The great
masses of the earth are the same every where; and all the different
species of earths, of rocks or stone, which have as yet appeared, are to
be found in the little space of this our island.
It is true, that there are peculiar productions in the mineral kingdom
which are rare, as being found only in few places; but these things are
merely accidental in relation to the land, for they belong in property
to those parts of the mineral region which we never see. Such are, the
diamond of the east, the platina of the west, and the tin of Cornwall,
Germany, and Sumatra. Gold and silver, though found in many countries,
do not appear to be immediately necessary in the production of a
habitable country. Iron, again, is universal in the operations of the
globe, and is found often in that profusion which equals its utility.
Between these two extremes, we find all other minerals, that is to say,
here and there in moderate quantity, and apparently in some proportion
to their use. But all these substances are to be considered as the
vapours of the mineral regions, condensed occasionally in the crevices
of the land; and it is only the rocks and strata (in which those mineral
veins are found) that are now examined with regard to their original
composition, at the bottom of the sea, as well as to that, operation by
which those bodies had been indurated in their substance, and elevated
from the place in which they had been formed.
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