NIAGARA. 193 



ly chiselled off into facets, with as much attention to 

 symmetry as if a tool, guided by human intelligence, 

 had passed over them. But no human instrument has 

 been brought to bear upon these stones. They have 

 been wrought into their present shape by the wind- 

 blown sand of LyelTs Bay. Two winds are dominant 

 here, and they in succession urged the sand against 

 opposite sides of the stone; every little particle of sand 

 chipped away its infinitesimal bit of stone, and in the 

 end sculptured these singular forms.* 



The Sphynx of Egypt is nearly covered up by the 

 sand of the desert. The neck of the Sphynx is partly 

 cut across, not, as I am assured by Mr. Huxley, by 

 ordinary weathering, but by the eroding action of the 

 fine sand blown against it. In these cases Nature 

 furnishes us with hints which may be taken advantage 

 of in art; and this action of sand has been recently 

 turned to extraordinary account in the United States. 

 When in Boston, I was taken by my courteous and help- 



' These stones, which have a strong resemblance to works of 

 human art, occur in great abundance, and of various sizes, from 

 half-an-inch to several inches in length. A large number were 

 exhibited showing the various forms, which are those of wedges, 

 knives, arrow-heads, &c., and all with sharp cutting edges. 



' Mr. Travers explained that, notwithstanding their artificial 

 appearance, these stones were formed by the cutting action of 

 the wind-driven sand, as it passed to and fro over an exposed 

 boulder-bank. He gave a minute account of the manner in 

 which the varieties of form are produced, and referred to the 

 effect which the erosive action thus indicated would have on 

 railway and other works executed on sandy tracts. 



4 Dr. Hector stated that although, as a group, the specimens 

 on the table could not well be mistaken for artificial productions, 

 still the forms are so peculiar, and the edges, in a few of them, 

 so perfect, that if they were discovered associated with human 

 works, there is no doubt that they would have been referred to 

 the so-called " stone period." ' Extracted from the Minutes of 

 the Wellington Philosophical Society, February 9, 1869. 



