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Pliny, in his second book, relates that there was one to be seen at Harpasa in Asia, exactly answering the description of those found in Cornwall. “Lay one finger on it, and it will stir; but thrust against it with your whole body, and it will not move.” Hephæstion mentions the Gigonian stone, near the ocean, which may be moved with the stalk of an asphodel, but cannot be removed by any force. Several of these stones may be seen in the neighbourhood of Heliopolis, or Baalbeck, in Syria; and one in particular has been seen in motion by the force of the wind alone.

The famous Logan stone, commonly called Minamber, stood in the parish of Sithney, Cornwall. The top stone was so accurately poised on the one beneath, that a little child could move it; and all travellers went that way to see it; but in Cromwell’s time, one Shrubsoll, Governor of Pendennis, with much ado caused it to be undermined and thrown down, to the great grief of the country: thus its wonderful property of moving so easily to a certain point was destroyed. The cause which induced the Governor to overthrow it appears to have been that the vulgar used to resort to the place at particular times, and pay the stone more respect than was thought becoming good Christians.