Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-02-23
AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY.
by JOSIAH liOLBl,DDk.
M. NlI-HDRSHI END.

No. All.--liDRNhlENn.
dornbend is more tough than hard. So its
name indicates. IL enters largely into rocks
Hornblend rocks form some of the most benuti
full and sublime mountain and landscape scenery
in the world. The Giants Causoway, in the
northeast part of Ireland: tho Palisades on the
banks of the Hudson river; the Bluffs called
East and West Rock, each about I" miles from
New Haven Connecticut; Mount llolyoke and
Mount Tom, on the Connecticut river the rich
est landscape scenery ON the Columbia and 9th
er rivers in Oregon and many other views, both
rich and beautiful, III different parts OF the world
are hornblend rocks. The scenery about Edin-
burgh, Scotland, is said to resemble very nearly
that about New Haven, Connecticut, exhibited
by the same geological formation-basaltio col
umns. In both these cities il is the common
and almost only building material, admirably fit
ted for the gothic style OF architecture. Some
poet said of the citizens of Edinburgh, who have
very much impaired the natural scenery about
the city for the purposes of architecture, that
they had so little taste that they sold the sub
lime and beautiful by the CARLOAD. These col.
umns are very much III the form of hexedral
prisms, from six inches to n foot or two in diam
eter. The length of the blocks forming the
prisms is frequently about equal to their diam
eter, Each block is coneaye or followed at one
end, and convex or rounded at the other, the
cave and the convex surfaces exactly fitting each
/ other. The sides of the prisms also rs ex-
pctly fitted AS the cells OF honey comb, and of
/ the same shape.
The most remarkable exhibition of this natur.
/ al mountain mechanism is in the Giants Cause
way, where these hexcdral columns. so perfectly
matched, cover great surface, and rise TO the
height of two or three hundred feeta The in
habitants of the country, at some ancient period,
supposed il to be the work of of giants lv-
ing there at period still more ancient.
The property of toughness in hornblend very
much modifes the character of the rocks of which
il forms a part. For many purposes they are
the most durable of all rocky formations The
Russ pavements, introduced into New York, are
formed of rock from Staten Island almost en-
tirely hornblend, havinga little quartz in fine
grains interspersed through the mass. Though
called Staten Island granite, il is very different,
and entirely superior to any granite formation
correctly called. No rock upon the globe
could probably be found more durable or better
fitted for such pavements than this hornbend
rock taken from Staten Island.
EXrERIMENT.-Drawa circle by pair of d.
vders. Not changing the distance of the legs,
place one point in the circumference of the circle
drawn, dividing it into equal parts. 1t will thus
form in the circumference six points equally dis
tant from each other. Unite these points by
lines drawn by the dividers, and the result viii
be irregular hexagon, showing the shape of ba-
saltic columns, quartz crystals, beryl, emerald,
apatite, cells of the honey comb, and many other
specimens of NATURAL MECHANISM"
The ENGINE HERE.-On last Wednesday