the
examination of solid stony substances which we find in those strata
of our earth, as well as in more irregular masses. Here, no doubt, my
theory would have been attacked with greater success, had our author
succeeded in pointing out its error with regard to the original
composition of those indurated bodies, to which I ascribe fusion as the
cause of their solidity. For, if we should, according to our author's
proposition, consider those consolidated bodies as having been
originally formed in that solid state, here the door might be shut
against any farther investigation;--But to what purpose?--Surely not to
refute my theory, but to explode every physical inquiry farther on the
subject, and thus to lead us back into the science of darkness and of
scepticism. But let us proceed to see our author's sentiments on this
subject.
As I had proved from matter of fact, or the actual appearances of
nature, that all the strata of the earth had been formed at the bottom
of the sea, by the subsidence of those materials which either come from
the decaying land, or are formed in the sea itself, it was necessary
that I should consider in what manner those spongy or porous bodies of
loose materials, gathered together at the bottom of the sea, could have
acquired that consolidated state in which we find them, now that they
are brought up to our examination.
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