"
* I know not whether this may be considered worthy of a
note or not. I have myself frequently seen and tasted
what is appropriately termed by the peasantry "Stone
Marrow." It is found in the heart of a kind of soft
granite, or perhaps I should rather say freestone. The
country people use it medicinally, but I cannot
remember what particular disease it is said to cure. It
is a soft, saponaceous substance, not unpleasant to the
taste, of a bluish color, and melts in the mouth, like
the fat of cold meat, leaving the palate greasy. How
far an investigation into its nature and properties
might be useful to the geologist or physician, it is
not for me to conjecture. As the fact appeared to be a
curious one, and necessary, moreover, to illustrate the
expression used in the text, I thought it not amiss to
mention it. It may be a _bonne bouche_ for the
geologists.
At this moment the congregation was once more in convulsions of laughter
at the dressing which Peter, whose character was drawn with much truth
and humor, received at the hands of the worthy pastor.
Our readers will perceive that there was not a single prejudice, or
weakness, or virtue, in the disposition of his auditory, left untouched
in this address. He moved their superstition, their pride of character,
their dread of hell and purgatory, their detestation of Yellow Sam, and
the remembrance of the injury so wantonly inflicted on M'Evoy's family;
he glanced at the advantage to be derived from the lad's prayers, the
example they should set to Protestants, made a passing hit at tithes;
and indulged in the humorous, the pathetic, and the miraculous.
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