en the curiosity of some countrymen, (probably having rd that peat would preserve dead bodies,) induced n to open these graves. The bodies appeared quite h, the skin was fair, though somewhat darker than iral, and the flesh as soft as that of persons newly dead. ese bodies were afterwards frequently exposed as cuities, until the year 1716, forty-one years after their hs, when they were buried by order of the farmer's endants. At that time, Dr. Bourne, of Chesterfield, examined these bodies, says that the man was per; his beard was strong, his hair short, and his skin 1, and of a tanned leather color, like the liquor in ch he had lain. The body of the woman was injured, ing been more frequently exposed, but the hair was that of a living person.

1 the beginning of the last century, the perfect body man dressed in the ancient Saxon costume, was disred in a peat bed at Hatfield chase, in Yorkshire, but on perished on exposure to the air.-Bakewell's Geol. à 1747, the body of a woman was found six feet deep, peat moor in Lincolnshire. The antique sandals on feet afforded evidence of her having been buried there many ages, and yet her hair, nails, and skin, are debed as having shown hardly any marks of decay. n the estate of the earl of Moira, in Ireland, a human was found a foot deep in gravel, covered with en feet of moss. The body was completely clothed in nents of hair. The great length of time it had been red, may be inferred from this circumstance, for it is vn, that before the use of wool, the inhabitants of ain made their clothing of hair, and yet this body was and unimpaired.

the battle of Solway, in the time of Henry VIII., 2,) when the Scotch army was routed, an unfortunate of horse were driven into the Solway morass, and ing down, the surface closed upon them. A tradition is catastrophe had always been kept alive by the peoof the neighborhood, and the place where it was sup d to have happened, designated. This tradition has been authenticated, for a man and horse, in complete or, such as was worn in Henry's time, has been found ne peat diggers, in the place where it was believed the lent occurred. The skeleton of both man and horse

e cases are from various authorities, but are well icated.

e of the antisceptic property of Peat. This proas been attributed to the carbonic and gallic acids are set free by the decaying of wood, and also to as and resins which various plants contain. Others tributed this effect to the tannin which the peat 3. It is most probable, however, that this property g to the formation of pyroligenous acid, during the osition of the vegetables. It is true that no known , except that of the destructive distillation of the an form this acid by art, still it may be conjectured, natural destruction of the same organic substances oduce the same effect.

RIGIN AND PHENOMENA OF TRAP ROCKS.

s already been stated, that the term trap, includes
y of rocks of igneous origin, and that these are ba-
rphyry, green-stone, and their associates.

er what conditions the trap rocks were formed, it is
ble to determine, there being no examples of such
ons at the present day. We know that fused mat-
it is thrown out of volcanoes, differs in most re-
from of the varieties of trap; nor do the ancient
any
vary materially from those of the present day, a
hat age does not convert lava into trap. The form
which trap rocks exist, also seems to show, that
ould not have been produced under similar circum-
with the volcanic products of the present day.
e geologists have supposed that trap was thrown
er the sea, and that the pressure of the water has
nstrumental in causing the difference between it
a. But were this the case, it might be expected
arine remains, as shells, would be common among
ures of these rocks. If it is supposed that these
een converted into quicklime and washed away,
ch remains ought to exist on the strata over which
ocks are found.

true that such cases do exist, but they are far from
universal, or even common.

greenston served, th inal strata are alway

When coal, to t yards, is

Dr. Mice (a kind o

stance res further e that the e

is precise matter of

at the tim

But th

saltic dyl

penetrate

are comp

ta from b

had it no count of

of such a

f these rocks were thrown up into the open air in the n of lava, and after the elevation of the land from the then we might inquire how the difference between ducts having the same origin is to be accounted for, and y trap has taken the form of precipitous mountains, ead of being spread in comparatively thin sheets on the ace, as lava is at the present day. It appears there

, that these rocks were formed under circumstances ch it is difficult, or impossible satisfactorily to explain, on which this is not the place to speculate. 'hese rocks appear to be of all ages, between that of ite, and those of secondary stratified formations, conng organic remains. This is proved from the cir stance that trap is found above all the others, and en it occurs below them, the phenomena prove that the pean matter has been forced between their strata from ath-(See Fig. 33.)

The igneous origin of trap, especially of basalt and enstone, is most directly proved by the fact, often obed, that where they come into contact with the origstrata in their passage from beneath, the effects of heat always apparent on these strata.

When a dyke of basalt intersects a stratum of coal, the , to the distance of several feet, or, sometimes even ls, is deprived of its bitumen, or converted into coke. Macculloch observed that the proximity of trap to shale, ind of slate,) has the effect to convert it into a subce resembling basalt. But it is unnecessary to cite her examples, since it may be stated in general terms, the effect of a basaltic dyke on the contiguous strata, ecisely that which would have been produced, had the er of the dyke been at a red, or even at a white heat, me time of its protrusion.

ut there are other circumstances which show that badykes were formed in a fluid state, for when these trate stratified formations, the matter of which they composed, sometimes insinuates itself between the straom beneath, in a manner which would be impossible, it not been in that state. Dr. Macculloch, in his acat of the Western Isles, gives a figure, in illustration uch an instance, which is subjoined.

e vertical lines a, fig. 33, represent the basalt partly nbent in the unconformable position, on the horizonrata c c. At b b, the basalt has forced up the sand, and passed between its strata, two of which it has ely separated from their fellows, forming between sheets of its own matter.

kes of basalt form angles with the horizon of every ity. Sometimes they are nearly or quite perpendito the horizontal strata through which they pass. In instances a large vein is pierced by a smaller one, h passing through its middle, divides it into two The adjoining cut from Dr. Ure, represents such

stance.

Fig. 34.

each ot

g. 34, a a, represents the great basaltic dyke, passing gh calcareous sandstone, and b, a small vein of the matter, by which it is pierced through the line of its The latter is singularly undulated, somewhat like

melted t the draw

great he

duced; b position.

It is s

mass of

zig-zag line of an electric shock passing through the mosphere.

Although, in most instances, the trap veins pass from ow, towards the surface, still there are instances where y descend from the surface into fissures beneath. This mong the more rare and remarkable phenomena which s interesting rock exhibits.

This example occurs in the island of Sky, and is deibed by Dr. Macculloch. The basaltic veins traverse ata of sandstone, in a vertical direction, and parallel to h other. Fig. 35.

They appear to descend from the mass on the surface, are so numerous, in some places, as nearly to equal, en collectively, the mass of rock through which they 3. Sometimes six or eight veins occur within the space 150 feet, and their aggregate magnitude is apparently" y or seventy feet. Their average breadth is about ten though they vary from five to twenty feet.

t is certainly very difficult to account for the manner vhich nature performed this work. Were these veins y an inch or two thick, we might suppose that the ted trap ascended by the large middle vein, seen in drawing, and having fissured the sandstone by its at heat, descended again by the apertures thus proed; but the fissures are much too large for such a suption.

is supposed that every basaltic dyke terminates in a