The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

850 THE BPJTISH ISLES.
five die in infancy ; * but the birth rate is unusually high, and the population has
not only not decreased since the middle of last century, but the island has even
dispatched a few emigrants to Australia. The Hebrides Kkewise differ from the
neighbouring mainland in their sanitary condition. It is asserted by medical
men that natives of the Hebrides are not subject to consumption unless they
quit their homes and imbibe the germs of the disease elsewhere. It is believed
Fit'. 174.—Staffa; View taken from the top of a Cliff.
that this immunity is due to the acrid smoke of peat which they breathe in their
confined cabins.
Igneous rock occurs only at a single spot on the island of Lewis,! but is
abundant on the islands contiguous to the mainland. The finest columns of basalt
may be seen on the small Eigg Island, to the south of Rum. The " Scuir " of
Eigg (1,272 feet) presents on its sea face a row of columns 470 feet in height,
* Geo. Seton, " St. Kilda, Past and Present."
t For the geology of Scotland see Gcikie's elaborate Map, published in 1876.