It certainly was incumbent on our author to have informed us, if those
masses of salt were found in, what may be properly termed, their mineral
state; or, if the state in which they are found at present had been
produced by the influences of the atmosphere, transforming that saline
substance from its mineral state, as happens upon so many other
occasions; I am inclined to suspect that this last is truly the case.
It may be thought illiberal in me to suppose a natural philosopher thus
holding out an example that could only serve to lead us into error, or
to mislead our judgment with regard to those two theories which is the
subject of consideration. This certainly would be the case, almost
on any other occasion; but, when I find every argument and example,
employed in this dissertation, to be either unfounded or misjudged,
Whether am I to conclude our author, on this occasion, to be consistent
with himself, or not?
I have but one article more to observe upon. I had given, as I thought,
a kind of demonstration, from the internal evidence of the stone, that
granite had been in the fluid state of fusion, and had concreted by
crystallization and congelation from that melted state.
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