16

A DISCOURSE

transparent and gemmy; few of them sharp or angular, but roundish andmixed with particles of a mineral hue, which being well dried, and bruisedon a hard serpentine stone, andmullar of the same, was with little labourreduced to an impalpable whitish sand, untransparent, as it happens inthe bruising of most bodies, though never so diaphanous before.

Yellow sand had the appearance of amber but, when bruised, it be-came a paler untransparent sand.

Fat rich earth , full of black spots, without much discolouring thewater, (as hardly did any of the sands) being dried, was reduced to a de-licate sandy dust, with very little brightnefs.

Marsh-earth contained a considerable quantity of sand,, the rest re-sembled the fat earth.

The under-pasture Mould had likewise a sandy mixture, and whatpafsed with the water after evaporation, seemed to be an impalpable andvery fine untransparent sand.

Clay consisted of most exceedingly smooth and round sands of severalopacous colours.

Potters’ Earth , of different sorts, ground small, became like sand, of ayellowish grey and other colours, exceedingly polite and smooth.

May thus be known: Of twigs a basket twine,Like that from whence is strain’d the recent wine;This with the soil and crystal water fill,

Then squeeze the mafs, while thro’ the twigs distilThe big round drops in many a trickling rill;

Soon shall its nature from its taste appear,

And the wry mouth the bitter juice declare.

We learn from hence a fat and vifeid land ;

It sticks like pitch uncrumbled to the hand :

The moister mould a rank luxuriance feeds,

Of lengthen’d grafs, and tall promifeuous weeds;O may be mine no over-fertile plain,

That shoots too strongly forth its early grain!

The light and heavy in the balance try,

The black and other colours strike the eye;

Not so the cold ; lo ! there dark ivy spreads,

Or yews or pitch-trees lift their gloomy heads.

WARTON,