tJNCLE IN ENGLAND. 41 



tody of these books, no omissions should have 

 been made in the copies, nor any attempts to 

 suppress those parts of the law which bore di- 

 rectly on their misconduct ; and I think we may 

 safely infer, that it was the will of Him who had 

 given the law, and who had inspired the prophe- 

 cies, that they should remain an indestructible 

 6 memorial to all generations.'" 



llth. The more I learn from my uncle's 

 kind geological conversations, the more I see the 

 necessity of acquiring some knowledge of mine- 

 ralogy, in order to understand them. In the 

 mean time, Caroline and I find even the general 

 views he gives us so interesting, that we seldom 

 miss an opportunity of leading him to the sub- 

 ject. This morning he told us, that the debris 

 of the hills which accumulate in alluvial districts 

 usually continue in the loose form of gravel or 

 sand, or mud, or clay, in which they were deposited. 

 "Their visible transformation," he said, "into 

 stone is of rare occurrence ; in some circum- 

 stances, however, especially on the sea coast, we 

 may perceive the consolidation of the sand and 

 gravel into thin strata. If a stream,, impregnated 

 with oxide of iron, should empty itself on the 

 beach, it acts as a cement, and the process goes 

 on rapidly. The northern coast of Cornwall af- 

 fords some examples of this sort of petrilication 

 at home ; and abroad it may be seen on a much 



E 3 



