T. R. Struthen — Granite. 563 



tbe granitic foundation of the earth's crust must have participated 

 in any upward movement of the superincumbent strata ; but there 

 must have been a considerable extent of granite or other primeval 

 rock raised above the sea-level before any strata could be deposited. 

 The bedding of granite must have taken place when the material 

 was in a molten or plastic state, free to flow. The beds are, as 

 a rule, superimposed upon amorphous granite, and have been traced 

 to rents, not only through the subjacent granite, but through over- 

 lying gneissose and schistose strata on which they have been spread. 

 The distinction between bedded and amorphous granite is well- 

 known to granite cutters, the former having what they call a 

 ' greek ' — a cleavage plane — which we would suppose to be parallel 

 with the bedding, and a key to the extent to which the rock has 

 been disturbed by convulsions affecting the earth's crust. Bedded 

 granite is widely distributed in the British islands, and many other 

 parts of the world. It was known to the early geologists as stratified 

 granite, in accordance with the Wernerian supposition that " granite 

 fell down first from the universal dissolving liquid." Lyell, in 

 his Manual, observes : " Granite often preserves a very uniform 

 character throughout a wide range of territory, frequently forming 

 hills of a peculiar rounded form, clad with a scanty vegetation. The 

 surface of the I'ock is, for the most part, in a crumbling state, and 

 the hills are often surmounted by piles of stones like the remains of 

 a stratified mass, and sometimes like heaps of boulders, for which 

 they have been mistaken. The exterior of these stones, originally 

 quadrangular, acquires a rounded form by the action of air and 

 water, for the angles and edges waste away more rapidly than the 

 sides. A similar spherical structure has already been described as 

 characteristic of basalt and other volcanic formations, and it must be 

 referred to analogous causes, as yet but imperfectly understood." ^ 

 Lyell gives an illustration from the Sharp Tor, Cornwall, showing 

 a pile of granite consisting of several courses, and presenting the 

 appearance of the remains of successive stratified deposits ; but we 

 have no hesitation in saying that it is a fine example of bedded 

 granite originally discharged in successive submarine sheets, and 

 now fractured, weathered, and reduced by the natural forces to 

 which it has been subjected during the course of ages. 



The ' tundra,' or moorland of Siberia, extending along the shores 

 of the Arctic Ocean, presents a good illustration of the phj^sical 

 features produced by bedded granite. Here and there the rock rises 

 in smooth, rounded, protuberances above the general level, which 

 is a monotonous flat, covered with moss ; and, as might be expected, 

 scarcely a tree is to be seen. There are many things which the 

 commonly received theory of the origin of granite cannot account 

 for; and it is more reasonable, and more in accordance with existing 

 phenomena, as well as with experimental evidence, to hold that it 

 was formed by the cooling of the exterior of our globe under the 

 primeval deep, and by additions due to outbursts of newer granite 

 from the heated interior, the elastic force of which would be brought 

 1 Lyell's "Students' Elements of Geology," 3rd Edition, 1878, p. 552. 



