Those strata, tho', in general, perfectly
consolidated, often separate horizontally in certain places; and there
we find the fibrous or vascular structure of the vegetable bodies.
Consequently, there is no doubt of fossil coal being a substance
of vegetable production, however animal substances also may have
contributed in forming this collection of oleaginous or inflammable
matter.
Having thus ascertained the state of a former earth, in which plants
and animals had lived, as well as the gradual production of the present
earth, composed from the materials of a former world, it must be
evident, that here are two operations which are necessarily consecutive.
The formation of the present earth necessarily involves the destruction
of continents in the ancient world; and, by pursuing in our mind the
natural operations of a former earth, we clearly see the origin of that
land, by the fertility of which, we, and all the animated bodies of the
sea, are fed. It is in like manner, that, contemplating the present
operations of the globe, we may perceive the actual existence of those
productive causes, which are now laying the foundation of land in the
unfathomable regions of the sea, and which will, in time, give birth to
future continents.
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