The first abounds in the high lands, and consists of a light, moory, black earth, intermixed with small particles of granite or gravel. The earthy parts of this are so exceedingly light, that in a dry summer, as Dr. Borlase observes, the sun quickly exhales its moisture, and in a wet summer or winter, much of the vegetable soil is washed from the tilled grounds. This soil is in general very productive, and fit for any kind of grain. The shelfy or slaty soil is far the most prevalent, and is distinguished by this name from having a large proportion of the schistus, or rotten slaty matter mixed with the light loam, of which its soil is composed. With sand and more viscuous earths, it makes an excellent compost, and produces great crops of wheat and barley. In congenial situations, barley has frequently been sown, reaped, and threshed, in less than nine weeks. This soil is not unfrequently mixed with _quartz_, provincially called _spar_, and according as this prevails, its value is lessened. When a dun or ironstone is found, it is considered a fortunate circumstance, being a certain indication of the incumbent soil. Of the _Loamy Soils_, there are many very rich and fertile patches, interpersed in different parts of the county; and the low grounds, declivities, banks of the rivers and town-lands are composed of them. Some of these are incumbent on a subsoil of clay, and partake more or less of it in their composition. With respect to _Clays_, Cornwall presents endless varieties; good bricks are made from some of them, and in the parish of Lelant, there is an excellent species for making furnaces and ovens. A clay of a slaty nature, but soapy to the touch, is found near Liskeard, and has fertilizing powers; but the Serpentine, with veins of _steatite_, near the Lizard, is the most curious of all the earthy substances found in Cornwall, although very little of it has been used for some years in the porcelain manufactures. Large quantities of a fine white clay, found in the parish of St. Stephen near St. Austell, is exported annually, and is now become an important article of commerce. The mineralogical substances of Cornwall are more abundant than any other county in England, and the variety and beauty of them affords an abundant source for the scientific enquirer. Of the stones most entitled to precedence, is the _granite_, or _moor stone_, which abounds in great quantities in almost every part of the county. Granite is an aggregate of _felspar_, _quartz_, and _mica_, and is found of different colours and texture. Most of the churches and gentlemen’s seats in the county are built with this stone, also the Waterloo Bridge in London, and which was exported at a very great expense. It is frequently cut into pillars, as supporters to buildings, and is very serviceable as gate posts, bridges over rivers, rollers, troughs, and many other purposes.