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hills, part of the Lomond and Balneartie; and part of the Ochil hills. None of them are very high or precipitous; and they are generally covered with a fine verdure, affording excellent paſture grafles. They are moſtly compoſed of whinſtone; but freeſtone and lime are interſperſed in ſeveral places.

Soils.--In this, as in moſt other counties of Scotland, the ſoil is various. This generally is the caſe where hill and dale are intermixed, and eſpecially.if rivers abound in the country. The greateſt changes that4have taken place, not only on the external appearance of the ſurface of the world, but alſo on the ſoi] of which its upper ſtratum is compoſed, have been brought about chiefly by waters."The ſtrcams in this county have, in times of heavy rains, waſhed from the heights, not only the lighter and more incoherent parts of their ſoils, but Jikewiſe, on ſome occaſions, large quantities of ſtones and coarſe gravel, which, through ſucceſlive ages, have been lodged in the lower grounds. Soils of the füffeſt clays have, in many places, been formed by water. Clay is an earth, the particles of which are eaßfily ſuſpended in water, from which they readily precipitate, when the water finds a place where it can but for a Ihort time be allowed to ſettle or ſtagnate. The clayey par- ticles, thus ſubſiding, acquire, by dryneſs, a conſiderable te- nacity and ſolidity. Decayed vegetable matter, lime, and other bodies not ſtrongly coherent in certain ſtates, when properly intermixed with clay, are the moſt proper for reduc- ing it to a loam or a good mould. Clay, when thus reduced, becomes the beſt of ſoils, becauſe the finer particles have a tendency to abſorb and detain moiſture, whilſt the manure, and other eaſily pervious bodies, are helpful to open paſſages for what is ſuperffuous. But in forming artificially a ſoil of this kind, the nature of the original clay ſhould be examined, equally with the extraneous matter intermixed with it for its melioration. A full expoſure to the ais, or a thorough pul-

verization,