But to see how necessary it is to judge in this manner, not partially,
but upon the whole, we may observe, that there are two ways by which the
visible materials or distinguishable bodies of a former earth, not only
_may_ be rendered invisible in the composition of our present earth,
but _must_ be so upon many occasions. These are, _first_, by mechanical
comminution, which necessarily happens, more or less, in that operation
by which bodies are moved against one another, and thus transported from
the land to the bottom of the deepest seas; _secondly_, by chemical
operations, (whatever these may be, whether the action of water or of
fire, or both), which are also necessarily employed for consolidating
those loose materials, that are to form the rocks and stones of
this earth, and by means of which those materials are to have their
distinguishable shapes affected in all degrees and obliterated.
Therefore, to demand the visible appearance of those materials in every
stratum of the earth, or in every part of a stratum, is no other than to
misunderstand the subject altogether.
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