Thus, having
once departed one step from the path of just investigation, our physical
science is necessarily bewildered in the labyrinth of error. Let us
then, in re-examining our data, point out where lies that first devious
step which had been impregnated with fixed air, or carbonic acid gas,
(as it is called), dissolves a certain portion of mild calcareous
earth or marble; consequently such acidulated water, that is, water
impregnated with this gas, will, by filtrating through calcareous
substances, become saturated with that solution of marble; and, this
solution is what is called a _petrifying water_. When this solution is
exposed to the action of the atmosphere, the acid gas, by means of which
the stony substance is dissolved, evaporates from the solution, in
having a stronger attraction for the atmospheric air; it is then that
the marble, or calcareous substance, concretes and crystallises,
separating from the water in a sparry state, and forming a very solid
stone by the successive accretion from the solution, as it comes to
be exposed to the influence of the atmosphere in flowing over the
accumulating body.
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