45 



Geological Memoranda (First Contribution). 



By Professor Walter Howchin. 



Subjects : 



I. The "Sarsen" Stones of South Australia. 

 II. Pumice and other Substances occurring as Sea-drift near 

 Cape Banks. 



III. Salt, a Cause of Mechanical Disintegration of Rocks in 



Arid Regions. 



IV. Nodular Barytes of Peculiar Forms from Central 



Australia. 



[Read June 12, 1919.] 

 Plate IX. 



I. The "Sarsen" Stones of South Australia. 

 Scattered over many of the southern counties of England 

 are large blocks of hard siliceous sandstone, usually oblong in 

 .shape, several feet in thickness, and up to 10 fti. or 15 ft. in 

 length, that for centuries have been a great puzzle to the 

 rural population. The stones are foreign to the rocks of the 

 neighbourhoods where they occur, and appeared to the country 

 people as though dropped promiscuously over the landscape. 

 The name by which they are generally known is that of 

 '"sarsen," or "sarsden" stones, which is supposed to be a 

 colloquial abbreviation of the word Saracen, a survival from 

 tlhe time when the name of the Moors, or Saracens, was one 

 of superstitious terror in southern and western Europe. 0-) As 

 these stones are often seen in groups, and at a distance have the 

 appearance of sheep lying down in the grass, they are 

 commonly called "grey-wethers." Further, these large, slab- 

 like shafts were eminently adapted for use in the erection of 

 monoliths and the building of tumuli and open-air temples of 

 the prehistoric peoples, and from their being frequently utilized 

 for such purposes they have also obtained the name of "Druid 

 stones." The outermost circle of great stones, as well as the 

 second circle, at Stonehenge is constructed of sarsen stones; 

 indeed, there was no other geological formation in the country 

 that yielded stones anything like so great a size. 



(i) Other explanations have been given as to the origin of the 

 word. Sarsen is said to be a Phoenician word, meaning a stone, 

 and may have been a survival from the time when these 

 navigators visited England. ''The early Christian Saxons used the 

 word Saresyn as a synonym of pagan or heathen." — Dr. Brewer. 

 "A corruption of a Celtic word." — Chambers' Encyclopaedia. 



