150 Dr. Berger oji the physical Structure 



point, and it is so nicely balanced, that a child may move it with the- 

 greatest ease, although it is of a very considerable size. The inte- 

 resting observations of Mr. Playfair on this subject, render it unne- 

 cessary for me to say any thing further concerning it.* 



With regard to the nature of the granite itself, the crystals of fel- 

 spar in it are numerous, very large, and often in an earthy state : the 

 rock is crossed in many places by felspar veins of considerable 

 length : black tourmaline, in large and small crystals, is also very 

 common in the mass : taken in its whole extent, this granite is 

 rough and uneven, furrowed on the surface, and may be said to 

 bear very marked proofs of the hand of time. 



At the point which may properly be called the Land's-end, the 

 cliff is abrupt, but not more than fifty or sixty feet high. It is com- 

 posed of granite, presenting very remarkable appearances, and which 

 might be taken for the work of art, as well as the logan stones. In 

 some places there are shafts which look as if they had been cut with 

 the chisel, in others, regular equidistant fissures divide the rock into 

 horizontal masses, and give it the appearance of a collection of 

 basaltic columns \\ in other places again, there are complete arches 

 under which the waves of the sea roll — physical and undeniable 

 proofs of the combined action of time and external agents. 



Sic igitur mundi nahirain to<ius a>tas 

 Mutat, & ex alio tcrram status cxcipit alter. 



Liicrct. dc Nat. Rcrum. Ub. v. 



The Islands of Scilly, nine leagues distant from the Land's-end, 

 are said to be granitic, as well as the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey and 



* Illustrations of the Huttouian Theory, § 334. 



+ What Ramond calls crystalline forms of ^^ra litc, and wrhich he describes and repre- 

 sents ill a plate, \\\ his " Voyag.^s au Mont Pcidu," are, in my opinion, only accidental 

 splittings of the rock, though perhaps of a regular form. Page 342, plate i, fig. 1. C. 



