



• Trait6 de Geognosie, torn, ii.-p. 20. 



t I am indebted to Walter Elliot, Esq. for the specimens of this rock 

 which I possess. 



