722 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



seem strange that he did not abandon this opinion when he became 

 acquainted witli real granite mountains, but he supposed these to 

 have been formed underground. That the blocks are now seen " care- 

 lessly thrown about '' over the surface of the earth was, according to 

 his belief, caused by the action of water in freeing them from the sur- 

 rounding soil. Thus the cliffs — 



which had their origin in the ground could now project so high above the sur- 

 face because the waves of the sea had removed the surrounding soil and gravel. 



In his notes upon the neighborhood of Upsala, he adds: 



The second cause is the rain which yearly washes ofC the heights and fills 

 up the valleys, a process in itself rather unobstrusive and gradual, although ac- 

 complishing much in the course of ages. * * * 



Strange as Linne's opinion of the formation of granite may seem 

 to our minds, it is easily explained if the geological character of his 

 home surroundings is taken into consideration, together with the fact 

 that petrography as a science did not exist at that period. He says, 

 in the account of his journey in Westrogothia : 



Llthogeny is quite a simple matter, although somewhat obscure, owing to the 

 few researches that have been made in our times. * * * 



^ ^ * * * * * 



During his travels in Dalarne (1734) Linne had an opportunity 

 of observing the pre-Cambrian Dala sandstone, which he had so 

 carefully examined in the millstone quarries at Malung and on 

 which he had noticed peculiar sun cracks. The first block showing 

 such a design was observed in the aisle of the church at Elfdal, and 

 is described as — 



engraved reticulativi with several characters, but the writer has so completely 

 Ignored any sequence or continuity in the drawings that they seem just as 

 strange as the language and style. 



Another block was seen in the cemetery at Siirna : 



It was to be seen at once that the style of writing was the same as that in 

 the church at Elfdal, except that this one was so much more ornamental. 



Although Linne could not explain the origin of these drawings, he 

 insisted that there could be no question of a lusus naturce. Of special 

 interest are his remarks on the wave marks commonly found in this 

 sandstone. On August 1, while between Sarna and Lima, he says: 



Here the species of stone which we had formerly observed was found in 

 abundance, and consisted of a red, hard, firm sandstone; on one of its uni- 

 formly flat surfaces are seen longitudinal and parallel cavities which resemble 

 the marks produced by drawing one's fingers over hard snow ; but their origin, 

 taking into consideration all previously observed stones, could not be de- 

 termined. 



On the 4th, however, the true explanation was given : 



Everywhere in this neighborhood there was plenty of this red, " engraved " 

 sandstone, with apparent wave marks which were much clearer than on any 



