C 17s ; 
Internodia, or Joynts ftt one a top of another; but 
then it differs in that its outward fliape is round and Cy- 
lindrical, in its having a hole or Pith run from top to 
bottom through ail the Joynts, in the fetting on, or way 
of fitting one Joynt to another, and in its fize and mag- 
nitude. 
But the make of the AftroiteSy or Lapis Ste/hrisfi^ms 
to have ftill a greater affinity in its Formation with our 
Irijh Stones ; for 'tis not only ftapcd Column-wife, as 
the Entrochos, and joynted with feveral Internodia cloft- 
ly adjufted to one another, but its fides are Angular, and 
the manner of the CommiiTures of one Joynt to ano- 
ther in fome particulars more refembles the way Nature 
obferves in the Joynting of this Stone. Boetius in his 
Gemmarum & Lapidum Hiftoria^ fpeaking of the Afleria 
vera^ or Afiroites^ has thefe words : P lures fmul cohce- 
rent articulty tta concinne, juntit & aptati^ ut nullm Ar- 
t 'tfex melius jungere potuijfett feparari tamen facile a fe in- 
vicem pofmt. Which is exaftly agreeable to the joyn- 
ings of our Stone; but then it muft be obferved, that 
the fides of the Afiroites are always fulcated, or a little 
furrow'd, and are conftantiy Pentagofis ; whereas the 
Irijh Stone has its fides perfectly fmooth, and plane, and 
fometimes in Hexagons and Heptagons ', as well as Pen- 
tagons. 
Moreover if we Minutely compare the inward con- 
trivance of two Joyots of the Aftroites clofing with one 
another, and two Joynts of this IriJh Stone, we fi-all 
find a more confiderable difference in the Commiilure, 
than the external Superficies of both Stones at firftiight 
would feem to intimate. For the Ajlreltes has furrow'd 
and protuberant Rays ftriking from its centre, fome- 
what as they draw a Star, whence it has its Name, that 
adapting their Concavities and Convexities together , 
caufe the coh^efion of the Joynts to one another • where- 
as the internal Superficies of Internodia in our IriJh 
Stone 
