BdMAItf IX. ANOMALOUS. 



and variety, but affords many important lessons 

 in geology), we shall translate the description of 

 Patrin ; who had not only inspected the richest 

 cabinets of Europe, but had resided for eight 

 years in Russia and Siberia, which afford some 

 of the most beautiful mineral substances. 

 Patrin's The most celebrated pudding-stone, and 



account. 



which on account of its beauty obtains a place 

 in all cabinets of mineralogy, is found in some 

 rivers of Scotland, in small rolled masses, which 

 are seldom more than five or six inches in diame- 

 ter. It is generally known by the name of the 

 pudding-stone, or pebble of England. 



" It is formed by an assemblage of small sili- 

 ceous stones, the interstices of which are filled 

 by gravel and very fine quartzy sand. The whole 

 is united by a siliceous gluten, of an opake white 

 colour, which is not easily perceptible without 

 the aid of a lens. 



" The pebbles which compose this beautiful 

 pudding-stone, are at most of the size of a wal- 

 nut, and oftener of that of a bean or an almond. 

 They are coloured with various tints, but with a 

 remarkable singularity ; for these colours are dis- 

 posed in concentric layers. It seems then that 

 these pebbles are little flints, which have been 

 formed such as they are, but in another matrix 



