122 iRambles witb mature Students 



Should any of my readers pay a visit to the Land's 

 End, they will be able to observe in the curious 

 columnar granite blocks on that coast the pieces 

 of felspar (of the variety called orthoclase), sometimes 

 as much as three inches in length, which give this 

 granite a very distinct character. 



It is quite worth while to know something of 

 the nature of the country in which we may happen 

 to live ; to learn, for instance, whether the soil is 

 gravel, chalk, clay, or sand. I am often surprised to 

 find young people unable to answer an elementary 

 question upon this point, because they have never 

 given any thought to the subject. 



In some places it is easy to see at a glance of 

 what the soil consists, every hedge-bank displaying 

 either clay, stones, or chalk, as the case may be. 

 Other places, especially on level ground, grass-fields, 

 and arable land, do not reveal much about the 

 nature of the subsoil. 



Railway cuttings, gravel pits, and excavations 

 are aids to a knowledge of the soil which lies 

 beneath the surface, and clay has an unpleasant 

 way of insisting upon making itself observed, in 

 the miry footpaths which make our walks so 

 tiring in the winter months. 



These remarks may set some students thinking 

 upon the simple problems of geology, to which I 

 hope to return in next month's ramble. 



WILD TEASEL (Dipsacus sylvestris) 



If my readers can find a specimen of wild teasel 

 growing in some hedge-bank they will, I think, be 

 interested to hear a little about its structure and 



