1^0 BASALTIC WONDERS. 
sign, except in the form of the joint, which is "''dI’T 
bv an articulation of the convex into the cone;"’® |tj 
piece next above or below it ; nor are there t"*®" ' 
piece nexL auuve ui uciuvv • it 
finishing in any part, whether in the height, 
£5 ' ,hlt^ ■ 
breadth. If there be particular instances in " 
columns above water have a smooth top, others 
of an equal height, are more or less convex jjjilji 
which shows them to have been joined to piec^^"jii'j 
been washed away, or by other means taken 
not be doubted but that those parts which i"'® ® .t'j 
above water have gradually become more and t 
at the same time that the remaining surfaces ot 
must necessarily have been worn smoother, by n‘®^,t)t 
.action of the air, and by the friction in walking 
:a;i- 
than w'here the .sea, at every tide, beats on the 
lliUli j 
continually removing some cf the upper stones, 
posing fresh joints. As all tlte exterior colun "' n 
have two or three sides exposed to view, ' I 
diameters from top to bottom, it may be 
such is also the case with the interior columns, " 
whicli aione are visible. ■ (lit 
Notwithstanding the general dissimilitude o 
lunins, relatively to their figure and diameter, 
arranged and confined at all the points, timt a jiJy. 
scarcely be introduced between them, either at 
angles.' It is most interesting to examine the cU'i’y n 
ture and nice insertion of the infinite 
exhibited on the surface of this grand paraoc. ^ ■. , 
great dissimilarity of the figures of the columns.' 
tator would be led to believe the causew:iy 
human art, were it not, on the other hand, ; 
that the genius or invention of man should 
combine such an infinite number of columns, " 
1 _ 1 1 1 cfill SO I'l 
have a general apparent likeness, and still be s" ^ 
dissimilar in their figure, as that, on the minutes. 
tion, not two in ten or twenty thousand show^.gl"y 
having their angles and sides equ:il among 
X 
*XC4T**.Q - — O X- tJ 
those of one column to those of another, 
infinite variety in the configuration of the -j 
are there not any traces of regularity or. 
outlines of this curious phenomenon : includiCo 
or detached pieces of a similar structure, they ^ 
