BASALTES. 
573 
of basaltes is said to be equally apparent in the 
Appennines, and in several of the islands of the Ar- 
chipelago. 
Among the fine specimens of basaltic columns, 
those of Auvergne in France, and a part of those of 
the Cevennes, ought not to be omitted, as they ex- 
hibit specimens almost equal to what we find upon 
the Irish coast. This substance is likewise found 
in the island of TenerifFe, in that of Goree, in the 
isle of Bourbon, and in other volcanic isles of the 
Indian and South seas. Besides those we have 
mentioned, it is found in many other places, but 
not in sufficient quantity to deserve our notice. It 
may be proper to observe, however, that the an- 
tique basalt, or that of which the Egyptians made 
their statues, was brought from the mountains of 
Ethiopia. 
The presence of basaltes in most of the countries 
where volcanos are found, their black colour, the 
round cavities which they occasionally present, and 
the different mineral substances which sometimes 
insinuate themselves, tend to prove that these stones 
owe their origin to volcanic fire. But, on the con- 
trary, the striking analogy which exists between 
certain basaltes and those stones that are evidently 
of aquatic origin ; an analogy founded on their che- 
mical analysis, and strengthened by other circum- 
stances, makes the former hypothesis somewhat 
doubtful, and has induced many mineralogists to 
affirm that all basaltes were originally formed by 
