329 
THE VOLCANOS OF THE HAUTE LOIRE AND 
THE ARDECHE. 
By the Key. W. S. SYMONDS, oe Pexdock. 
( Concluded from p. 260 .) 
[PLATE VIII.] 
W E shall long remember our days on Mont Denise when en- 
deavouring to separate the newer geologic phenomena from 
the older. It was glorious sunny autumn weather, the distant views 
being wonderfully clear and distinct, and wild pinks blossoming 
wherever a tuft might grow among the cinders. There was 
Dianthus superbus and several other pinks which we did not 
know, with convolvuli and other autumnal plants, which were 
most abundant in the woodlands on the slope of the hill. The 
different views from various points of Mont Denise embrace the 
principal features of this extraordinary country. The following 
plants were noted by Sir W. Gruise as growing on Mont Denise 
and near Polignac in the month of June : Biscutella laevigata, 
Saponaria ocymoicles , Coronilla varia , Dianthus (two species), 
Linaria striata , Mulgedium Plumieri , Rosa rubiginosa , 
Muscari comosum , Specularia speculum , Centaurea cyanus 
and calcitrapa , &c. 
Mr. Scrope believed that the noble ranges of basaltic columns, 
the Croix de la Paille and the Orgues d’Espailly, belong to the 
later volcanic outbursts from Mont Denise. The Croix de la 
Paille projects from the flank of the hill; but there are no means 
of determining the relation of this basaltic outflow to the tuff 
and scoriae which cover the slopes of the hill, nor is it easy to 
say why these columnar rocks should not be as ancient as the 
older conglomeratic tuffs or breccias. The structure of the 
Orgues is very beautiful ; and we are struck with the symmetry 
of the columns, which are 50 feet in height. The basalt over- 
hangs the river Borne, but does not occupy the existing channel. 
There is an outlying mass also of columnar basalt, called Mont 
Redon, which has overflowed an ancient bed of the Borne at the 
height of 50 or 60 feet above the present channel. These 
NEW SEKIES, VOL, I. — NO. IV. Z 
