Now I here maintain, that philosophers have judged in no other
manner than by this false analogy, when they conclude that water is the
agent by which mineral concretions have been formed. But it will be
proper to state more particularly the case of that misunderstanding
among mineral philosophers.
In forming a geological theory, the general construction of this earth,
and the materials of which it is composed, are such visible objects, and
so evident to those who will take the pains to examine nature, that
here is a subject in which there cannot be any doubt or difference of
opinion. Neither can there be any dispute concerning the place and
situation of mass when it was first formed or composed; for, this is
clearly proved, from every concomitant circumstance, to have been at the
bottom of the sea. The only question in this case, that can be made, is,
How that mass comes now to be a solid body, and above the surface of the
sea in which it had been formed?
With regard to the last, the opinions of philosophers have been so
dissonant, so vague, and so unreasonable, as to draw to no conclusion.
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