1824.] the Rocks of Mount Sorrel, %c. 7 



these differ greatly in aspect and composition. In some 

 instances they are scarcely discernible from the rock itself which 

 incloses them ; in others, they appear to consist chiefly of 

 steatite ; and in others, of a substance which occasionlly has 

 much resemblance to the inclosed masses just adverted to, and 

 which, in one instance at least, is not to be distinguished by 

 the eye from fine-grained basalt. 



The dykes of which the substance greatly resembles the rock 

 of Mount Sorrel, though in a somewhat disintegrated state, and 

 containing some reddish steatite, are situated not far from the 

 eastern extremity of the line of quarries at the back of the town : 

 they are two in number, both run E and W, have pretty determi- 

 nate walls, and are visible for about 12 feet ; that is, to the depth 

 at which the rock has been quarried where they occur. One 

 is about 20 inches wide at top, and after narrowing a little, 

 divides into two narrow branches ; the other is about two feet 

 wide, and underlies a little towards the north. 



The veins or dykes which consist primarily of steatite, traverse 

 a rock perfectly resembling the reddest variety of Mount Sorrel, 

 in Beaumont's quarry, which is situated on the edge of Buddon's 

 Wood, beside a road leading from Quornden to Rothley, and 

 about half a mile from the former place. Three veins are here 

 visible which are parallel, run nearly due E and W, and each 

 may be traced on an average about 30 feet, the walls being 

 mostly very determinate : the two southern veins are about four 

 feet apart, and the third is about 22 feet on the north of the 

 nearest to it : they vary from 18 inches to two feet in thickness. 

 The substance of the southernmost vein, which underlies a little 

 to the south, is a greenish steatite, which is translucent, 

 yields to the pressure of the nail, and incloses a few specks of 

 hornblende and talc. Externally it is, however, in a state of 

 disintegration probably from exposure, and readily crumbles 

 down into a greyish-white, and somewhat unctuous powder ; 

 and in places it is associated with a harder substance which is 

 granular, and which has the aspect of steatite of a mixed red 

 and green colour, and incloses quartz and hornblende. The 

 steatite of the middle and northernmost veins, which are nearly 

 or quite vertical, is not quite so soft ; it incloses specks of horn- 

 blende and chlorite, together with small masses composed of a 

 reddish substance resembling hornstone, or compact felspar, 

 associated with decomposing hornblende. It is observed by 

 Dr. Mac Culloch, in treating of some of the more compound 

 varieties of granite described by him, that it is doubtful whether 

 the apparent steatite of some varieties may not be decomposed 

 talc or chlorite, an observation that may, perhaps, have some 

 bearing on the steatite of these veins. 



On the face of the rock S of these veins, we observed a mass 

 of a bluish cast, about 20 feet wide, and 6 feet high, greatly re- 

 sembling the substance of the dykes, presently to be noticed, and 



