80 THE CHEMISTEY OF CREATION. 



which antiquaries take pleasure in considering to 

 be the work of Druid hands, have been chiselled 

 by these decomposing powers alone. Sir H. de 

 la Beche mentions a singular specimen of such 

 natural sculpture, as occurring at a point on 

 the Isle of St. Mary, Scilly Islands, called the 

 "Kettle and Pans." This curiosity consists of 

 several basins, apparently hewn out of the rock, 

 some of which are eighteen feet in circumference, 

 and six in depth. It is believed they are 

 entirely attributable to the operation of the causes 

 in question. 



It is a singular fact that we are indebted 

 for all our porcelain to the results of the 

 decomposing agents just described ! All our 

 earthenware, from the commonest jug to the 

 house-tile and flower-pot, is in like manner 

 produced from a material which is formed by 

 the influence of water, air, and carbonic acid, 

 upon rocks of various kinds, but all more or 

 less agreeing in composition as to their chief 

 ingredients. In certain districts in Devonshire 

 and Cornwall, there exist rocks of a fine white 

 granite, which exhibit the decomposing effect 

 of these agents in a remarkable manner.* 



* At Shaw, a few miles from Plymouth, the surface for 

 hundreds of acres consists of decomposed felspar, in a state 

 resemhling flour. When purified and baked it forms a fine 

 porcelain. 



