Pt 4 
t 
p26 ; antiguitics za Scotland. i oeis a 3 
wher has, there,ever been found in Scotland. any ap- 
‘pearance of pumice stones, nor-large beds of athes 
dike these which.are,always found in the. neighbour- 
hood of volcanoes. . There is not (for the most part) 
‘eyem.any appearance of Sasaltes in, the »peighbour- 
hood of these fortified. hills; a cutee which» is 
mow thought to be invariably generated by voleanoes 
alone, although it does. not seem that the proofs, up- 
on which this opinion is.founded, are so conclusive as 
to leave,no.room,to, doubt of the fact. Unfortu- 
nately, too, for Scotland, the parallel fails in another 
respect ; for, instead of the extraordinary fertility of 
‘soil that for the most part is found near volcanoes, 
we here find that sterility, which is invariably pro- 
duced by the vitrescible iron ore, above alluded to, 
wherever it abounds. 
If this,account of the artificial curiosities Fouad 
in the Highlands: of Scotland, fhould afford you any 
entertainment, I may, perhaps, on some future oc- 
casion, make a few observations on the natural curi- 
osities of these unknown regions, which, are more 
numerous, and more generally interesting to philo- 
sophic inguirers than the former. I know no way 
in which a philosopher, who wants to view nature 
undisguised, and to trace her gradual progrefs for 
succefsive ages, could doit with half.so much satis- 
faction as in the Highlands of Scotland. Half a day’s 
ride there would do more to give such an inguirer a. 
proper idea of the changes produced on this globe, 
and the means by which they are effected, than twenty 
years study..in the closet could produce; as-any one 
whovthall attentively view these, after reading the 
writings of Buffon, will readily allow. 
To be continued. 
