675 
granite which gave rise to the pebbles of quartz and felspar 
must have been extremely like some specimens of the 
granite of Norway, in which the felspar and quartz are in 
large crystals, and are moderately clear and transparent ; 
so similar, indeed, that the pebbles might have been portions 
of the self-same rock. On the contrary, the difference 
between them and any of the British granites I have 
hitherto examined is equally striking, for these are usually 
much too fine-grained, or, if the felspar be in large 
crystals, they are scattered about in a fine-grained base. 
It will, therefore, be seen that the character of the rocks 
and the direction from which they were drifted both point 
to a Scandinavian origin ; and though the rocks in that 
part now constituting Norway and Sweden are probably 
too far removed, yet it appears to me that we must conclude 
that the materials of the millstone-grit in South Yorkshire 
were derived from the waste of a south-westward prolonga- 
tion of an ancient Scandinavia, the site of which is now 
occupied by the North Sea. 
ON THE FORMATION OF HAIL, ILLUSTRATED BY SOME 
LOCAL STORMS. BY THE REV. W. R. BOWDITCH, 
OF WAKEFIELD. 
A heavy thunderstorm, which visited Wakefield, on 
Friday, July 13, 1855, appears worthy of record as affording 
a solution of certain phenomena which, I believe, have not 
hitherto been explained satisfactorily. I was overtaken by 
the storm when about two miles east of the town, and was 
compelled to seek refuge in some farm buildings. The 
morning had been fine but very hot, and when I left home 
at twelve o'clock there was no immediate appearance of a 
change. A few heavy premonitory drops of rain fell about 
ten minutes to one o'clock, and almost immediately the rain 
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