TttB CHRISTIAN NATURALIST. 97 



or circular excavations, which are formed on the tops 

 of manv of the granite masses, and especially on the tops 

 of the Wring, are also viewed as corroborating the fact 

 of Druidical rites having been here formerly celebrated. 

 Whether these conclusions are not fanciful, and whe- 

 ther we may not rather suppose that the relics referred 

 to belong to a still more ancient, and perhaps patriar- 

 chal period,* it is impossible to determine. Certain, 



* It has been, perhaps, too hastily concluded that the stone 

 circles of ancient times, arc of Druidical origin. The Druids, 

 as their name imports, worshipped in groves of the oak. That 

 such groves once flourished on Stonehenge, and the heights of 

 the Cornish Elills, seem very improbable. There is a better 

 reason for supposing that all these venerable specimens of an 

 ancient period of worship, were temples used by the original 

 tribes that peopled this island, either Celtic or Gothic. The 

 custom of erecting stones to consecrate a place was as early as 

 the patriarchs, (se3 Gen. xxviii. Id, Joshua iv. 20 — 24,) and 

 such stone structures of different kinds are found in almost 

 every country of the world. It is probable that they are the 

 earliest relics of the worship of Baal, or the Sun, as the Lord 

 of the heavenly host. 



to a state of disintegration through the decomposing tendency 

 of the felspar. But if this were the case these hollows or hasin« 

 would be much more common than they are. They are most 

 probably artificial, and were to the ancient religionists of these 

 hnis whait our baptismal fonts are now. I have seen some of 

 them of the size and form of a church font, and in the height of 

 summer nearly filled with rain water. 



