We have strata consolidated by feld-spar, a
substance insoluble in water. We have strata consolidated by almost all
the various metallic substances, with their almost endless mixtures
and sulphureous compositions; that is to say, we find, perhaps, every
different substance introduced into the interstices of strata which had
been formed by subsidence at the bottom of the sea.
If it is by means of water that those interstices have been filled with
those materials, water must be, like fire, an universal solvent, or
cause of fluidity, and we must change entirely our opinion of water in
relation to its chemical character. But there is no necessity thus to
violate our chemical principles, in order to explain certain natural
appearances; more especially if those appearances may be explained in
another manner, consistently with the known laws of nature.
If, again, it is by means of heat and fusion that the loose and porous
structure of strata shall be supposed to have been consolidated, then
every difficulty which had occurred in reasoning upon the power or
agency of water is at once removed.
Pages:
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55