d to the atmosphere, as to leave no
salient rock exposed by which to characterise the mountain.

Of this kind are the schisti of Wales, of Cumberland, of the isle of
Man, and of the south of Scotland. I do not say absolutely, that there
is no other kind of material, besides the schisti which gives this
species of mountain, but only that this is generally the case in alpine
situations. It may be also formed of any other substance which has
solidity enough to remain in the form of mountains, and at same time not
enough to form salient rocks. Such, for example, is the chalk hills of
the Isle of Wight and south of England. But these are generally hills of
an inferior height compared with our alpine schisti, and hardly deserve
the term of mountain.

This material of our smooth green mountains may be termed an
argillaceous schistus; it has generally calcareous veins, and is often
fibrous in its structure resembling wood, instead of being slatey, which
it is in general. There is however another species of schistus, forming
also the same sort of mountain; it is the micaceous quartzy schistus
of the north of Scotland. Now it must be evident that the character of
those mountains arises from there being no part of those schisti that
resists the influence of the atmosphere, in exfoliating and breaking
into soil; and this soil is doubtless of different qualities, according
to the nature of those schisti from which the soil is formed.

Such mountains are necessarily composed of rounded masses, and not
formed of angular shapes. They are covered with soil, which is more
or less either stoney or tender, sterile or fertile, according to the
materials which produce that soil. The fertile mountains are green and
covered with grass; the sterile mountains again are black, or covered
with heath in our climates.

Thus we have a general character of smooth and rounded mountains; and
also a distinction in that general character from the produce of the
soil indicating the nature of the solid materials, as containing, either
on the one hand calcareous and argillaceous substances, or, on the
other, as only containing those that are micaceous and siliceous.

With regard again to the other species of mountain, which we have termed
rocky, we must make a subdistinction of those which are regular, and
those in which there is no regularity to be perceived. It must be plain
that it is only of those which have regularity that we can form a
theory. It