[ 9 ] 
fo hard as the Alpine and Oriental granites, and is fome- 
times even friable, like the Saxum granites par ticulis pa- 
rum adh^erentibiLS. ANON. Min. 270. n. i.; or, Saxum 
7 nicacewn quart zofum fpatofumquefubfriabile, LiNN.Syft, 
Nat. tom. hi. p. 76, edit. Holmiaei768. linn^eus juftly 
obferves, that this fpecies of granite abounds m France ; 
for I have lately feen large tra6ls of it in the neighbour- 
ing provinces of Auvergne, Velay, and Lionnois; and 
apprehend, that it likeAvife abounds in the Vivarey, Ge- 
vaudan, and Sevennes mountains; from the affinity ob- 
fervable in the phyhcal geography of thofe countries. 
But it is equally common in Italy; for belides Monte 
Roffo, the bulk of theEuganean hills in general, of which 
that is a part, principally conlifts of it ; and thefe hills oc- 
cupy a conliderable tra6l in the plains of Lombardy. It 
is alfo common in the Tufcan and Roman, States; the 
mountain clofe to Viterbo, on the road to Rome, is hx- 
tirely compofed of it. The Italians call it Granitello^ arid 
it much refembles the Lapis variolatus delcribed by 
ALDROVANDUs in his Mufeum Metallicum, Though 
partial fpots of this granite are often friable, efpedalj.y 
about the furface, yet in general it is very hard ; info- 
much, that M. GUETTARD, Compares the granites of 
France with thofe of Egpytt^^, The columns of Monte 
Roffo appear therefore of a different charadler from ai>y 
hitherto deferibed by miner alogifts, who only mention 
thofe of an uniform colour and texture. It has be^n 
{b) Memoires de 1 ’ Acad, pour 1751. 
VoL. LXV. c 
obferved- 
