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4
GEOLOGICAL
Her hass
Whate
ESSAY S.
BY RICHARD KIRWAN, Esa.
F.R.SS. Lond, & Edin. M.R.I.A.
OF THE ACADEMIES OF
OF STOCKHOLM, UPSAL, BERLIN,
MANCHESTER, PHILADELPHIA;
OF THE MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY OF JENA, &C.
AND INSPECTOR GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY'S MINES IN THE
KINGDOM OF IRELAND,
LONDON:
PRINTED BY T. BENSLEY, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET,
FOR D. BREMNER, (SUCCESSOR TO MR. ELMSLY) STRAND
$
1799.
1
C
"
1
PREFACE.
S
GEOLOGY is the fcience that treats of
the various relations which the different
conſtituent maſſes of the globe bear to each
other. It at once unfolds and fhews how
to read the huge and myſterious volume of
inanimate nature, of which MINERALOGY
fupplies the alphabet. The inftruction
it conveys is our fureft guide in refearches
for the various valuable fubftances buri-
ed under the earth's furface, and pow-
erfully affifts us in the ſublime inveſtigation
of the hiſtory of the planet we inhabit.
Singularly diverfified, and intricately com-
plicated, as the local arrangement of ſub-
terraneous ſubſtances may appear, yet that
its mazes are not without a clew, may rea-
dily be inferred, and with certainty con-
cluded, from the practical fkill which feveral
miners are known to poffefs in many parts
of the world. Uncombined, however, with
any general theory, the knowledge thus at-
A 2
tained,
རྭ
iv
PREFACE.
tained, is generally imperfect, being circum-
fcribed within the limits of the diftricts
wherein their operations are exerciſed, linked
with their peculiar circumftances, and more
over, frequently darkened and perplexed with
notions either falfely affumed, or errone-
oufly generalized.
It is to men of far fuperior acquirements
that Geology owes its origin and progreſs.
John Gottlob Lehman firft traced the genuine
outlines of this fcience: Eminently fkilled in
general phyfics, practical mining,. mineral-
ogy, and chymiftry, fully acquainted with
the circumſtances attending the fituation of
moſt minerals relatively to each other, in
numerous and extenfive tracts of different
countries, he was enabled to deduce from
multiplied obfervations fome general con-
clufions, which have fince, with few excep-
tions, been verified in all parts of the world.
This fagacious obferver foon found that
priority or pofteriority of formation was a
prominent feature diftinguiſhing various
elevations of the globe, and a circumſtance.
demanding the ftricteft attention in deter-
mining the probable preſence of particular
minerals, as well as in devifing and pre-
fcribing
PREFACE.
fcribing the mode of extracting them.
Hence aroſe the denominations of PRIMARY
or PRIMEVAL, and of SECONDARY moun-
tains. And thus Geology was found con-
nected with the ancient hiftory of the
globe.
The connexion thus difcovered between
the modern and ancient ftate of the Earth
foon excited the curiofity, and fired the
imagination of fome fpeculative philofo-
phers, better verfed in mathematics, aftro-
nomy, and geography, than in chymical or
mineralogical knowledge, yet all defirous
of tracing the origin of the globe, and ap-
plying Geology to their feveral ſyſtems.
Thus COSMOGONY was grafted on Geology.
Among many vifionary theories, moſt of
which have now funk into oblivion, I fhall
fingle out one as claiming fome notice from
its artful ſtructure and deceptive appearance
of folidity.
In the formation of this theory, Genius
(I mean Genius in its primitive fenſe, the
fublime talent of faſcinating Invention, and
not the energetic power of patient, pro-
found, and fagacious Investigation) unhap-
pily prefided. Yet dazzled by the fplendid
A 3
but
vi
PREFACE.
but deluſive ſcenery prefented by an ardent
imagination foaring to the fource of light,
and rending from its flaming orb the pla-
netary maſſes that furround it, then mark-
ing with daring and overweening confidence
fancied fucceffive epochs of the confolidated
fabrick of the terraqueous globe, the pub-
lic attention was long arrefted by the ma-
gic repreſentation, and the underſtanding
nearly betrayed into a partial, if not a total
affent to it.
On examining this theory more ſeriouſly,
we may obferve, that two facts, both of
which were erroneouſly extended by ana-
logy, and blended with a few inconteſtable
truths, formed the bafis of all that was not
purely imaginary in its ftately ſtructure.
It was well known that flinty or filiceous
fubftances entered into the compofition of
common glaſs, and alſo that fuch fubftan-
ces form one of the principal conſtituent
parts of the globe; it is alfo certain that
many of theſe ſubſtances reſemble glaſs in
colour, tranfparency, luftre, hardneſs, and
ſpecific gravity; and as glaſs originates from
fuſion in a ſtrong heat, it was thence in-
ferred that theſe ſubſtances alſo derived their
8
origin
PREFACE.
vii
it
origin from a fimilar fufion in an intenſe
heat; and as in our planetary fyftem fuch
heat could be fufpected only in the SUN,
was concluded that thefe fubftances were
produced in, or rather formed a part of that
luminary, from which, they together with
the other planets were detached by the for-
tuitous fhock of a COMET. Our globe thus
originating, required, it was faid, many
thousand years to cool to fuch a degree as to
allow the vapours that accompanied it to
condenſe into water, and this water was fo
abundant as to cover it to the height of fome
miles; excavations however were at length
formed, into which this liquid gradually
funk; hence the origin of our feas and oceans.
Organic particles (of undefined origin) unit-
ing by unknown plaſtic power, peopled the
feas with shellfish, and ſtocked the continents,
when fufficiently cooled to fupport them,
with land animals.
Farther, as fhells are known to confift of
an earth fimilar to that which forms lime-
ſtone or marble, it was inferred, that after
a feries of ages, the immenſe maffes of cal-
careous ſubſtances, whether found in plains,
or forming mountains, originated from ac-
cumulated comminuted ſhells, the remains
A 4
or
Viil
PEEFACE.
or traces of which are found in many of
them at this day.
This proud gigantic theory was, however,
like another Goliath, foon demoliſhed by a
common flint or pebble, the very ſubſtance
it fprung from; common glafs, effentially
contains an alkaline falt to which alone it
owes its fufibility; filiceous fubſtances con-
tain none, and are abfolutely infuſible when
unaſſociated with any. Maquer found them
infufible not only in furnaces, but in the
ftill incomparably fuperior heat of the con-
centrated folar rays, as did Geyer, Lavoifier,
and Ehrman, in the again higher heat of in-
flamed oxygen. Hence the hypotheſis
grounded on the affumed identity of theſe
fubftances and common glafs, vaniſhed like
the unembodied vifions of the night. With
reſpect to limeſtone, the other pillar on
which this theory refted, Cronfted, Ferber,
Born, Arduino, and Bergman, demonſtrated
the exiſtence of numerous and immenfe
mountains, in which not only no veftiges
of fhells could be traced, but whofe inter-
nal ſtructure or pofition were incompatible
with the fuppofition of an origination
thence derived.
This gaudy illuſion being diffipated, the
internal
PREFACE.
ix
internal ſtructure of the globe was more
patiently and foberly inveſtigated. Moun-
tains offering their conftituent materials
more confpicuouſly to view, were generally
vifited and principally confulted; the chy-
mical properties, and diftinctive characters,
of their component maffes, their external
relations, whether of pofition, fuperpofition,
form, direction, or extenſion, the connexion
of a peculiar conſtitution, with the abſence
or preſence of metallic, or other valuable
ſubſtances, and finally, the preciſe height
of the whole over the level of the fea, were
now carefully attended to, recorded and
publiſhed in moft parts of the civilized
world.
In this magnificent difplay of the inter-
nal arrangement of the globe, many philo-
fophical obfervers acquired diftinguiſhed
eminence from tedious, laborious, painful,
but fucceſsful, exertions. TILAS, GME-
LIN, CRONSTED, FERBER, PALLAS, CHAR-
PENTIER, BORN, WERNER, ARDUINO,
DE LUC, SAUSSURE, and DOLOMIEU, are
names confecrated to IMMORTALITY; to
which I ſhould be proud to add that of a
diftinguiſhed young countryman of our
own who has lately travelled into the eaſt,
if
X
PREFACE.
if his modefty had not as yet prevented the
publication of his obfervations.
I am forry to add, that in this highly
intereſting career of inquiry, of the firſt
importance to civilized fociety, and de-
manding the moft powerful co-operation,
few POTENTATES except our own auguft
Monarch, the late amiable fovereign of
France, and the illuftrious female fovereigns
of Ruffia, particularly the immortal bene-
factreſs of mankind, CATHARINE THE
GREAT, have taken any concern*. No
enterprize however can affuredly reflect
more lafting ſplendour on their reigns, or
more effectually promote the repofe of their
ſubjects, by attracting, abſorbing, and even
exhaufting the activity of fiery fpirits whofe
energies may otherwiſe be pernicioufly em-
ployed in diſturbing the conftitution of the
ftate, inſtead of exploring that of nature †.
As
*The Prince of Brazil may alſo participate of the
fame honourable mention, having, as I am informed,
lately fent to explore the natural hiſtory of that exten-
five region. Portugal, in Signor Camera, now poffeffes
real mineralogical ability.
+ Perhaps the ſhare which fome noted ſcientific men
have lately taken in the convulfions of a neighbouring
country, may feem to invalidate the above affertion,
but
PREFACE.
XI
1
As no work compriſing the generality of
this object has as yet appeared in the Engliſh
language, though ſeveral valuable fragments
bearing fome relation to it may be noticed,
I thought I ſhould make no unacceptable
prefent to the public, by collecting and
exhibiting to its view, the moſt important
obfervations that occur in the works of the
celebrated writers I have already mentioned,
and of many others lefs generally known;
the whole connected by fuch theories as ap-
peared to me moſt probable, either deviſed
by others, or refulting from my own re-
flections. COSMOGONY, an object, con-
fidered in its totality, above the reach of
human underſtanding, I fhould have avoided
but it fhould be remarked, that of the votaries to natural
knowledge, many became the victims of that direful ty-
ranny, fuffering either death as Lavoifier and Diedrich,
or exile as Bournon, De Mazieux, La Peyroufe, &c.
The few whofe names ftill remain enrolled in the ever
execrable annals of anarchy, were nevertheleſs in reality
guiltless of its enormities, being reftrained from oppoſi-
tion, by the then all prevailing terror. The pretended
philofophic reformers of metaphyfics, morality, and politics,
and the frantic enemies of chriſtianity alone prepared, ex-
cited, and acted thoſe atrocious tragedies, in compariſon of
which the accumulated cruelties of ancient tyrants, and
of pagan and chriftian perfecutions, are lost to the fight,
meddling
xii
PREFACE.
meddling with, had it not been for the per-
nicious influence, I obferved fome falfe but
ingenious ſyſtems of it to have on perfons
in other refpects far from ignorant, and
the evident agreement I diſcovered between
the account of it given by MoSES and the
moſt certain and ftriking geological obfer-
vations. This work was ready for the
prefs in June, 1798, but the confufion
arifing from the rebellion then raging in
Ireland, prevented the impreffion. An op-
portunity however occurred of fending the
manuſcript to Germany, where I knew its
tranſlation would be attended with notes,
which might confiderably improve the in-
tended fubfequent publication in Engliſh.
The German tranflation I have lately re-
ceived, accompanied with many notes,
fome of which are very valuable, being ex-
tracted from the Journal of Travels through
Peru, by Mr. Helm, publiſhed in Germany
in 1798, and containing the only exact mi-
neralogical account extant of that intereſting
country; theſe I have inferted and fub-
joined to the prefent publication, with
fuch other remarks as I thought worthy of
notice.
TABLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page
Preface
Introduction
Of the primeval State of the Globe
Of the Deluge
Of fubfequent Catastrophes
Of the Decompofition and Difintegration
Of Lapidification
of Stony Subftances
Of Mountains
iii
I
7
54
87
107
143
154
OF PRIMITIVE MOUNTAINS AND COM-
POUNDS
163
Granite
166
Gneiss, and Shiftofe Mica
173
Siliceous Shiftus, and Bafanite
176
Jafper
177
Hornftone
178
Quartz
179
Pitchftone
180
Hornblende, and Hornblende Slate 181
Indurated Lithomarga
Argillite
+
182
183
Trap
{
xiv
CONTENTS.
Trap
Page
A 185
204
7
Serpentine, and Pottflone
Porphyry
Shiftofe Porphyry
Sandstone
Rubbleftone
205
1
207
1 208
}
2II
Farcilite (Puddingftone), Breccias,
and Marlite
Granular Limeſtone
Gypfum, Fluors
Topaz Rock
Polygenous
OF SECONDARY MOUNTAINS AND
COMPOUNDS
Calcareous.
Limeſtone
Swineftone
Porous Limeſtone
211
213
220
221
221
2-224
228
2330
235
Marlite, and calcareous Sandstone 235
Chalk
236
Gypfum
238
Argillaceous.
Argillite
Ibid.
Indurated Clay
242;
Shale
243
Iudurated
CONTENTS.
XV
Page
Indurated Lithomarga
243
Rubbleftone
244
Sandstone (Argillaceous or ferrugi-
nous)
244
Porphyry
247
Trap, and Baſalt
247
Hornblende
252
Breccias, and Farcilite
252
Siliceous.
Hornftone
254
Jafper
255
Farcilites, and Breccias
255
Siliceous Sandstone
256
Semiprotolite
256
OF VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS
Enumeration of Strata.
OF THE INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT
259
263
IN MOUNTAINS
281
Of Coal Mines
290
Of common Salt and its Mines
350
Of the Sea
Ibid
Of rock Salt
368
Of Salt Springs and Lakes
387
OF METALLIC MINES
399
Native Metals
400
Sulphur-
xvi
CONTENTS,
1
Sulphurated Metals
Calciform Ores
Of metallic Veins
419
423
Of Ores found in primeval Mountains 427
Ores found in fecondary Mountains 430
Of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth. 433
Notes
500
ERRATA.
Page
1 Line 4 for ſhall
·
•
8 laft line
"bave.
10 line
7
forms
13
17
that
17
17
all
233
25
36
37
44
567
22
6
25
2 M
ES QU
111
•
prevails..
Argillaceous
Earths
•
•
Decompofed
Requires
Montarmiata
•
"Peperino, .
16
113
5
114
I
118
24
123
16
And for
125
5
Lapidifcence
127
15
Preadamtic
131 laft line
-it.
147
7 after abforb
150
3
16
168
25
440
19
were
457
4
--- nor
•
•
465
8
Cart(bad
•
Read bould
baving
form
that
almoſt all
Dele the comma' after only
Read at
prevail
Martial argillaceous
Earth
Diffolved
Require
Montamiata
Piperino
Lapidefcence
Preadamitic
the concreted mafs
moiſture
Dele Vitriolic
which in its Read forming a falt which in its
turn
thus in 1775
turn
thus in Swifferland in 1775
are
but not
Carlſbad
1
A few others of flight moment are left to the indulgence of the reader.
GEOLO-
T
+
GEOLOGICAL ESSAYS.
ON THE PRIMITIVÉ STATE OF THE GLOBE
AND ITS SUBSEQUENT CATASTROPHES.
N
In the inveſtigation of paſt facts dependent
on natural cauſes, certain laws of reafoning
ſhould inviolably be adhered to. The firſt
is, that no effect fhall be attributed to a
cauſe whofe known powers are inadequate
to its production. The fecond is, that no
cauſe ſhould be adduced whofe exiftence is
not proved either by actual experience or
approved teſtimony. Many natural phe-
nomena have arifen or do arife in times or
places fo diftant, that well conditioned tef-
timony concerning them cannot without
manifeſt abſurdity be rejected. Thus the
inhabitants of the Northern parts of Eu-
rope, who have never felt earthquakes nor
feen volcanos, muft nevertheleſs admit,
from
B
( 2 )
I
from mere teftimony, that the first have
been, and that the fecond do actually
exiſt.
The third is, that no powers fhould be
afcribed to an alleged cauſe but thoſe that
it is known by actual obſervation to poſſeſs
in appropriated circumſtances.
To theſe laws I mean ftrictly to conform
in the fubfequent inquiry, and on this con-
formity to reft its merits. To them I fhall
appeal in examining the various fyftems I
may have occafion to mention.
To thoſe who may regard this inquiry as
fuperfluous, and confider the actual ſtate of
the globe as alone entitled to philofophical
attention, I fhall beg leave to obferve, that
its original ſtate is fo ftrictly connected
with that which it at prefent exhibits, that
the latter cannot be properly underſtood
without a retroſpect to the former, as will
amply be fhewn in the fequel. Moreover
recent experience has fhewn that the ob-
fcurity in which the philofophical know-
ledge of this ftate has hitherto been in-
volved, has proved too favourable to the
ftructure of various ſyſtems of atheiſm or
infidelity,
8
( 3 )
infidelity, as theſe have been in their turn
to turbulence and immorality, not to en-
deavour to diſpel it by all the lights which
modern geological refearches have ftruck
out. Thus it will be found that geology
naturally ripens, or (to ufe a mineralogical
expreffion) graduates into religion, as this
does into morality.
So numerous indeed and fo luminous have
been the more modern geological reſearch-
es, and fo obviouſly connected with the
object we have now in view, that fince the
obfcuration or obliteration of the primitive
traditions, ſtrange as it may appear, no pe-
riod has occurred fo favourable to the illuf-
tration of the original ſtate of the globe as
the preſent, though fo far removed from
it. At no period has its furface been tra-
verfed in fo many different directions, or
its ſhape and extent under its different mo-
difications of earth and water been fo
nearly aſcertained, and the relative denſity
of the whole fo accurately determined, its
folid conſtituent parts fo exactly diftinguiſh-
ed, their mutual relation, both as to pofi-
tion and compofition, fo clearly traced, or
B 2
purſued
(4)
purfued to fuch confiderable depths, as
within theſe laſt twenty-five years. Neither
have the teftimonies that relate to it been
ever fo critically examined and carefully-
weighed, nor confequently fo well under-
ftood, as within the latter half of this cen-
tury.
The introduction of teftimony into re-
fearches merely philofophical has been, I
am well aware, objected to by many, but
in the prefent cafe the objection evidently
originates in inattention to its object. All
philofophical reſearches are grounded either
on experiment or obfervation fingly or
jointly, and the confequences clearly dedu-
cible from them. Where recourfe cannot
be had to experiment, as in the preſent
cafe, there obſervation fingly muſt be re-
forted to, but as objects even of obſerva-
tion are not of daily occurrence, and many
of them muſt have exifted at diftant inter-
vals of time and place, recourſe muſt be
had to its records, and confequently to teſti-
mony. Aftronomy furniſhes us with a caſe
in point. This is a fcience purely philofo-
phical, yet aftronomers have never hesitated
to
( 5 )
to admit the obſervations of an Hipparchus
or a Ptolemy. In effect, paſt geological
facts being of an hiſtorical nature, all aṭ-
tempts to deduce a complete knowledge of
them merely from their ſtill fubfifting con-
fequences, to the exclufion of unexception-
able teftimony, muſt be deemed as abfurd
as that of deducing the hiſtory of ancient
Rome folely from the medals or other mo-
numents of antiquity it ſtill exhibits, or the
ſcattered ruins of its empire, to the exclu-
fion of a Livy, a Salluft, or a Tacitus.
That great changes have taken place on the
furface of the globe fince the commence-
ment of its exiſtence, changes that for fome
thouſand years have not been repeated, is
allowed on all hands. What then fhould
render thefe facts and the circumftances
attending them unſuſceptible of teſtimony?
not furely their improbability or difcrepance
with actual obfervation, fince their reality
is confeffed by all; with refpect to fome of
them I can think of no reafon but one, and
that indeed at the first blufh fufficiently
plauſible, namely, that their exiſtence pre-
ceded that of the human fpecies; this cer-
tainly
B 3
1
( 6 )
17
tainly proves that the knowledge of the
hiftorian that relates them (fuppofing him
to have any) was not 'as to fuch facts ob-
tained by human means. But if in a feries
of facts, diſcovered by an inveſtigation to
which the witnefs was an utter ftranger,
an exact agreement with the relation of
the hiftorian be diſcerned, not barely as to
the fubftance of the facts but even as to
the order and fucceffion of their exiſtence,
in ſuch caſe it muſt be acknowledged that
the relation is true, let the knowledge of
the hiftorian have been obtained how it
may. If its primary fource cannot be hu-
man, it muſt have been fupernatural, and
moft affuredly worthy of credit even in
fuch inftances as have not as yet been cor-
roborated by obſervation, or perhaps are
incapable of fuch additional proof.
ſuch an account of the primeval ſtate of
the globe and of the principal cataſtrophe it
anciently underwent, I am bold to ſay
Mofes preſents to us, and I make no doubt
of demonftrating in the following Effays.
Now
ESSAY
( 7 )
ESSAY I.
ON THE PRIMEVAL STATE OF THE
GLOBE.
THE firſt remarkable fact that prefents
itſelf to our notice on confidering the pri-
mitive ſtate of the globe is, that its ſuper-
ficial parts, at leaſt to a certain depth,
muſt have originally been in a foft or liquid
ftate. This fact is inferred from the ſhape
it at prefent exhibits, which, as aftrono-
mers tell us, is, that of a fpheroid com-
preffed at the poles, the polar diameter be-
ing found feveral miles fhorter than the
equatorial; nor is it at the poles only that
this compreffion is obfervable, but in all
the higher degrees of latitude, nearly in
proportion to their proximity to the poles.
This fhape it evidently could not affume
unleſs to a certain depth its fuperficial parts
were in a foft or liquid ftate. Some geolo-
gical obfervations alfo indicate that its com-
ponent parts, even thoſe that are at preſent
B 4
the
( 8 )
!
A
the moſt folid, were originally in a foft
ftate.
Thus in the mountains of Quedlice
and Portficellet in Norway, which confift
of an argillaceous pudding ſtone, the fili-
ceous pebbles it contains are obſerved to be
compreffed to the thickneſs of about of an
inch in the lower parts of the mountains,
but to increaſe in fize and roundnefs in
proportion as their fituation is higher.-
1. Bergm. Erde Befch. 182. and in the
Vivarois the loweſt ſtrata of primitive lime-
ftone have been found of the thickneſs of
only of an inch*, but in proportion to
their heighth in the mountain their thick-
nefs increaſes, until at its fummit it ar-
rives to thirty or forty feet. 1. Soulavie,
178. Mr. Ferner made the fame obferva-
tion in England†, but it is needleſs to in-
fift further on this point, as it is now ge-
nerally allowed.
With respect to the interior and more
central parts, they have been hitherto in-
* This, however, does not always happen, I Sauff.
195, for the reafon given ibid. 453.
+ 1 Roz. 8vo. p. 64. and Gruber in Carniola. Phy.
Arbeit. 2d. Stuck. 3.
acceffible,
( 9 )
L
acceffible, nothing can be determined from
immediate obfervation, but we may col-
lect with fufficient certainty, and it is now
generally acknowledged, that at the time
of the creation, and for many centuries af-
ter, they contained immenfe empty ca-
verns, and confequently confifted of mate-
rials fufficiently folid to refift the preffure
of the enormous mafs of liquid fubftance
placed over them. See Bofcovich, and 4
La Metherie 15.
The liquidity thus proved to exiſt in the
more fuperficial parts of the globe, com-
prehending even thoſe that are now moſt
ſolid, muſt have proceeded either from ig-
neous fufion or folution in water.
The hy-
potheſis of igneous fufion wars with every
notion which experiment has taught us to
form either of fire or its fuel, or the pro-
perties and appearances of the various fub-
ſtances ſuppoſed to be fubjected to it, as I
have fhewn at large in a former differtation
contained in the Tranfactions of the Iriſh
Academy; the latter perfectly accords, and
much more perfectly than I was then aware
of, with all the properties and characters
that
( 10 )
-
that all the folids now known exhibit, thofe
confeffedly of volcanic origin folely ex-
cepted.
The difficult folubility in water of moſt
of the folids which the globe at preſent ex-
hibits, and the immenfe quantity of that
fluid requiſite to effect their folution, forms
the only difficulty that has hitherto embar-
raffed geologifts, though it has prevented
fcarce any of them from admitting that fo-
lution. Moſt of them have ſuppoſed that
at that early period fome menftruum ex-
ifted capable of effecting it. This diffi-
culty, however, proceeds folely from inatten-
tion to the firſt demonſtrated fact, namely,
that the globe at its origin, at leaſt to a
certain depth, was a liquid mafs; therefore
the folids that at prefent compofe it were
not originally in a folid ſtate, whoſe con-
verfion into a ſtate of liquidity would cer
tainly require more water than is known
to exift, but were at the very commence-
ment of their exiſtence in that ſtate of mi-
nute divifion which aqueous folution re-
quires, but which no known exiſting quan-
tity of that fluid would be able to effect,
Now
( II )
Now it is a well known chemical fact,
that lefs of any menftruum is requifite to
keep a ſolid ſubſtance in folution, at leaſt
for a fhort time, than originally to diffolve it.
Yet if the quantity of
aqueous fluid re-
quifite even to keep the mafs of folids in
folution were too fmall, as poffibly it may
have been, this would only haften the ſe-
cond general fact, to which I now proceed,
namely, the cryftallization, precipitation,
and depoſition of theſe folids. But before
I enter on this event it will be neceffary to
confider more particularly the ſtate of this
original chaotic fluid.
The water which conftituted this men-
ftruum, being in a liquid ftate, muſt have
been heated at leaſt to thirty-three degrees,
and poffibly much higher. Secondly, it
contained the eight generic earths, all the
metallic and femi-metallic fubftances now
known, the various fimple faline ſubſtances,
and the whole tribe of inflammables, fo-
lid, and liquid, which are of a fimple na-
ture, variouſly diſtributed, forming upon
the whole a more complex menftruum
than any that has fince exiſted, and con-
fequently
,
:
( 12 )
fequently endued with properties very dif-
ferent from any with which we have been
fince acquainted.
Hence elementary fire or the principle of
heat muſt have been coeval with the crea-
tion of matter, and the general properties
of gravitation and elective attraction may
be fuppofed of equal date.
The proportion of the different materials
contained in the chaotic fluid to each other,
may be ſuppoſed upon the whole nearly
the fame as that which they at preſent bear
to each other, the filiceous earth being by
far the moſt copious, next to that, the fer-
ruginous, then the argillaceous and calca-
reous, laſtly, the magneſian, barytic, Scot-
tifh, and Iargonic, in the order in which
they are named, the metallic fubftances
(except iron) moſt ſparingly; in particular
parts, however, of this polygenous fluid a
very different proportion must have ob-
tained (as in fome parts of the globe) ſome
fpecies of earth or metal, &c. have ever-
more been found more copious than in
others. Some geologifts, as Buffon, and
of late Dr. Hutton, have excluded calca-
reous
( 13 )
pro-
reous earth from the number of the primeval,
afferting the maffes of it we at preſent be-
hold, to proceed from ſhell fiſh. But in addi-
tion to the unfounded ſuppoſition, that ſhell
fiſh or any animals poffefs the
power of
ducing any fimple earth, theſe philofophers
fhould have confidered that before the exiſt-
ence of any fiſh the ftony maffes that in-
cloſe the baſon of the fea muſt have exifted,
and among theſe there is none in which
calcareous earth is not found. Of this cir-
cumſtance indeed Buffon was ignorant, the
analyſes that prove it being unknown to
him. Dr. Hutton endeavours to evade this
argument by fuppofing the world we now
inhabit to have arifen from the ruins and
fragments of an anterior, and that of
another ſtill prior, without pointing at any
original. If we are thus to proceed in in-
finitum I fhall not pretend to follow him,
but if he ftops any where, unlefs he alfo
ſuppoſes his primitive globe abſolutely dif-
ferent from that which we inhabit, (and
with fuch I do not meddle) he will find
the fame argument equally to occur.
In a fluid conſtituted as that juſt men-
tioned, it is evident from the laws of
elective
#
( 14 )
elective attraction, that the various folids
diffuſed through it muſt ſoon have coalefced
in various proportions according to the laws
of this attraction and the prefence or proxi-
mity of the ingredients, and thus have cryf-
tallized into different groups, which defcend-
ed to and were depofited on the inferior
folid kernel of the globe *. In thofe tracts
in which the filiceous, and next to it the
argillaceous earth moſt abounded, (and fuch
tracts appear to have been by far the moſt
extenſive) granite and gneifs appear to have
been firſt formed, and their formation may
thus be explained: Both theſe rocks confift
of quartz, felſpar and mica, in a variable
proportion, but the quartz and felſpar are
generally the moft copious. Theſe ſtones
are themſelves compofed of filiceous and
argillaceous particles, and particularly the
firſt, principally of filiceous, the two latter
admitting alſo the argillaceous and a ſmall
proportion of the calcareous, the magneſian
and in fome inſtances of the barytic. Now of
theſe earths, that ſhould coalefce firſt, which
* Mr. De Luc's opinion that ftones were formed by
mere depofition, is refuted by Charpentier. Saxony,
P. 304, 305.
with
( 15 )
with an equally ſmall affinity to water was
at the fame time moſt plentifully contain-
ed in it, its particles being more within the
reach of each other's attraction. Hence we
may conclude that the quartz firſt cryſtal-
lized, ſcarce ever indeed, perfectly, from
the diſturbance that muſt have occurred in
fuch an immenfe body of an heterogeneous
fluid, nor perfectly pure by reafon of its af-
finity to argil and calx*. Next to this fel-
fpar, containing a ſmaller proportion of filex
and a larger of the other earths, proportions
which, from their eafy fufibility, alfo appear
to exhibit the maximum of attraction of
theſe earths to each other when filex and
argil prevail, muſt have cryftallized next,
and laſtly the mica, a ſtone in which the
proportion of filex to argil is ftill fmaller.
The portion of water difengaged from thefe
earths gradually afcended and made room
for new hoots, which attaining the fore,
going before they were perfectly hardened,
adhered to them cloſely, and thus at laſt
vaft uniform blocks were formed; where
the ſhoots had not attained a certain degree
* Lime water precipitates Silex, from Liquor Sili-
cum, 22 An. Chy. 110. See 6 Sauffure, 186.
of
វ
( 16 ).
of hardneſs, or the fofter ingredient, viz. the
mica abounded, the gneifs was formed; and
where the proportions requifite to form fel-
fpar were deficient, the other granitic in-
gredients being prefent, fhiftofe mica was
formed. Hence we may underſtand how it
happened that gneifs fhould fometimes be
found in granite*, and fometimes maſſes of
granite in the midſt of gneifs, and why in
mountains, granite, gneifs and ſhiftofe
mica frequently alternate with each other.
Charpent. 390†.
As the fluid from which theſe cryſtal-
lized granitic maffes fubfided was of the
moſt heterogeneous kind, it is not to be
wondered at that various metallic fub-
ſtances, and particularly iron, and even fome
traces of carbon and plumbago, fhould fome-
times occur in them. 2 Sauff. 451. 2
Bergm. Jour. 1790. 532.
In other tracts where the fame earths oc-
curred, but not in the proportions fitted to
produce granitic ingredients, other maffes
of the filiceous genus, as filiceous fhiftus, fili-
* Werner kurze Claffif. 9, 10. 6 Sauff. 195.
+He fhews them to be coeval, p. 396 and ante, and
8 Sauff. 55.
7
ceous
( 17 )
ceous porphyries, jaſpers,&c.were formed by
a leſs perfect and confuſed cryſtallization,
or partly cryſtallized and partly depofited,
as in 6 Sauff. 128, § 1574.
In various places argillites, hornblende
flates, ferpentines and other primeval ſtones
of various denominations muſt have arifen
according to the predominant proportion of
their ingredients by a more or lefs perfect
or partial cryftallization. 4 La Methe-
rie, 86.
Metallic fubftances (all of which I ſup-
poſe to have originally exifted in their com-
plete metallic ſtate) and particularly iron,
of all others the moſt copious, muft in fun-
dry inſtances have met and combined with
fulphur, the ſubſtance to which all, and
particularly iron, have the greateſt affinity,
and thus pyritous ſubſtances and fulphurat-
ed ores originated. Petrol, fpecifically lighter
indeed than water, but involved in the cha-
otic fluid, meeting fulphur to which it has
an affinity, with it formed a liquid fpe-
cifically heavier, which gradually involved
and was abforbed by carbonic particles
which were thus collected and precipitated.
It is a fact at preſent well eſtabliſhed,
C
that
( 18 )
that in the act of cryſtallization a very con-
fiderable degree of heat is generated. Judg-
ing by analogy, how great then muſt have
been the heat produced by the cryftalliza-
tion of fuch immenfe quantities of ftony
maffes as took place at this period? the
immediate effect of which muſt have been
an
enormous and univerfal evaporation,
fweeping over the furface of the heated
fluid according to the inequality of its di-
fufion and of the cauſes that produced it in
various tracts.
The heat thus produced muſt have been
ftill farther increafed in confequence of an
event which naturally refulted from the de-
gree at firſt excited. For in confequence
of the heat and evaporation, the quantity of
the chaotic fluid (the univerſal menftruum),
as alſo its ſpecific gravity, were diminiſhed,
and thus the ſubſtances contained in it (of
which it was not the moſt natural folvent)
were ſtill more difpofed to precipitation, as
ufually happens in fuch cafes; thus then
the ferruginous particles naturally not fo-
luble while in their metallic ſtate in any
fluid, and of which immenfe quantities ex-
ifted, were rapidly and copiouſly precipitat-
7
ed;
( 19 )
ed; the aqueous particles intercepted be-
tween them muft in that cafe have been
decompofed, and an immenfe quantity of
inflammable air fet loofe, the heat thus pro-
duced increafing with the maffes operated up-
on, muſt have rifen at laſt to incandefcence;
in that circumſtance the oxygen abforbed
muſt have been in great meafure expelled,
and in its naſcent ſtate meeting and uniting
with the inflammable air muſt have burſt
into flame. The progreſs of fuch high de-
grees of heat muſt have difengaged all the
oxygen contained in the contiguous chaotic
fluid, which uniting partly with
with more
metallic iron, partly with the fulphurated
and partly with the carbonic and bitu-
minous fubftances, muſt have occafioned a
ſtupendous conflagration, the effects of
which may well be ſuppoſed to have ex-
tended even to the folid bafis on which the
chaotic fluid repofed, and to have rent and
ſplit it to an unknown extent.
That flame fhould thus burft from the
bofom of the deep is not a forced fuppofi-
tion, but has frequently been verified in lat-
ter times. I fhall only mention one in-
C 2
ftance
( 20 )
ftance which happened in the beginning of
this century, when flames burſt out of the
fea near Tercera, and an ifland was ele-
vated*.
Theſe volcanic eruptions, many of which
feem to have taken place at this period,
chiefly in the fouthern hemifphere, were
attended with important confequences; the
firſt muſt have been the diffufion of a con-
fiderable heat through the whole maſs of
the chaotic fluid, by which means the oxy-
gen and mephitic airs diſperſed through it
muſt have been extricated, and thus gradu-
ally formed the atmoſphere.
The fecond was the production of fixed
air from the union of oxygen with the ig-
nited carbon; this at firft rofe into and dif-
fuſed itſelf through the atmoſphere, but in
proportion as the chaotic fluid cooled it was
gradually abforbed by it. This abforbtion
occafioned the precipitation, and more or
lefs regular cryſtallization of the calcareous
earth, the greater part of which being
much more foluble than the other earths,
* 6 Phil. Tranſ. Abridg. 2d Part, 203.
ftill
( 21 )
ftill remained in folution after the others
had, for the most part, been depofited.
This explains why many of theſe primitive
calcareous maffes are of all others the freeſt
from foreign admixture. In fome in-
ftances, however, it muſt have happened
that the calcareous particles intermixed
with other earths were faturated before the
reunion and depofition of the other earths,
and hence, in fome countries, ftrata of
primitive calcareous maffes occur in thé
midſt of gneifs, or alternating with it; but
theſe inſtances are very rare *
That the formation of fixed air was an
event fubfequent to the formation of moſt
of the primeval ftones, appears from the
obfervation, that the calcareous earth
found in the compofition of primeval
ſtones is in a cauſtic ſtate. 44 Roz. 206.
The immenfe maffes concreted and de-
pofited on the interior nucleus of the carth
formed the primitive mountains. It may,
perhaps, be thought that this depofition
fhould be equally diffufed, and fhould con-
ftitute only an even cruft over this interior
nucleus, but fuch a difpofition is contrary
* See Charpentier, 399, 402, 403.
4
C3
to
( 22 )
to the nature of cryftallization, between
whoſe ſhoots an interval always intercedes,
if not too fudden. The water first dif
charged of its diffolved contents, and there-
by heated, moved upwards, being preffed
by the circumambient denfer fluid, which
was too heterogeneous to mix with, and
be diluted by it. The depofit already form-
ed affording to the fucceeding portions of
the charged fluid a bafis whofe points of
contact were fo much the more numerous
as its height was greater, thereby deter-
mined theſe portions to a fimilar depofition,
until the diminiſhed denfity or exhauſtion
of the menftruum diminiſhed or put an end
to the number and extent of the points of
contact of the depofited maffes with the
folids contained in the menftruum. In
fome cafes alfo, particularly after the chao-
tic fluid was heated by the cauſes already
mentioned, and a confiderable evaporation
had enfued, the cryſtallization might have
begun at the furface, as we fee happen to
fome falts and to lime-water. Thus ex-
tenfive ftrata might have been fucceffively
depofited, moſtly in an horizontal, but of-
ten
#
( 23 )
ten from accidental ruptures during their
fall, in an oblique, or nearly vertical, pofi-
tion. Thus far we are led by general ana-
logies, without the affiftance of romantic
or gratuitous hypotheſes, and the view of
the fubject, thus obtained, is fufficient for
the explanation of moſt of the obſervations
hitherto made on the ftructure of primitive
mountains.
The formation of plains is eafily under-
ftood; in the wide intervals of diftant
mountains, after the firſt cryſtallized maffes
had been depoſited, the folid particles ſtill
contained in the chaotic fluid, but too dif-
tant from each other's ſphere of attraction
to concrete into cryftals, and particularly
thoſe that are known to be leaft difpofed to
cryſtallize, and alſo to have leaſt affinity to
water, were gradually and uniformly depo-
fited. Of this nature argillaceous particles
are known to be, intermixed as may well
be expected with a large proportion of
filiceous and ferruginous particles of all
others the moft abundant, and fome par-
ticles of the other earths; by thefe com-
pound and flightly concreted earths the fur-
C 4
face
(24)
face of plains were originally covered. In
procefs of time thefe earths undoubtedly
received an abundant increaſe from the de-
compofition of primitive mountains, but
this being an event of a poſterior date need
here be only curforily mentioned.
The next important event neceffary to
fit the globe for the reception of land ani-
mals, was the diminution and recefs of the
chaotic fluid in whofe bofom the mountains.
were formed, and the confequent diſcloſure
of the dry land. This event was the natu-
ral confequence of the operation of the pre-
ceding volcanoes, by theſe the bed of the
ocean was fcooped, moſt probably as we
fhall hereafter fee, in the Southern hemi-
fphere. But no change or tranſpoſition of
the folid materials depofited from the cha-
otic fluid could lower its level, unleſs the
inferior nucleus of the globe could receive it
within its hollow and empty caverns; this
admittance it gained through the numerous.
rifts occafioned by the antecedent fires; at
firſt rapidly, but afterwards more flowly, in
proportion as the perpendicular height of
the fluid was diminiſhed, and thus the
emerged
( 25 )
emerged continent confifting of mountains
and plains was gradually laid bare and dried,
and by drying, confolidated.
The diſcloſure of the actual continents,
as I have juſt hinted, appears to have been
gradual. The tracts at firſt uncovered were
thoſe whoſe height over the prefent feas
amounts to 8500 or 9000 feet, or more.
This height comprehends moſt of the
Eaſtern heights of Siberia, between lati-
tude 49° and 55°, and of the extenfive re-
gions of Great Tartary, Thibet, the defert
of Coby or Chamo, and China, reaching in
fome places to latitude 35°, and extending
in the Northern parts from the fources of
the Irtifh, long. 95°, and in the more
Southern from the heads of the Ganges and
Bourampooter, long. 80°, Hohanho and
Porentfho to long. 190° at the leaft, and,
perhaps, ſtill farther into the unknown
parts of Eaſtern America.
In Europe, only, the fummits of the
Alps, Pyrenees, and of a few other moun-
tains, were uncovered, but in Americà the
narrow but long chain of the Cordeliers
muſt have raiſed its fummits far above the
ocean;
( 26 )
ocean; this fact is a neceffary inference
from that which I am next to mention.
The level of the ancient ocean being
lowered to the height of about 8500 or 9000
feet, then, and not before, it began to be
peopled with fish. I fhall, therefore, from
its fimilitude to our prefent feas hencefor-
ward denote it by this denomination, to
diſtinguiſh it from the chaotic fluid, whofe
compofition was fo different and contained
no fiſh.
That the creation of fifh was an event
fubfequent to the emerfion of the tracts
juſt mentioned and to the reduction of the
waters to the height I have ſtated, is prov-
ed by the obfervations of all thoſe who have
vifited thoſe countries. Pallas informs us
that the immenfe defert of Cobea or Cha-
mo forms a flat platform whofe elevation
can be compared only to that of Quito in
Peru (which Bouguer has the wn to amount
to upwards of 9000 feet), and that the
plains of the Moguls all along to the Chi-
nefe wall are nearly of the fame height*.
*1 Act. Petrop. 1777, p. 38.
Major
( 27 )
Major Rennel, in his account of the
map of India, tells us, that the country of
Thibet is one of the higheſt in Afia, being
part of that elevated tract which gives rife
not only to the rivers of India and China,
but to thofe of Siberia and Tartary. The
Southern ridge of the mountains of Bou-
tan (Thibet) rifes, he fays, about a mile
and a half above the plains of Bengal, and
may be ſeen in a horizontal diſtance of one
hundred and fifty miles, p. 93 and 94, which
indicates a height of fifteen thouſand feet,
or allowing for refraction according to Dr.
Mafkelyne's rule, eleven thouſand nine
hundred and eighty-one feet *.
According to Abbé Man's calculations,
*The Mountains of Chineſe Tartary, N.E. of the
Chineſe wall, have been found, by barometrical mea-
furement, to be 15810 feet, 1 Bergm. Erdekuzel 172.
If the miſtake amounted even to 3000 feet, which is the
moſt that can be fuppofed, ftill their height would ex-
ceed 12000 feet.
The afcent to Tartary is fuch, that ſome parts of it
have been aſcertained to be 15000 feet above the furface
of the Yellow fea, 2 Staunton 206. See alfo p. 508.
The mountain that divides Kiangfce province from that
of Chantung, the fource of the river, is about 7000
feet high.
of
( 28 )
of all others the most accurate and the
moſt moderate, the height of the Ganges
and Hohanho, even at one thoufand miles
diſtance from the ſea, muſt be three thou-
fand fix hundred and thirty feet *. But Ma-
jor Rennel has fhewn in the Philofophical
Tranſactions, 1781, p. 90, that the head
of the Ganges is two thoufand miles diftant
from the ſea, therefore the country it flows
from is elevated at leaſt eight thouſand eight
hundred, or nine thouſand feet.
Now in thefe elevated tracts no marine
fhells or petrifactions are found in the body
of any mountain, nor in any ftone, not
even in limeſtone, though it abound, parti-
cularly about the fources of the Amour,
Herm. 1 Chy. An. 1791, p. 155. But all
the calcareous maffes that occur are either
what are called faline like Carrara marble, or
fo fine grained foliated as to appear nearly
compact, but of the primitive kind. This
abfence of marine fhells and petrifactions
from fuch extenfive regions has attracted
the particular notice of all travellers into
theſe parts as they are fo abundantly found
in all lower tracts of the globe, Gmelin, 45,
* Phil. Tranf. 1779.
Phil.
( 29 )
Phil. Tranf. 254. Pallas, 1 Act. Petrop.
44. Patrin, 38 Roz. 227. And though
falt ſprings and lakes are found in the higheft
plains, Pallas, ibid. 38, and even coal mines
in the mountains, yet no organic remains
accompany theſe mines as they do in the
lower tracts of the globe, Patrin, 38 Roz.
226. Pallas indeed remarks fome few pe-
trifactions have been found in the rifts even
of granitic mounts, but theſe he rightly
judges were depoſited there at the time of
the deluge; ibid. 44.
Hence I think it follows evidently that
theſe tracts were indeed formed in the bo-
fom of the primitive ocean, like all others,
but that they were uncovered before the
creation of fifh, and fince they contain
limeſtone, that this ftone does not neceffa-
rily and univerfally originate from commi-
nuted fhells, as Buffon and others have ad-
vanced *.
That fiſh did not exift until the level of the
ocean was depreffed to about eight thouſand
five hundred feet, may alfo be inferred with
* See alfo Charpentier's Demonftration of Buffon's
Error, p. 399 and 402, &c.
equal
( 30 )
equal evidence from this obfervation, that
though ſeveral lofty mountains at preſent
exiſt, which far exceed that height, yet no
petrifactions or fhells are incorporated in
the rocks or ftrata that form them*. This
De la Peyrouſe attefts with refpect to the
Pyrenees, which yet are moftly calcareous.
Traite des Mines de fer, 336. Nor are any
found in Santo Velino, the higheſt of the
Appenines, its height being eight thoufand
three hundred feet, whereas they abound
in thoſe that are lower. In the Savoyan
Alps, Salenche, Saleve, Mole, the Dole, all
of which are calcareous, but below the
height of ſeven thouſand feet, contain pe-
trifactions, but the Buet, which is alfo cal-
careous for the greater part, but whoſe
height exceeds ten thouſand feet, contains
Sauffure paffim. But quere if the
Buet be not fecondary? 7 Sauff. 296, and 1
none.
* Shell fifh appear to be of all others the moſt an-
cient; perhaps the reafon might be, that they could live
in water more turbid with heterogeneous ingredients,
and more fouled with Petrol, than other fifh, or be-
cauſe the fea was originally more falt.
Many amphibious marine animals require the exiſtence
of land to produce their young. See 38 Roz. 283.
Sauff.
( 31 )
Sauff. § 590; it is not, though in vol. 7 he
feems to ſay it is.
And reciprocally of the mountains that
contain petrifactions embodied in their maſs,
none reaches to the height of eight thou-
fand fix hundred feet. With refpect to
the Hartz, Lafius remarks, that no petri-
factions are found in the mountains whofe
height exceeds two thouſand three hun-
dred and ten feet, Lafius, 148; and Re-
novants, p. 76, afferts, that none of thoſe
of Siberia on either fide of the Altai exceed
two thouſand Paris feet. Nay Pallas does
not allow to calcareous mountains that con-
tain petrifactions (which on this account he
judges to be formed in the fea) above thir-
teen or fourteen hundred feet, 1 Act. Pe-
trop. 59; but a view of the mountains of
Switzerland fhews that many of them are
much higher.
The neareſt approach I have met with,
to the limits I have affigned to the height
of the ancient ocean when it began to be
peopled with fiſh, is an obſervation of Mr.
De Luc's, that he found cornua ammonis
petrified on mount Grenier, whoſe height
is feven thoufand eight hundred feet, 2d
Lettres
( 32 )
Lettres à la Reine, 227; and another of
Baron Zoits on the mountain of Terglore
in Carniola, that petrifactions were found
in limeftone at the height of between thir-
teen and fourteen hundred German lachters;
taking fuch to be equal to thoſe of the
Hartz, the height was eight thouſand five
hundred Engliſh feet nearly, and hence I
have extended the limits to eight thouſand
five hundred feet, yet it does not appear by
Mr. De Luc's relation that theſe petrifac-
tions were imbodied in the ftone or rock
which conftitutes the mountain, and there-
fore may well be only relics of the deluge.
He alſo fays that the chain of Jura abounds
in marine remains; but Jura confifts of
two chains, the higheft of which confifts
of primeval limeftone in which no petri-
factions are found, and this is the higheſt,
30 Roz. 275, and
and II Annales Chy. 265, but
the lower chain certainly abounds in them.
Fichtel alſo remarks that ftill higher on the
mountains of Terglore no petrifactions are
found imbodied, Mineral Aufsatz, p. 4.
After this elevated tract of the globe had
been uncovered, there is no reaſon to fup-
poſe that it long remained diveſted of ve-
getables
8
( 33 )
(33
getables or unpeopled by animals, being in
every reſpect fitted to receive them. The
fevere degree of cold which at preſent dif-
treffes theſe countries during the winter
months, is folely owing to their diſtance
from, and elevation over, the actual feas
(as I have elſewhere fhewn), circumſtances
that did not exiſt at this period.
That the retreat of the fea from the low-
er parts of our preſent continents was gra-
dual and not fully effected until after the
lapfe of feveral centuries, many reaſons in-
duce us to believe. 1°. Both fides of the Al-
taifchan platform exhibit fecondary moun-
tains (fo I call all thoſe which contain marine
fhells or other remains of animal or vege-.
table ſubſtances between their ftrata, or
incorporated in the rocks or ſtones of which
they confift) both of the calcareous and ar-
gillitic kind, in which marine ſhells abound,
Renov. 75; theſe therefore muſt have been
formed before the fea had receded far from
theſe parts, and muſt have been the work
of many years.
2do. Not only in every region of Europe,
but alſo of both the old and new continents,
Ꭰ
D
whofe
1
( 34 )
whofe fituation is inferior to that above
mentioned, immenfe quantities of marine
fhells either difperfed or collected have been
diſcovered. In the province of Touraine in
France, at one hundred miles diftance from
the fea, there exiſts at a depth of eight or
nine feet a heap of fhells of nine leagues in
furface, and upwards of twenty feet in
depth, many of which are thofe of the
neighbouring feas, a collection which cer-
tainly required many years to accumulate.
-Mem. Paris, 1720. p. 524, 540. Moft
of thefe fhells are placed on their flat and
not on their convex furface-Ibid. which
fhews they muſt have been gently depofited,
and not huddled together by a fudden and
violent inundation. In fome places fhells
of different fpecies are thus accumulated,
but in others they are regularly arranged in
families.-1 Bergm. Erdekug. 251. 262.
6 Roz. 120.
Widem. Verwandl. 118..
Mem. Par. 1747. 1059. which fhews alſo
that they were neither fuddenly nor pro-
mifcuouſly collected. Many fmaller but
fimilar accumulations occur in England, as
may be ſeen in the Philof. Tranf. and Ray's
Difcourfes,
8
( 35
()
35 Diſcourſes, and in Peru 2 Don Ulloa's Voy.
197. and alſo in Italy, Spain, Germany,
Poland, Sweden, &c. which being gene-
rally known and acknowledged it is need-
lefs to detail, but it deferves particular at-
tention, though many of them are found
at a depth of from eight to one or two
hundred feet under the ſurface of the earth,-
and at ſtill greater depths from the ſurface
of mountains, yet fcarce any are found
lower than the actual ſurface of the bed of
the fea.-1 Bergm. Erde, 176. 2 Wms.
183, contra, but this is in the Atlantic, a
fea newly formed. Some indeed are found
that do not now occur in the neighbouring
coaft, becauſe they are of the kind called
Pelagica, which exiſt only at great depths,
as Don Ulloa has fhewn, 2 Voy. 197. or
becauſe the temperature of the actual feas is
unfit for them, as the ancient feas, from
the ſmaller extent of the ancient continents,
muſt have been much warmer; nay the
number of theſe unknown fhells is daily
diminiſhing.
We may alſo remark that the loweſt
countries, as Brabant and Holland, contain
moſt of them. In particular tracts of Ruf-
D 2
fia
( 36 )
1
fia they are alſo very copious, becauſe theſe
tracts were longer covered by the fea than
moſt other countries, as will be fhewn in
a future Effay.
4°. Trees of different kinds and various ve-
getables have been found in great depths in
our modern continents, and even under lofty
mountains, as at Meiffen in Heffia, and
often mixed with marine remains. Some
parts of the earth on which thefe trees
grew must therefore have been dry land,
while thofe parts in which the trees are
found were covered by the ſea, therefore
the retreat of the fea muſt have been gra-
dual. Many I am fenfible aſcribe theſe
depofitions to the ravages of the univerfal
deluge, and in fome cafes, I believe, juſtly,
but as they are often under hills or moun-
tains, whofe ftrata are regularly diſpoſed, a
regularity that can fcarce be fuppofed to
take place during the turbulence of a de-
luge, in theſe caſes it appears their depofi-
tion muſt be afcribed to more tranquil
caufes.
5º. Trees have often been found depofited
near the fummits of many mountains at
heights in which from the degree of cold
which
( 37 )
which at preſent prevails on them they
could not grow, therefore they muſt have
grown when the temperature of theſe fum-
mits was warmer, and conſequently when
they were leſs elevated over the ſurface of
the fea, and lefs diftant from it. See the
Note in 1 Berg. Erdekugel, 253 of the.
Pholades and De Luc.
Laſtly,-Stratified mountains of various
heights beneath eight thouſand feet exiſt in
different parts of Europe, and of both con-
tinents, in and betwixt whofe ftrata various
fubftances of marine, and fome vegetables
of terreftrial origin repofe, either in their
natural ſtate or petrified; the regularity
and uniformity of theſe ftrata ſtrongly indi-
cate a cauſe whofe action was regular and
uniform and long continued; now tides
are the only cauſe of this nature with which
we are acquainted; fudden and violent in-
undations and of fhort continuance are in-
compatible with ſtratifications fo regular
and numerous.
In fome few inftances, it
,
is true, much irregularity and confufion
prevails amongſt the ftrata, from the diffo-
lution, elapfion, or different compreffion
of fome of thefe ftrata, or from their inter-
D 3
ruption
*
( 38 )
ruption during their formation, by the
introduction of extraneous rocks projected
amongſt them by adventitious caufes, as
earthquakes or volcanoes; or the tides
themſelves may have fometimes been ren-
dered irregular by ftorms, currents or the
irregular profile of the fhores, as we daily
obferve. But even in theſe cafes the length
of time neceffary for the formation of the
ſtrata excludes all fufpicion of ſhort and tu-
multuary inundations.
We alſo obſerve, that though the ftrata
themſelves are not arranged in the order
of the ſpecific grayities of the materials that
compofe them, the lighter being frequently
placed beneath the heavier, yet within
each ftratum the materials that compoſe it
are almoſt always arranged according to the
laws of their gravitation. 1 Bergm. Erde,
179.
Theſe phenomena fully prove that the
retreat of the ſea from the vicinity of the
lofty mountains and elevated platforms that
firft emerged was not fudden, but continued
for feveral ages, and that the various ftra-
tified ſecondary mountains at preſent ex-
ifting were formed within it during its re-
treat,
( 39 )
treat, and after the creation of fifh. The
mode of their formation now claims our
attention.
To form as juſt an idea of the formation
of fecondary mountains as the nature of an
object inſcrutable to human eyes can allow
us*, we muſt obſerve, 1º. That the greater
part of the particles of folid matter contained
in the chaotic fluid being depofited before
the creation of fish, the various materials that
enter into the compofition of ſecondary
mountains muſt have been furniſhed either
by the deſtruction of ſuch of the primary as
exiſted in the fea, but either from want of fo-
lidity or the fmallneſs of their mafs were too
feeble to reſiſt its impetuofity when ani-
mated by ftorms, and being by continued
friction reduced to atoms, or rolled into
tumblers, were either diffuſed through, or
hurried along by the agitation of the waters,
or were crumbled to pieces by earthquakes,
and variouſly diſperſed through the ocean,
or theſe materials were ejected in immenſe
heated maſſes, by fubmarine volcanoes, inta
the bofom of the waves, to be by them
*
1 Sauff. 529.
D 4
farther
( 49 )
farther comminuted, difintegrated, or des
compofed.
The various folids thus diffufed at differ-
ent periods of time through the vaſt body
of the ocean, muſt have been gradually
precipitated and depofited on fuch folid
maffes as refifted the progreffive motion im-
preffed upon the precipitating maffes by
that tumultuous element; hence they ap-
plied to and reſted on the low lateral fur-
faces of many of the moft confiderable pri-
mary mountains, or were accumulated on
the ſcabrous but firmly rooted fragments
of fuch of thofe mountains as were before
deſtroyed, intombing the fhell-fish that ad-
hered to or reſted upon theſe fragments,
and arrefting by their initial foftnefs the
various funk woods and fuch other vegetable
or animal fubftances as chanced to be mixed
with thefe precipitating maffes, or were
fubfequently borne upon them. Trees na-
turally affumed the fituation that afforded
leaſt reſiſtance to the currents that conveyed
them, and hence the uniformity that has
been obferved very frequently in their po-
fition. Theſe depofitions, when during
their deſcent they attained a certain degree
of
( 41 )
(41
of denſity, muſt have proved fatal to the
various ſpecies of fiſh which were involved
in them, and hence the origin of the more
folid pifcine remains at prefent found in
them; the fofter parts being deſtroyed by
putrifaction, in this manner, but after long
intervals of time, the fucceeding ftrata ap-
pear to have been formed, but they did not
attain their prefent folidity until after the
retreat of the ſea, and through the operation
of cauſes which I fhall preſently mention.
From the circumſtances here ſtated, we
may eaſily account for feveral of the moſt
general geological obfervations, as,
1º. Why ftratified hills have always been
found repoſing on primary rocks, or inveſt-
ing primary mountains, as on granite, gneifs,
argillite, &c. as Ferber, Born, Pallas, Ger-
hard, Charpentier, Werner, Sauffure, &c.
atteft*, not as matters of opinion, but as
facts they have conftantly been witneffes
to. Doctor Hutton, indeed, thinks this
obſervation does not hold true with refpe&
to Scotland, or even with reſpect to the
greater part of Britain, becauſe in traverſ
* 1 Gerh. Gefch. § 77.
ing
(42)
ing the greater part of that iſland he ſeldom
met with granite; but it is plain from what
has been faid, that it is not on the furface
it ſhould be expected, but under the fupe-
rior ftrata, therefore the Doctor's obferva-
tions, but not his affertions, are perfectly
confiftent with thofe of all other geologifts.
However Mr. Everſman of Berlin, who re-
fided fome years in Scotland, tells us that
the fundamental rock (Grund gebirge) of
Scotland is a maſs of the granitic kind, I
Bergm. Jour. 1789, 495; and Dr. Afh re-
lates that not only near Aberdeen, but in
the more fouthern parts, extenfive granitic
mountains often occur, 1 Chy. Ann. 1792,
115. The truth is that the whole of Bri
tain feems to have been formed of ftrata,
refting upon and intercepted between
maffes of granite or other primitive rocks,
at depths in moſt places not eaſily acceſ
fible.
2do. Why the ftrata of fecondary moun
tains are generally elevated in the direction
that faces the next primitive mountains,
though frequently diſtant from them, being,
as we have ſeen originally, formed againſt,
and along the floping fides of thoſe moun-
tains,
( 43 )
tains, and the feparation occafioned by the
courſe of waters that formed the vallies
that intercede between them*. The feem-
ing exceptions to this rule arife either from
the finking of the primitive mountain to
which the fecondary faced, as happened to
that which ftood where the lake of Geneva
is now placed, whoſe bottom is chiefly
granite, or fome other primitive rock, as
Mr. Sauffure atteſts, 1 Sauff. 15, and there-
fore the elevation of the ftrata of the Mole,
Saleve, &c. face the lake, Id. p. 222, 223,
&c. or becauſe theſe ftratified hills were
originally independent, being formed on
the fragments of primitive mountains, as
already faid.
Hence alſo we may explain an important
obfervation made by Mr. Schrieber on the
mountain of Gardette, which conſiſts of
limeſtone fuperimpofed on gneifs; he ob-
ſerved that where they joined, the gneiss
had penetrated into the body of the lime-
ſtone, but the limeſtone did not penetrate
into that of the gneifs, whence he juſtly
inferred, that the limeftone was in a foft
* 5 Sauff. 293.
ftate,
( 44 )
ftate, but the gneifs already confolidated,
when the contact took place; 36 Roz.
359. Similar to this is the obſervation of
Mr. Sauffure, I Sauff. 528, that a pud-
dingſtone with a calcareous cement or ar-
gillaceous grit is generally interpofed be-
twixt the uppermoſt ſtrata of the primary
and the loweſt of the fecondary ſtrata as
the foft fecondary matter inveloped the
pebbles or gravel on the furface of the pri-
mary; this he obferved in the Alps, the
Vofges, the Cevennes, &c. This is alfo
conſtantly obſerved in coal mines, where
femi-primigenous ftrata (Todliegendes) a
fandftone or breccia, with a calcareous or
argillaceous cement, forms the laſt ſtratum
immediately over the primitive rock.
Many, indeed moſt, of the obſervations
hitherto made, are explicable on theſe prin-
ciples, which, not to extend this part of
the Effay beyond its due limits, I here
omit.
The retreat of the fea appears to have
continued through the rifts already men-
tioned, or poffibly through others ſubſe
quently made, probably until a few cen-
turics before the deluge. Its ceffation long
before
( 45 )
before the deluge I infer from the hardneſs
which the mountains muſt have acquired
to withstand the fhocks they muſt have
underwent during that cataſtrophe. To
acquire this hardneſs a long period of time
was neceffary, both for their deficcation
and the infiltration of thofe particles to
which the ſtrata of fecondary mountains
owe their folidity.
ary
I do not by this pretend that the ſecond-
ftrata had not acquired a certain degree
of folidity in a few minutes, even after
their depofition, and confequently long be-
fore their emerfion; on the contrary, this
muſt ſoon have been acquired in the ſame
manner as we find calcareous depofits to
harden at the bottom of falt-pans, and tea-
kettles, while full of liquor, and tartar in
hogfheads of wine, and pouzzolana mortar,
&c. but this hardnefs is moderate in com-
pariſon of that which they acquired by de-
ficcation and continued infiltration, as we
daily experience in moift limestone quar-
ries, where though the ftone is originally
hard, yet it becomes much harder when
dried. The induration effected by infiltra-
tion is ftill more confiderable, as by it the
minuter
( 46 )
minuter particles of bodies are conveyed
into the minuteſt interftices. Hence we
fee that traps and bafaltic pillars are always
harder at the bottom than at the top,
Cronst. § 267, and the upper ftrata of
limeſtone, particularly of that fpecies called
freeftone, are always fofter near the fur-
face of the quarry than at a greater depth;
that fuch infiltration is not an imaginary
proceſs, let it be explained, how it may,
and confequently that the hardneſs of the
lower ftrata does not proceed merely from
the preffure of the upper, appears by an
elegant obfervation of M. Werner's, that
where various ftrata of a different nature
occur, the petrifactions that are found in
the inferior, are frequently filled with the
matter of the fuperior inftead of that of
the ftratum which contains them, Wedem.
Umwandl. 118. The petrified ſhells found
in clay or argillites are commonly com-
preffed and flatted, as Mr. Bergman re-
marks, as argil hardens by contraction, but
thofe found in limestone retain their pri-
mitive fhape, as theſe harden chiefly by
infiltration.
I now proceed to the Mofaic account of
thefe
( 47 )
thefe events, "In the beginning God cre-
"ated the heaven and the earth," that is to
fay, the firft event in the hiftory of this
globe was its creation, and that of all the
planets then known.
"And the earth was without form and
"void," that is to fay, that the earth at
the time of its creation was without form,
&c. therefore another terraqueous globe
did not previouſly exift in a complete ftate out
of the ruins of which the preſent earth
was formed, as fome have lately imagined;
without form and void the Hebrew has Tohu
and Bohu. Ainſworth remarks that Tohu
fignifies a ſtate of confufion, and Bohu a
ftate of vacuity; fee Pool's Synopfis. That
is to fay, that the earth was partly in a
chaotic ftate, and partly full of empty cavities,
which is exactly the ftate, which from the
confideration of the fubfequent phenomena,
I have fhewn to have been neceffarily its
primordial ſtate.
"And darkneſs was on the face of the
deep," confequently light did not at firſt
exiſt. The deep, or abyfs, properly denotes
an immenfe depth of water, but here it
fignifies, as Mede and Eftius obferve, the
mixed
( 48 )
1
mixed or chaotic mafs of earth and water.
-David, whofe knowledge was derived
from Mofes, and who probably poffeffed a
lefs abridged copy of Genefis than we do,
exprefsly tells us that the earth was covered
with water; " the abyfs, like a garment,
was its covering." Pfalm civ. v. 6.
46
Hence we fee that the water was from
the beginning in a liquid ftate (and not in
that of ice) as I have mentioned; and con-
fequently elementary fire, or the principle
of heat, exifted from the beginning.
"And the ſpirit of God (or rather a fpi-
"rit of God) moved on the face of the wa-
ters;" here fpirit denotes an inviſible elaf-
tic fluid, viz. the great evaporation that took
place foon after the creation, as foon as the
folids began to cryftallize, as I have fhewn.
Of God, is a well known Hebrew idiom,
denoting great; moved, or rather hovered,
over the waters. David here mentions a
fact which he undoubtedly took from Mo-
fes, though omitted in our prefent copies
of Genefis, and this fact is effential to our
theory, namely, that "the waters ſtood
above the mountains." Pfalm civ. v. 6,
Therefore the mountains were formed in
the
( 49 )
the bofom of the waters, as I have ftated.
Nay, he uſes an expreffion that moſt proba-
bly hath hitherto been ill underſtood, that
"God fixed the earth on its baſis, from
" which it ſhall not be removed for ever.'
""
This appears to me to denote the depofition
of the folids contained in the chaotic waters,
on the folid kernel of the globe, from
whence they ſhould never be removed, nor
indeed have they ever ſince.
"And God faid, Let there be light, and
"there was light;" here we may obferve
that facts only, were revealed to Mofes or
the perſon (moſt probably Adam) from
whom their tradition defcended. The
words choſen by Mofes, or this perſon,
were fuch as coincided with his own no-
tions, or were most intelligible to an igno-
rant people. The phrafes, God faid, God
faw it was good, God called, uſed in this
chapter, are mere anthropological phraſes,
fuited to the conception of thoſe to whom
theſe facts were related, for religious and
moral, and not merely for ſcientific purpoſes.
To men of fcience their fignification could
not be ambiguous. God faid," fignifying
no more than that events naturally poffible
r
E
took
( 50 )
took place by virtue of the laws of their
production, which laws God had eſtabliſhed.
"God faw it was good," fignifies merely
that it was good, and the expreffion "God
called," denotes no more than that it re-
ceived fuch a name.
The production of light ſtands next in
the order of events recorded by Mofes, as
it does in our theory, and moſt probably
denotes the flames of volcanic eruptions,
the Hebrew certainly bears this fignifica-
tion. The period of its exiſtence Mofes
called day, evidently from its reſemblance
to true days, which could have exiſted only
at a ſubſequent period, namely after the
fun had gained its luminous powers.
"And God faid, Let there be a firma-
"ment in the midſt of the waters, and let
"it divide the waters from the waters.
Here Mofes indicates the production of the
atmoſphere, the word which in our tranſ-
lation is rendered firmament* moft properly
* Some interpreters think firmament implies fomething
folid, becauſe the general opinion of the Heathen ori-
ental fages was, that the heavens were folid, as if the
true fenfe of the Hebrew was to be derived from falfe
opinions deviſed many ages after Moſes.
fignifies
( 51 )
1
}
fignifies expanſe, or an expanded or dilated
fubftance; than which a more proper name
could not furely be chofen for the atmo-
ſphere. "To divide the waters from the
waters," that is, to ſeparate and contain
vapours, which is one principal uſe of the
atmoſphere.
<<
66
"And God faid, Let the waters under
"the heavens be gathered together in one
place, and let the dry land appear, and it
"was fo." This is the fifth event which
Mofes places in the fame order of fucceffion
that mere philofophical confiderations af-
fign to it.
1
The word appear is remarkable, as it
feems to denote that the diſcloſure of the
earth was fucceffive, and had not from the
beginning fully and completely taken
place.
The events immediately fubfequent I
omit, as not relating to geology, and fhall
only mention the creation of fifh, a fact of
great importance in the theory of the
earth; this, Mofes, as well as philoſophy,
tells us happened after the feparation of
the waters from the dry land and primitive
mountains. He alſo relates that the crea-
tion
E 2
( 52 )
tion of land-animals was fubfequent to
that of fiſh; a fact which geological obfer-
vations alfo indicate, for their remains are
always found near the furface of the earth,
whereas thoſe of fiſh are found at the
great-
eft depths. This order of fucceffion is not
only allowed by Mr. Buffon, but made one
of the principal pillars of his fyftem. I
Epoque's de la Nature, p. 231, in 8vo.
Here then we have feven or eight geo-
logical facts, related by Mofes on the one
part, and on the other, deduced folely
from the moſt exact and beſt verified geo-
logical obſervations, and yet agreeing per-
fectly with each other, not only in fubftance,
but in the order of their fucceffion. On
whichever of thefe we beftow our confi-
dence, its agreement with the other de-
monftrates the truth of that other. But if
we beſtow our confidence on neither, then
their agreement must be accounted for. If
we attempt this, we fhall find the improba-
bility that both accounts are falſe, infinite;
confequently one muſt be true, and, then,
fo muſt alſo the other.
That two accounts derived from fources
totally diftinct from and independent on
7
each
( 53 )
each other ſhould agree not only in the ſub-
ſtance but in the order of fucceffion of two
events only, is already highly improbable,
if theſe facts be not true, both fubftantially
and as to the order of their fucceffion. Let
this improbability, as to the fubſtance of
the facts, be reprefented only by then
the improbability of their agreement as to
feven events is
7
I'
ΙΟ
To
that is, as one to ten
million, and would be much higher if the
order alfo had entered into the computa-
tion.
E 3
ESSAY
( 54 )
ESSAY II.
ON THE DELUGE.
HAVING, I flatter myſelf, eſtabliſhed,
in the preceding Effay, the credit due to
Mofes on mere philofophic grounds and ab-
ſtracting from all theological confiderations,
I fhall not fcruple taking him as a guide as
far as his teftimony reaches, in tracing the
circumſtances of the moſt horrible cataſtro-
phe to which the human and all animal fpe-
cies, and even the terraqueous globe itſelf,
had at any period fince its origin been ex-
pofed. His teftimony is indeed in ſubſtance
confirmed by the traditions of many ancient
nations, which may be ſeen in Grotius de
Veritate, Huet Queſt. Alnet, lib. ii. chap. xii.
Eufeb. Prep. Evang. lib. ix. &c. and there-
fore needleſs to adduce; it is more to our
purpoſe to prove it by geological facts, of
which there are ſome that ſeem to me per-
fectly conclufive.
Ift, According to Don Ulloa, fhells were
found on a mountain in Peru at the height
of
( 55 ).
of 14220 feet, 2 Buff. Epoque, 268. Mem.
Par. 1771, p. 439, in 8vo. 1 Gentil Voy.
116, in 8vo. Now I have already fhewn, in
the former Effay, that no mountains higher
than 8500 feet were formed fince the crea-
tion of fish, or, in other words, that fifh
did not exift until the original ocean had
fubfided to the height of eight thouſand five
hundred feet above its preſent level. There-
fore the fhells found at more elevated fta-
tions were left there by a ſubſequent inun-
dation. Now an inundation that reached
fuch heights could not be partial, but muſt
have extended over the whole globe.
2dly, The bones of elephants and of rhi-
noceri, and even the entire carcafe of a rhi-
noceros have been found in the lower parts
of Siberia. As theſe animals could not
live in fo cold a country, they muſt have
been brought thither by an inundation from
warmer and very diftant climates, betwixt
which and Siberia mountains above nine
thouſand feet high intervene *.
It may
be replied that Siberia, as we have al-
ready fhewn, was not originally as cold
as it is at preſent; which is true, for pro-
* See Howard, 219, 220.
E 4
bably
( 56 )
bably its original heat was the fame as
that of many iſlands in the fame latitude
at this day, but ftill it was too cold for ele-
phants and rhinoceri, and between the
climates which they might have then
inhabited, and the places they are now
found in, too many mountains intercede to
ſuppoſe them brought thither by any other
means but a general inundation. Befides,
Siberia muſt have attained its preſent tem-
perature at the time thefe animals were
tranſported, elſe they muſt have all long
ago putrified.
1
3dly, Shells known to belong to fhores
under climates very diftant from each other
are in fundry places found mixed promif-
cuouſly with each other; one fort of them,
therefore, muſt have been tranſported by
an inundation; the promifcuous mixture
can be accounted for on no other fuppofi-
tion.
Theſe appear to me the moſt unequivocal
geologic proofs of a general deluge. To other
facts generally adduced to prove it, another
origin may be afcribed; thus the bones of
elephants found in Italy, France, Germany,
and England, might be the remains of
fome brought to Italy by Pyrrhus or the
Carthaginians,
( 57 )
,
Carthaginians, or of thofe employed by
the Romans themfelves; fome are faid to
have been brought to England by Claudius.
4 Phil. Tranf. Abr. 2d part, 242. When
theſe bones, however, are accompanied
with marine remains, their origin is no
longer ambiguous. Thus alfo the bones
and teeth of whales, found near Maeftricht,
are not decifively of diluvian origin, as
whales have often been brought down as
low as lat. 48°. 34 Roz. 201. Nay fome-
times they ſtrike on the coaſt of Italy. I
Targioni Tozzetti 386.
Yet, to explain the leaſt ambiguous of
theſe phenomena, without having recourſe
to an univerſal deluge, various hypotheſes,
have been framed.
Some have imagined that the axis of the
earth was originally parallel to that of the
ecliptic, which would produce a perpetual
fpring in every latitude, and confequently
that elephants might exift in all of them.
But the ableft aftronomers having demon-
ftrated the impoffibility of this paralleliſm, it
is unneceffary to examine its conſequences;
it only deſerves notice that the obliquity of
the equator is rather diminiſhing than in-
creaſing.
1
( 58 )
creafing.
See La Lande in 44 Roz. 212.
Befides, why are thefe bones accompanied
by marine remains? Others, from the nu-
tation of the earth's axis, have fuppofed
that its poles are continually fhifting, and
confequently that they might have origi-
nally been where the equator now is, and
the equator where the poles now are; thus
Siberia might have, in its turn, been under
the equator. But as the nutation of the
earth's axis is retrogreffive every nine years,
and never exceeds ten degrees, this hypo-
thefis is equally rejected by aſtronomers.
44 Roz. 210. 2 Bergm. Erde Kugel 305.
The pyramids of Egypt demonftrate that
the poles have remained unaltered theſe
three thouſand years.
The 3d hypothefis is that of Mr. Buffon,
to which the unfortunate Bailly has done
the honour of acceding; according to him
the earth, having been originally in a ſtate
of fufion, and for many years red hot, at
laft cooled down to the degree that ren-
dered it habitable. This hypothefis he was
led to imagine from the neceffity of ad-
mitting that the globe was, at leaſt to a
certain diſtance beneath its furface, origi-
nally
( 59 )
nally in a ſoft ſtate; the ſolution of its folid
parts in water he thought impoffible, falſely
imagining that the whole globe muſt have
been in a ſtate of folution, whereas the
figure of the earth requires the liquidity of
it only a few miles beneath its furface.
Epoques, 10 and 35. If he had trod the
path of experiments he would have found
both the hardneſs and tranfparency, of
what he calls his primitive glafs, and thinks
the primitive fubftance of the globe, namely,
quartz, to be altered in a ſtrong heat with
the lofs of 3 per cent. of its weight, and
that fo far from having been a glaſs, that it
is abſolutely infufible: The lofs of weight,
he must have feen, could be afcribed to
nothing elſe but the lofs of its watery par-
ticles, and that, therefore, it muſt have
been originally formed in water; he would
have found that fome felfpars lofe 40 per
cent. and others at leaſt 2 per cent. by
heat; he would have perceived that mica,
which he thinks only an exfoliation of
quartz, to be in its compofition effentially
different. He certainly found their cryf-
tallization inexplicable, for he does not
even attempt to explain it.
But
i
( 60 ).
But waving this, and a multitude of
other infuperable difficulties in his hypothe-
fis, and adverting only to the folution he
thinks his theory affords, of the phenome-
non of the exiſtence of the bones of ele-
phants, and the carcafe of a rhinoceros` in
Siberia, I fay it is defective even in that re-
ſpect. For allowing his fuppofition that
Siberia was at any time of a temperature
fo fuited to the conftitution of theſe animals
that they might live in it, yet the remains
lately found in that country cannot be ſup-
pofed to belong to animals that ever lived
in it.
ift, Becauſe though they are found at
the diſtance of feveral hundred miles from
the ſea, yet they are furrounded by genuine
marine vegetables, which fhews that they
were brought thither together with thoſe
vegetables.
2dly, Becauſe they are generally found
in accumulated heaps, and it is not to be
imagined that while alive they fought a
common burial place no more than they at
prefent do in India.
3dly, Becauſe the rhinoceros was found
intire and unputrified, whereas if the coun-
try
( 61 )
-
-
try was warm when he perifhed this could
not have happened.
4thly, Becauſe in no very diſtant lati-
tude*, namely, that of Greenland, the
bones of whales, and not of elephants, are
found on the mountains, confequently that
latitude muſt have been in that ancient
pe-
riod fufficiently cold to maintain whales,
as it is at this day; and that cold we know
to be very confiderable, and incompatible
with the proximity of a climate fuited to
elephants. 17 N. Comment. Petropol. 576.
1 Act. Petrop. 55. Renov. 73. There-
fore the animals whofe remains are now
found in Siberia could not have lived in it.
The 4th hypothefis is that of Mr. Ed-
ward King, but much amplified and en-
larged by Mr. De Luc. This juftly cele-
brated philofopher is of opinion that the
actual continents were, before the deluge,
the bottom or bed of the ancient ocean,
and that the deluge confifted in the ſub-
merfion of the ancient continents, which
confequently form the bottom or bed of
our actual oceans, confequently our actual
* The bones were found in latitude 55°.
mountains
1
(-62)
mountains were all formed in the antedi-
luvian ocean, and thus fhells might be left
on their higheſt fummits.
In this hypotheſis the ancient continents
muſt have exifted in thofe tracts now co-
vered by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans;
if ſo, I do not fee how the elephants could
have been brought into Siberia, or a whole
rhinoceros found in it: For Siberia being
then the bottom of fome ocean, the fea
muſt have moved from it to cover the ſink-
ing continents, inſtead of moving towards
it, to ſtrew over it their ſpoils.—If it be
faid that theſe animals were carried into the
fea before the flood, then, affuredly, the
rhinoceros fhould have been devoured, and
only his bones left.
To fay nothing of the incompatibility of
this ſyſtem with the principal geologic phe-
nomena mentioned in my former Effay,
and of the deftruction of at leaſt all the
graminivorous fiſh that muſt have followed
from their transfer to a foil not fuited to
them, it is evidently inconfiftent with the
Mofaic account of this cataſtrophe, which
account theſe philofophers, however, admit.
Mofes afcribes the deluge to two prin-
cipal
}
( 63 )
cipal cauſes, a continual rain for forty days,
and the eruption of the waters of the great
abyfs. Now to what purpoſe a rain of forty
days to overwhelm a continent that was to
be immerfed under a whole ocean? He
tells us the waters increaſed on the con-
tinents a certain number of days, refted
thereon another period of days, and then
returned. Do not thefe expreffions imply a
permanent ground on which they increaſed
and reſted, and from which they afterwards
retreated? As the retreat followed the ad-
vance, is it not clear that they retreated
from the fame ſpaces on which they had be-
fore advanced and reſted?
Mr. De Luc replies, that in the 13th
verſe of the 6th chapter of Genefis, it is
faid the earth fhould be deftroyed, and that
Mr. Michaelis fo tranflates it. However it
is plain, from what has been juſt men-
tioned, that Mofes did not underſtand ſuch
a deſtruction as ſhould cauſe it to diſappear
totally and for ever; he tells us that the
waters food 15 cubits over the higheſt
mountains; now as he has no where men-
tioned the antediluvian mountains, but has
the poſtdiluvian, it is plain that it is to theſe
his
( 64 )
}
1
his narration relates, and thefe, he tells us,
were at the time of the deluge covered
with water, and uncovered when the wa-
ters diminiſhed; he never diftinguiſhed the
poft diluvian from the antediluvian, and
therefore muſt have confidered them as the
fame.
Nor did Noah himſelf believe the ancient
continents deſtroyed, for he took the ap-
pearance of an olive branch to be a fign of
the diminution of the flood. This he cer-
tainly believed to have grown on the an-
cient continent, and could not expect it to
have ſhot up from the bottom of the ſea.-
M. De Luc tells us that this olive grew on
an antediluvian ifland, and that thefe
iſlands, being part of the antediluvian
ocean, were not flooded-it is plain, how-
ever, Noah did not think fo, elfe he would
not judge the appearance of the olive to be
a fign of the diminution of the waters.—
Where is it mentioned, or what renders it
neceffary to infer that iſlands exifted before
the flood? If iſlands did exift, and were to
eſcape the flood, fo might their inhabitants
alfo, contrary to the exprefs words of the
text.
12
It
( 65 )
It would furely be much more convenient
for Noah, his family, and animals, to have
taken refuge in one of them, than to remain
pent up in the ark.
The dove, Mofes tells us, returned the
firſt time ſhe was let out of the ark, finding
no place whereon to rest her foot; fhe confe-
quently could not difcover the iſland,
whereas the raven never returned, plainly
becauſe he found carcaffes whereon to feed,
therefore theſe carcaffes were not ſwallow-
ed up, as Mr. De Luc would have it.
Mofes tells us that at the ceffation of the
flood the fountains of the deep were ſtopped
or fhut up; therefore, in his apprehenfion,
inſtead of the ancient continents finking
into the deep, the waters of the abyss
flowed from their fources upon that con-
tinent and again returned; from all which
it follows that this hypotheſis is as indefen-
fible as the foregoing.
A
Paffing over the fyftems of Burnet,
Woodward, and Whifton, which have
been repeatedly refuted, I recur to the ac-
count of this great revolution given by Mo-
ſes himſelf, taken in its plain literal ſenſe,
as the only one that appears perfectly con-
F
fiftent,
( 66 )
fiftent, with all the phenomena now
known, of which I fhall find occafion to
mention many; he plainly afcribes it to a
fupernatural caufe, namely the cxprefs in-
tention of God to puniſh mankind for their
crimes. We must therefore conſider the
deluge as a miraculous effufion of water,
both from the clouds and from the great
abyſs; if the waters, fituated partly within
and partly without the caverns of the globe,
were once fufficient to cover even the high-
eſt mountains, as I have fhewn in the for-
mer Effay, they muſt have been fufficient
to do fo a fecond time when miraculously
educed out of thofe receptacles.
Early geologifts, not attending to theſe -
facts, thought all the waters of the ocean
infufficient; it was fuppofed that its mean
depth did not exceed a quarter of a mile,
and that only half of the ſurface of the globe
was covered by it; on thefe data Keil com-
puted that twenty-eight oceans would be
requifite to cover the whole earth to the
height of four miles, which he judged to.
be that of the highest mountains, a quan-
tity at that time confidered as extravagant
and incredible, but a further progrefs in
mathematical
(67)
mathematical and phyfical knowledge has
fince fhewn the different feas and oceans to
contain at leaſt forty-eight times more wa-
ter than they were fuppofed to do.
Mr. De La Place, calculating their aver-
age depth, not from a few vague and par-
tial foundings, for fuch they have ever been
(the polar regions having been never found-
ed, particularly the Antarctic), but from a
ftrict application of the theory of tides to
the height to which they are known to rife
in the main ocean, demonſtrates that a
depth, reaching only to half a league, or
even two or three leagues, is incompatible
with the Newtonian theory, as no depth
under four leagues can reconcile it with
the phenomena *.-The vindication of the
Mofaic hiftory does not require near fo
much. The extent of the fea is known to
be far greater than Keil fuppofed, that of
the earth fcarcely paffing of the furface of
the globe.
1 Lulolff, p. 233, § 244.
I
The poffibility and reality of the deluge
being thus eſtabliſhed, I fhall next endea-
vour to trace its origin, progrefs, and ſtill
* Mem. Paris, 1776, p. 213.
F 2
permanent
( 68 )
t
permanent confequences. That it origin-
ated in and proceeded from the great fouth-
ern ocean below the equator, and thence
ruſhed on the northern hemifphere, I take
to be a natural inference from the following
facts:
ift, The fouthern ocean is the greateſt
collection of waters on the face of the
globe *.
2d, In the northern latitudes beyond 45°
and 55° we find the animal fpoils of the
fouthern countries, and the marine exuviæ
of the fouthern feas, but in the fouthern
latitudes we find no remains of animals,
vegetables or ſhells belonging to the north-
ern feas, but thofe only that belong to the
neighbouring feas. Thus in Siberia, to re-
turn to the already frequently mentioned
phenomenon, we find the remains of ele-
phants and rhinoceri accompanied by ma-
rine vegetables, and alfo with fhells that
do not belong to the northern ocean. I
Epoques, 418. 1 Act. Petropol. 55. They
muſt therefore have been conveyed thither
* In many parts of the fouth fea no bottom can be
found. Mem. Philofoph. &c. concernant la decou-
verte de l'Amerique. Paris, 1787.
by
( 69 )
by the more diſtant Indian fea overflowing
thefe parts; as the elephants very naturally
crowded together on the approach of the
inundation, they were conveyed in flocks,
and hence their bones are found in accu-
mulated heaps, as fhould be expected *.
But in Greenland, which is ſtill more dif-
tant, only the remains of whales are found
on the mountains. Crantz Hiftoire Gene-
rale des Voy. vol. xix. 105. So in the
fouthern latitudes, as at Talcaguana in
Chili, latitude 36° S. the fhells found on
the tops of the hills are thoſe of the neigh-
bouring fea. 2 Ulloa Voy. p. 197. So thofe
found on the hills between Suez and Cairo
are the fame as thofe now found in the Red
Sea. Shaw's Voyages, vol. ii. and thoſe
that exiſt in the calcareous rocks that ſerve
as a bafis to Egypt, are fuch as are found
in the neighbouring feas. Volney Egypt,
8, 9.
3dly, The traces of a violent ſhock or
impreffion from the ſouth are as yet per-
ceptible in many countries. This Mr. Pa-
* The elephantine remains found in Ruffia were con-
veyed thither from Perfia.
F 3
trin
( 70 )
ነ
trin attefts as to the mountains of Dauria
on the fouth eaft limits of Siberia; he tells
us that the more eaſtern extremities of the
mountains appear to be broken off by the
impetuofity of an ancient ocean ruſhing
from eaſt to weft; that the fragments car-
ried to the weft in fome meaſure protected
the more weftern. 38 Roz. 230. 238.
And that in general the mountains of this
country were fo difordered (by the fhock)
that the miners are obliged to work at ha-
zard. Ibid. 226. Steller makes the fame
remarks on the mountains of Kamfchatka,
51 Phil. Tranf.. Part ii. p. 479. and ob-
ſerved that the S. end of Bering's iſland is
much more ſhattered than the N. extremity.
2 Nov. Nord. Beytr. 262. Storr, Hoepfner,
and Sauffure, inform us that the inunda-
tion that invaded Swifferland proceeded
from the fouth, but its impreffion was mo-
dified by another event which I ſhall pre-
fently mention.
1 Helvet. Mag. 173. 175.
and 293. 4 Helvet. Magaz. 307. Lafius
tells us that the mountains of the Hartz
ſuggeſt the fame inference. Hartz. 95.
Many of the fiſh found on the flates of La
Bolca
( 71.)
Bolca are thofe of the South Sea.
Accad. 288.
5 Ir.
4thly. The very fhape of the continents
which are all ſharpened towards the fouth,
where waſhed by the fouthern ocean, indi-
cate that fo forcible an impreffion was made
on them as nothing but the mountains could
refift, as the Cape of Good Hope, Cape
Cormorin, the fouthern extremity of New
Holland, and that of Patagonia; Fofter's
Obfervations, p. 11, 12.
To thefe geological proofs perhaps I may
be permitted to add the tradition of the or-
thodox Hindus, that the globe was divided
into two hemifpheres, and that the fouth-
ern was the habitation of dæmons that
warred upon the gods. 3 Afiatic Reſearches,
51 and 52. This war is commonly thought
to be an allegorical defcription of the flood,
and hence the olive branch, denoting a di-
minution of the flood, became a ſymbol of
peace.
Did not Noah refide on the borders of
the fouthern ocean, otherwife he could not
fee that the great abyfs was opened? and
did not an inundation from the fouth-eaſt
drive the ark north-weſt to the mountains
F 4
of
(`72 )
2
of Armenia? Theſe conjectures are at
leaſt conſiſtent with the moſt probable no-
tions of the primitive habitation of man,
which I take to be near the fources of the
Ganges, (as Jofephus exprefsly mentions)
the Bourampooter and the Indus, from
which, as the temperature grew colder,
mankind defcended to the plains of India.
This unparalleled revolution, Moſes in-
forms us, was introduced by a continual
rain for forty days. By this the ſurface of
the earth muſt have been looſened to a con-
fiderable depth; its effects may even have
been in many inftances deftructive; thus
in Auguſt, 1740, feveral eminences were
ſwept away, nay the whole mountain of
Lidſheare, in the province of Wermeland
in Sweden, was rent afunder by a heavy
fall of rain for only one night. 27 Schwed.
Abhand, 93. This loofening and opening
of the earth was in many places, where the
marine inundation ſtagnated, an uſeful ope-
ration to the foil fubfequently to be formed,
as by theſe means fhells and other marine
exuviæ were introduced into it which ren-
dered it more fertile. By this rain alſo,
the falt water was diluted, and its perni-
}
cious
}
( 73 )
ร
cious effects both to foil and freſh water
fiſh in great meaſure prevented. The de-
ſtruction of animals ferved the fame pur-
poſes, and might, in many inſtances, be
neceffary to fertilize a foil produced by the
decompofition of primary mountains; from
the animals thus deftroyed the phoſphoric
acid found in many ores may have origin-
ated.
But the completion of this cataſtrophe
was undoubtedly effected, as Mofes alfo
ſtates, by the invaſion of the waters of the
great abyſs, moſt probably, as I have ſaid,
that immenfe tract of ocean ftretching from
the Philipine iflands, or rather from the
Indian continent on the one fide to terra
firma on the other, and thence to the
fouthern pole; and again from Buenos
Ayres to New Holland, and thence to the
pole.-Tracing its courfe on the eaſtern
part of the globe, we fhall fee it impelled
northwards with refiftless impetuofity
against the continent which at that time
probably united Afia and America. 1 Phy-
fical. Arbeit. p. 13. 1 Nev. Nord. Beytr.
278 and 294. This appears to have been
torn up and ſwept away (except the iſlands
that
( 74 )
>
that ſtill remain, fome of which are primi-
tive mountains, and feem torn from the con-
tinent. Staunton's Voy. to China, 4to.
p. 310.) as far north as latitude 40°; its fur-
ther progreſs appears to have been ſomewhat
checked by the lofty mountains of China and
Tartary, and thofe on the oppofite Ameri-
can coaſt; here then it began to dilate it-
felf over the collateral countries; the part
checked by the Tartarian mountains form-
ing, by fweeping away the foil, the defart
of Coby, while the interior or middle tor-
rent preffed forward to the pole; but the
interior furge being ſtill more reſtricted by
the contiguous, numerous, and elevated
mountains of eaſtern Siberia and America,
muft at laſt have arifen to a height and
preffure which overbore all refiſtance, daſh-
ing to picces the heads of thofe mountains,
as Patrin and Steller remark, and bearing
over them the vegetable and animal ſpoils
of the more fouthern, ravaged or torn up
continents, to the far extended and in-
clined plains of weſtern Siberia, where its
free expanfion allowed it to depoſit them.
Hence the origin of the bones and tufks of
elephants and rhinoceri found in the plains,
ク
​or
( 75 )
(75
or inconfiderable fandy or marly eminences
in the north western parts of Siberia, as
Mr. Pallas rightly judges.
If now, returning to the fouth, we con-
template the effects of this overwhelming
invaſion on the more fouthern regions of
India and Arabia, we fhall, where the coafts
were undefended by mountains, diſcover it
excavating the gulphs of Nanquin, Ton-
quin, and Siam, the vaſt Bay of Bengal,
and the Arabic and Red Seas. That the
fouthern capes, promontories, and head-
lands, were extenuated to their prefent
ſhape by the deluge, and not by tides or
the currents ftill obferved in thofe feas,
may be inferred from the inefficacy of thofe
feebler powers to produce any change in
them for many paft centuries.
The chief force of the inundation feems
to have been directed northwards in the
meridians of from 110 to 200 eaft of Lon-
don. In the more weſtern tracts it appears
to have been weaker; the plains of India I
fufpect to have been lefs ravaged, or per-
haps their fubfequent fertility may have
been occafioned by the many rivers by
which that happy country is watered. Not
f
.
( 76 )
fo thofe of Arabia; their folid bafis, refift-
ing the inundation, was obliged to yield
its loofer furface, and remains even now a
fandy defart, while the interior more moun-
tainous tracts, intercepting, and thus col-
lecting, the waſhed off foil, are, to this
day, celebrated for their fertility, 2 Nie-
buhr, 45 and 320. Irifh edition. To a
fimilar tranſportation of the ancient vegeta-
ble foil, the vaſt fandy defarts of Africa,
and the barrennefs of moſt of the plains of
Perfia, may be attributed.
The progrefs of the Siberian inundation
once more claims our attention; that it
muft have been here for fome time fta-
tionary may be inferred from its confine-
ment between the Altaifchan elevation on
the fouth, and the Ouralian mountains on
the weſt, and the circumpolar mountains
on the fide of Greenland.
Hence the ex-
cavations obſerved on the northern parts of
the former, and the abrupt declivities on
the eaſtern flanks of the latter, while the
weſtern diſcover none. New reinforce-
ments from the fouth-eaſt muſt at length
have furmounted all obftacles; but the fub-
fequent furges could not have conveyed
fuch
( 77 )
(77
fuch a quantity of fhells or marine produc-
tions as the firſt, and hence, though many
are found on the more northern plains,
ſcarce any are found on the great Altaif-
chan elevation.
The mafs of waters now collected and
ſpread over the Arctic regions, muſt have
defcended partly fouthwards over the de-
farts of Tartary, into countries with which
we are too little acquainted to trace its ra-
vages, but from the oppofition it muſt have
met in theſe mountainous tracts, and the
repercuffion of their craggy fides, eddies
muſt have been formed to which the Caf-
pian, Euxine, and other lakes may have
owed their origin. Part alfo muſt have
extended itſelf over the vaft tracts weſt of
the Ourals, and there expanded more freely
over the plains of Ruffia and Poland down
to latitude 52°, where it muſt have met
with and be oppofed by the inundation
originating in the weſtern parts of the Pa-
cific ocean, this fide the Cape of Good
Hope, and thence impelled northwards and
weftwards in the fame manner as the eaft-
ern inundation already defcribed, but with
much lefs force, and fweeping the conti-
nents
( 78 )
nents of South America (if then emerged)
and of Africa, conveying to Spain, Italy,
and France, and perhaps ſtill farther north,
elephants and other animals, and vegetables
hitherto fuppofed partly of Indian and
partly of American origin.
That the courſe here affigned is not ima-
ginary, appears from the fhells, vegetables,
and animal remains of thoſe remote cli-
mates, ftill found in Europe, and from the
diſcovery both of the European and the
American promifcuouſly mixed with each
other at Fez. 1 Bergman Erde Kugel,
252.249.
So in Germany, Flanders, and Eng-
land, the ſpoils of the northern climates,
and thoſe of the ſouthern alfo, are equally
found; thus the teeth of arctic bears, and
bones of whales, as well as thofe of ani-
mals of more fouthern origin, have been
diſcovered in thofe parts. Sauffure alſo has
found traces in Swifferland of an inunda-
tion from the north. 7 Sauff. 216.
The effect of the encounter of fuch enor-
mous maffes of water, rufhing in oppofite
directions, muſt have been ſtupendous, it
was ſuch as appears to have ſhaken and
fhattered.
( 79 )
1
ſhattered fome of the folid vaults that fup-
ported the fubjacent ftrata of the globe.
To this concuffion I aſcribe the formation
of the bed of the Atlantic from latitudė 20°
fouth up to the north pole. The bare in-
ſpection of a map is fufficient to ſhew that
this vaft ſpace was hollowed by the impref-
fion of water; the protuberance from Cape
Frio to the river of the Amazons, or La
Plata in South America, correfponding
with the incavation on the African fide
from the river of Congo to Cape Palmas;
and the African protuberance from the
Straits of Gibraltar to Cape Palmas, an-
fwering to the immenfe cavity between
New York and Cape St. Roque. The de-
preffion of fuch a vaft tract of land cannot
appear improbable when we confider the
fhock it muſt have received, and the enor-
mous load with which it was charged. Nor
is fuch depreffion and abforption unexam-
pled, fince we had frequent inftances of
mountains ſwallowed up, and fome very
lately in Calabria. *
The
* The Bay of Galway appears to have been origi-
nally a granitic mountain, fbattered and fwallowed
during this cataſtrophe, for fragments of granite are
found
i
};
( 80 )
The wreck of fo confiderable an integrant
part of the globe muft of neceffity have
convulfed the adjacent ſtill fubfifting con-
tinents previouſly connected with it, rent
their ftony ftrata, burſt the ſtill more folid
maffes of their mountains, and thus in fome
cafes formed, and in others prepared, the
infular ſtate to which thefe fractured tracts
were reduced; to this event, therefore,
I think, may be afcribed the bold, fteep,
and abrupt weſtern coaſts of Ireland, Scot-
land, and Norway, and the numerous ifles
that border them, as well as many of thoſe
of the West Indies. 2 Wms. 162. The
Britannic islands feem to have acquired
their infular ſtate at a later period, though
it was probably prepared by this event;
found on its northern fhore, though none in the neigh-
bouring mountains, which are chiefly argillitic. Alfo
a vaſt maſs of granite called the Gregory, lately ftood
on one of the ifles of Arran, 100 feet at leaſt above the
level of the fea, 10 or 12 feet high, as many broad,
and about twenty in length. Though the whole mafs
of the island confifts of compact limeftone, and no gra-
nitic hill within 8 or 10 miles of it. This was flattered
by lightning in 1774-
The general motion of the Atlantic is as yet from
N. to S. Howard, 355. Staunton's Voyage to China.
but
1
1
( 81 )
but the bafaltic maffes on the Scotch and
Irish coafts, and thofe of Feroc, appear to
me to have been rent into pillars by this
concuffion.
During this elemental conflict, and the
craſh and ruin of the fubmerged continent,
many of its component parts muſt have
been reduced to atoms, and difperfed
through the fwelling waves that ufurped
its place. The more liquid bitumens muſt
by the agitation have intimately mixed
with them. They muſt alſo have abſorbed
the fixed air contained in the bowels of the
funk continent; and further, by this vaſt
continental depreffion, whofe derelinquiſh-
ed ſpace was occupied by water, the level
of the whole diluvial ocean muſt have been
funk, and the fummits of the higheſt
mountains muft then have emerged. In
this ſtate of things it is natural to ſuppoſe
that if iron abounded in the ſubmerged
continent, as it does at this day in the
northern countries of Sweden, Norway,
and Lapland adjacent to it, its particles
may have been kept in folution by the
fixed air, and the argillaceous, filiceous,
and carbonaceous particles may have been
G
long
(82)
4
long fufpended. Thefe muddy waters
mixing with thofe impregnated with bitu-
men, the following combinations muſt
have taken place: 1°. If carbonic matter
was alfo contained in the water, this unit-
ing to the bitumen, muſt have run into
maffes no longer fufpenfible in water, and
formed ſtrata of coal. 2do. The calces of
iron by the contact of bitumen were in
great meaſure gradually reduced, and to-
gether with the argillaceous and filiceous
precipitated on the fummits of feveral of
the mountains not yet emerged, and thus
formed bafaltic maffes, that, during deficca-
tion, ſplit into columns; in other places they
covered the carbonaceous maffes already de-
pofited, and by abforbing much of their bitu-
men rendered them lefs inflammable, and
hence the connexion which the fagacious
Werner obferved between bafalts and coal.
The fixed or oxygen air, erupting from many
of them, formed thofe cavities, which be-
ing filled by the fubfequent infiltration of
fuch of their ingredients as were fuperfluous
to their bafaltic ftate, formed calcedonies,
zeolytes, olivins, bafaltines, fpars, &c.
Hence moſt of the mountains of Sweden
that
}
:
( 83 )
that afford iron, afford alfo bitumen *.
Hence alſo the aſphalt found with Trap †
and under baſalts, and in balls of calcedo-
ny found in Trap §.
This I take to be the laſt ſcene of this
dreadful cataſtrophe, and hence fhells are fel-
dom found in theſe baſalts, they having been
previously depofited, though fome other
lighter marine vegetable remains have
fometimes been found in them ||; fome ar-
gillaceous or ſandſtone ſtrata may alſo have
been depofited at this period.
On this account, however, of the for-
mation of the bafalts which crown the fum-
mits of ſeveral lofty peaks, I lay no more
ſtreſs than it can juſtly bear; I deliver it
barely as an hypothefis more plauſible than
many others.
It has been objected to the Mofaic ac-
count that the countries near Ararat are
too cold to bear olive trees. Tournfort,
who firſt made this objection, fhould re-
collect, that at this early period, the Caf-
* Berg. Jour. 1789, p. 2005.
+ Berolding on Mercury, p. 38 and 240.
Von. Salis 171. 3. Nofe. 146.
$10 Naturforsch. 43.
G 2
I have lately feen ſhells
in the bafalts of Ballycastle.
pian
( (84
84 )
pian and Euxine feas were joined, as he
himſelf has well proved. This circum-
ſtance furely fitted a country lying in the
38th degree of latitude to produce olives.
(which now grow in much higher latitudes)
at preſent chilled only by its diftance from
the fea.
A more plauſible objection arifes from
the difficulty of collecting and feeding all
the various fpecies of animals now known,
fome of which can exift only in the hotteft,
and others only in the coldeſt climates; it
does not however appear to me neceffary
to ſuppoſe that any others were collected
in the ark but thoſe moſt neceſſary for the
ufe of man, and thoſe only of the gramini-
vorous or granivorous claffes, the others
were moſt probably of fubfequent creation.
The univerfality of the expreffions, Gen.
chap. vi. ver. 19. "Of every living thing,
"of all fleſh, two of every fort ſhalt thou
bring into the ark," feem to me to im-
ply no more than the fame general expreſ-
fions do in Gen. chap. i. ver. 30.
"And
"to every beaſt of the earth, and to every
"fowl of the air, have I given every green
herb for meat;" where it is certain that
only
( 85 )
only graminivorous animals are meant. At
this early period ravenous animals were not
only not neceffary but would have been
even deſtructive to thoſe who had juſt ob-
tained exiſtence, and probably not in great
numbers. They only became neceffary
when the graminivorous had multiplied to
ſo great a degree that their carcaffes would
have ſpread infection. Hence they appear
to me to have been of poſterior creation;
and to this alſo I attribute the exiſtence of
thoſe that are peculiar to America and the
torrid and frigid zones.
The atmoſphere itſelf must have been
exceedingly altered by the conſequences of
the flood. Soon after the creation of ve-
getables, and in proportion as they grew
and multiplied, vaft quantities of oxygen
muſt have been thrown off by them into
the then exifting atmoſphere without any
proportional counteracting diminution from
the refpiration or putrefaction of animals,
as theſe were created only in pairs, and
multiplied more flowly; hence it muſt
have been much purer than at prefent; and
to this circumſtance, perhaps, the longe-
vity of the antediluvians may in great mea-
G 3
fure
( 86 )
•
fure be attributed.
After the flood the
ſtate of things was perfectly reverfed, the
furface of the earth was covered with dead
and putrifying land animals and fish, which
copiouſly abforbed the oxygenous part of
the atmoſphere and fupplied only mephitic
and fixed air; thus the atmoſphere was
probably brought to its actual ſtate, con-
taining little more than one-fourth of pure
air and nearly three-fourths of mephitic.
Hence the conftitution of men muſt have
been weakened and the lives of their en-
feebled pofterity gradually reduced to their
preſent ſtandard. To avoid theſe exhala-
tions it is probable that the human race
continued for a long time to inhabit the
more elevated mountainous tracts. Do-
meſtic diſturbances in Noah's family, briefly
mentioned in holy writ, probably induced
him to move with fuch of his defcendants
as were moft attached to him, to the re-
gions he inhabited before the flood, in the
vicinity of China, and hence the early
origin of the Chineſe monarchy.
ESSAY
( 87 )
ESSAY III.
OF SUBSEQUENT CATASTROPHES.
A SHOCK fo violent and univerfal as that
which pervaded the globe during the dilu-
vian revolution must have produced not
only innumerable alterations in the whole
extent of its furface, cndlefs to detail (and
belonging rather to the natural hiſtory of
its particular geographic divifions than to a
general furvey of the whole), but alſo have
prepared, by loofening its bafis, many other
changes that took effect fome centuries af-
ter, as I have already hinted; of theſe,
however, fome are fo important, by their
connexion either with the paſt tranſactions
of the inhabitants of the globe, or with the
actual external appearance or fubterraneous
ſtate of the countries with which we are
beft acquainted, that they cannot be to-
tally paffed over in filence; fuch are the
total feparation of Aſia from America, the
coarctation of the Baltic, the feparation of
G 4
the
( 88 )
the Cafpian from the Black Sea, and the
junction of this with the Mediterranean,
and of the Mediterranean with the Ocean;
and, laſtly, the feparation of Ireland from
Britain, and of Britain from the Continent.
Thefe events are either totally omitted
by hiſtorians, or only flightly mentioned
by that hiſtory, from its mixed nature,
ftiled fabulous; in fuch cafes imagination
has commonly taken up the pen of the hif-
torian, but poffeffing neither the inclina-
tion nor the talents neceffary for convert-
ing natural hiſtory into romance, the ac-
count I fhall give of them muſt be very
ſhort, and ſuch as is fuggefted by the moſt
probable traditions or actual appearances.
1º. Of the feparation of Afia from Ame-
rica, we have no traditional account; it is
certain, however, that they were once
joined, as the inhabitants of the 'former
paffed into the latter; they ftill approach
each other very nearly in the northern
parts, and the intermediate fpace is filled
with iſlands. The junction immediately
after the flood I ftated in my former Effay
to have reached fo low as latitude 40, be-
cauſe I find America peopled by nations of
different
( 89 )
different characters, degrees of civilization,
and languages; fuch varieties could fcarcely
occur among a people inhabiting the fame
climate, and formed to the fame habits.
As Cain was originally banished from his
brethren, ſo I imagine malefactors anciently
were into the colder deferted climates, by
their civilized brethren in Afia, and thus
the Efquimaux originated, that are equally
found in both continents, and other fa-
vages; and hence the predatory difpofition
of the Scythian tribes. That the poſtdilu-
vian junction did not reach lower than la-
titude 40°, I infer from the abfence of
elephants from the warmer regions of
America.
The utter feparation of both continents
was moſt probably the effect of excavations
by volcanoes; at leaſt this caufe is adequate
to fuch an effect, and it ftill exifts in the
moſt northern parts. The fuperior fertility
of the weſtern coaft of America may ariſe
from the lavas ejected on that coaſt.
2d. That the Baltic in all its branches
was anciently much more extended than at
preſent, many reaſons induce us to believe;
but principally the ſtate in which we at
prefent
( 90 )
1
prefent find the immenfe plains of South-
ern Ruffia from Peterſburgh to Pultowa.
Theſe plains for fome hundred miles to
the ſouth of Peterſburgh are ſtill a moraſs,
and farther ſouthwards they are covered
with fand, pebbles, and petrified ſhells *.
This water is not, indeed, falt, but nei-
ther was the Baltic fo originally, and is
but flightly fo at prefent, for it ſeems to
have been formed by the confluence of the
various rivers that flow into it, which at
laſt burſt a paſſage into the German ſea; by
communication with this it became falt.
At preſent there are three paffages by which
they communicate, at firft robably but
one; to the opening of the two laft the re-
duction of this fea to its prefent limits is
owing.
3d. The ancient communication between
the Cafpian, the Lake of Aral, and the
Black Sea, before the opening of the Thra-
cian Boſphorus, which enabled theſe feas
to diſcharge themſelves into the Mediterra-
nean, is rendered highly probable, if not
* Schwed. Abhand. 1773, 181, &c. 2 Bergm. Erde
kugel. 215.
demonftrated,
( 91 )
i
demonſtrated, by Pallas, 3 Pallas Reife,
368. He obferved, that between the ri-
vers Sarpa and Volga, from Zarzycin down
to the Cafpian Sea, the land flopes with
confiderable indentures and abrupt promon-
tories as if it had been an ancient coaft,
and continues on the fame level on the
eaſt of the Wolga in the fandy defert of
Narym, and in the more fouthern ſteppes
or deferts between the Wolga and the
Jaick or Ural. The fhells which abound
in this extenfive flat exactly refemble thoſe
of the Caſpian, and are different from thoſe
of the adjacent rivers; thefe deferts are
moreover covered with fand, contain abun-
dance of falt and falt lakes, and produce
only fuch vegetables as grow on falt marſh-
es; whereas the upland that borders this
flat contains a genuine black fertile foil,
and no fhells reſembling thoſe of the Caf-
pian, but only thofe of ancient date, fuch
as thofe found in other countries, and of
the forts called Pelagica, that belong to the
deepeſt feas. Hence he collects that the
level of the Cafpian before it was reduced
to its prefent limits was ninety feet higher
than at prefent; thus it was enabled to
communicate
( 92 )
communicate with the Euxine by the fea
of Afoph, In this ftate it muſt have re-
mained from the period of the deluge until
about 1800 years before our Æra, the moſt
probable date of the feparation of theſe feas,
as Mr. Fofter has fhewn in a learned me-
moir in the Gottingen Magaz. 1780. p.140.
Buffon pretends the rupture of the ifth-
mus that ſeparated this fea from the Medi-
terranean preceded the deluge mentioned
by Mofes, merely it fhould feem to con-
tradict that moft authentic hiftorian, for he
affigns no reafon independent of his own
hypotheſis, and is deftitute of the ſupport
even of the moft fabulous tradition.
Epoques, 8vo. p. 291.
I
The rupture of the ifthmus was proba-
bly fudden and total, and conſequently
effected by an earthquake. To diſcover its
effects, we must first confider the ante-
cedent ftate of the Mediterranean :
The Mediterranean, before its union with
the Black Sea and the Ocean, was moſt
probably a bafon much narrower and fhal-
lower than at prefent; for though it receiv-
ed feveral confiderable rivers, the Nile, the
Rhone,
6
( 93 )
Rhone, and the Po*, yet fince even now
evaporation from its furface is fufficient to
prevent it from overflowing, not…ithſland-
ing that the Ocean on the one ſide, and
the Euxine on the other, flow into it, we
may well ſuppoſe that when it communi-
cated with neither, evaporation kept its
level much lower; when, therefore, by the
rupture of the Thracian ifthmus on the
one fide, and of the African which joined
Ceuta with Gibraltar on the other, the wa-
ters of both were poured in upon it, an
immenfe preffure took place on its bed,
under which it funk and fell into the in-
ferior cavity of the globe; during this tre-
mendous tumult the iſlands of Sicily, Sar-
dinia, Corfica, and thoſe of the Archipe-
lago were torn off, and Italy was lengthened
to its preſent ſhape. Fortis Dalmatia, 173.
The neighbouring fhores of France and
Spain, and more eſpecially thofe of Africa
as being much lower, and thoſe of Greece
and Aſia, muſt have been inundated to a
great extent, and hence the faline fub-
* Allowance fhould be made for rains as well as for
rivers. See Howard's Theory of the Earth, 34.
ftances
( 94 )
ſtances ſtill exifting in the adjacent parts of
Africa, &c.
As the fouthern parts of Italy ftill abound
in fulphur and other inflammable ſubſtances,
fo probably did the contiguous parts of the
bed of the Mediterranean, and by the im-
menſe friction which they muſt have ſuf-
fered during this fall and the hollows that
interceded the abrupted maffes the firſt
fubterraneous fires might have been kind-
led and the beds of the actual volcanoes pre-
pared, which however did not probably
acquire fufficient ftrength to burst through
the incumbent earthy ftrata until fome ages
after, as I conjecture from the filence of
Homer with refpect to Etna, whofe won-
ders, had they exifted in his time, he pro-
bably would not have overlooked.
The feparation of Sicily from Italy is
vouched by ancient traditions, as may be
feen in Pliny, Ovid, and Claudian.
Zancle
quoque juncta fuiſſe
Dicitur Italiæ, donec confinia pontus
Abftulit, & media tellurem reppulit
unda.
Ovid. Metam. Lib. 15. v. 290.
Trinacria
( 95 )
Trinacria quondam
Italiæ pars una fuit, fed pontus & æftus
Mutavere fitum, rupit confinia Nereus
Victor, & abfciffo interluit æquore mon-
tes. Claudian. De Rapt. Proferp. Lib. 1.
The ſteep abrupt coafts from Genoa to
Leghorn, deſcribed by Ferber in his twen-
ty-ſecond letter, muſt be afcribed to the
rupture of the ſtrata, as tides, ſcarcely fen-
fible in this fea, cannot be even ſuſpected
of having acted fo powerfully upon them.
The rapidity of the Rhone, and of moſt of
the rivers that fall into this fea on the Eu-
ropean fide, alſo indicate the great inclina-
tion of the ftrata of the interior countries
towards it, a natural confequence of the
depreffion of their primitive fupport. The
mountains of Swifferland difcover alfo vef-
tiges of a fhock on the fouth eaft, as I have
already noticed, the detail of which I leave
to the many excellent geologiſts of that
country.
The communication of the Euxine with
the Ocean by means of the Mediterranean,
being thus formed, its level gradually ſub-
fided, the canal which joined it with the
. Cafpian
7
( 96 )
Cafpian dried up; as few great rivers fall
into this (only the Wolga and the Ural)
it was foon reduced by evaporation to its
preſent level, which is faid to be lower than
that of any other fea, and thus the falt de-
ferts that border it, were formed, and its
feparation from the Aral effected.
5º. The entire feparation of Great Bri-
tain from the Continent muſt have hap-
pened long after the deluge, and that of
Ireland from Great Britain at a ftill later
period; for wolves and bears were anciently
found in both, and theſe muſt have paſſed
from the Continent into Britain, and from
this into Ireland, as their importation can-
not be fufpected. Thefe events, as I already
ſaid, muſt have been prepared and have
commenced by the fhock communicated
during the rupture and depreffion of the
bed of the Atlantic. The divulfive force
that feparated Britain from Germany, feems
to have been directed from north to fouth,
but gradually weakened in its progrefs.
Hence that iſland is ſharpened to the north-
wards, but the impreffion muſt have been
confiderably weakened by the oppofition
of the granitic mountains that form the
Shetland
( 97 )
Shetland and Orkney Ifles. The loofer
ſtructure of the calcareous or argillaceous
and arenaceous materials of the more fouth-
ern parts offered leſs reſiſtance, was more
eafily preyed upon, and gave way to, what
is now called, the German ocean, while
theſe materials themſelves were ſpread over
Weftphalia, &c. or formed the fubfoil of
Flanders, Holland, and the fand banks on
its coaft. The rupture of the iſthmus that
joined Calais and Dover was probably ef-
fected by an earthquake at a later period,
and gradually widened by tides and currents.
Ireland was protected by Scotland from the
violence of the northern fhock, hence its
ſeparation from Scotland appears to have
been late and gradual. That from Eng-
land was probably diluvial and effected by
a fouthern fhock.
All theſe changes happened at leaſt three
thouſand fix hundred years ago, and I fee
no reaſon to think that the general level of
the ocean has fince been altered, but that
of the continents feems to have varied con-
fiderably, being in fome places higher and
in others lower than anciently.
The depreffion of continents originates
H
from
;
( 98 )
t
from two cauſes; the firft is the diminution
of the waters that anciently pervaded them ;
the ſecond is the fliding away of the infe-
rior argillaceous ftrata; to fay nothing of
caufes merely contingent, as earthquakes
and inundations.
After the deluge, the earth on which it
reſted 150 days, and from which it very
flowly retired, muſt have been drenched
with water; vegetation quickly enfued,
and twenty centuries ago moft countries
are known to have been covered with trees,
and many until a much later period; in
thefe circumſtances an infinity of ſmall ri-
vulets muſt have been formed, which
poured their ſtreams into the great rivers
arifing from their confluence; while the
furface of the earth was protected by fo-
refts from the immediate influence of the
fun, the moiſture repleniſhing its interior
muſt have remained. Again, as we fee
the craggy fummits of many of the higheſt
mountains, now decompofing, being cor-
roded by air and moiſture, we muſt ſup-
poſe that the fame caufes have operated in
the most ancient times, and that previous
to their action theſe fummits were much
6
higher,
་
( 99 )
L
higher, and confequently better fitted for
collecting vapours than at preſent, but in
modern times, from the extenfion of agri-
culture to countries where it never before
was introduced, and the increaſing multi-
plication of mankind, the foreſts have in
great meaſure diſappeared; the earth laid
bare yields its waters to evaporation; the
mountains lowered, no longer collect or
condenſe the fame quantity of vapour, the
rivulets ceaſe, or are reduced to rills, and
the earth freed from its pervading moiſture
has naturally funk to a lower level. Hence
moſt rivers were anciently much more con-
fiderable than at prefent, as we may fee by
the wide extended vales through which they
run, the monuments of their ancient mag-
nitude. Not only bogs have in fome in-
ftances been known to flide over lower ad-
jacent plains, but even portions of land
feemingly more folid. Thus in France,
near Meudon, in 1787, a whole fide of a
hill, covered with trees, defcended 50 feet
upon, and covered to the height of 70 feet,
a neighbouring plain; its defcent lafted fix
years. 43 Roz. 19. It was occafioned by
laying bare a bed of clay, which, by im-
bibing
H 2
( 100 )
bibing rain was tumefied and loofened. In
Bohemia alfo, fo late as the year 1770, a
great part of the mountain of Ziegenberg
flid down 38 fathom to the Elbe with its
trees ſtill ſtanding partly erect and partly
inclined. This was afcribed to the ſolution
of its inferior-ftratum, an argillaceous fand-
ſtone, whofe argillaceous part was carried
off by rain to which it had incautiouſly
been expoſed. Reufs Bohemia, 55
In fome places the furface of the earth
has been elevated by the particles carried
down by rain from greater elevations, or
the gradual diſintegration of the ſtony ſub-
ſtances that covered them, or by various
local and contingent events.
Hence many
remains of antiquity depofited on the an-
cient furface are now found at confiderable
depths, particularly in countries long de-
rafted.
The effects of volcanoes in altering the
face of the globe feem to me much more
circumfcribed than many late writers have
afferted: few mountains, and thoſe eaſily
* See alfo Mem. Par. 1746, 1119, in 8vo. in notes;
and Mem. Par. 1769, p. 500, in 8vo. and 5 Nev.
Nord. Beytr. 260, for that of Tauria in 1786.
diftinguiſh-
( 101 ΙΟΙ
)
diſtinguiſhable, owe their origin to them;
neither Vefuvius nor Etna were formed
by them, as is evident by the maſs of Nep-
tunian ſtones that compoſe them; their
effufions feldom reach to a great diſtance,
none above 100 miles. Of ancient volca-
noes now extinct, few can be traced by
undoubted characters or hiftoric accounts.
Sidonius Apollinaris, lib. 7. Epift. 1. men-
tions one near Vienne in Dauphiné which
burned about the year 469; but by his ac-
count it is not clear whether it was a vol-
cano or a pfeudo volcano; I ſuſpect the
latter.
Tacitus alfo, at the end of the 13th Book
of his Annals, mentions a volcano, or ra-
ther pfeudo volcano, that ravaged the
country of the Jutiones; this is faid by
many to be that of the Ubians; if fo, it'
muſt have been in the neighbourhood of
Cologn, where fome pfeudo volcanic re-
mains are traced.
On no fubject have philofophers been leſs
cautious of the delufions of imagination than
on this of volcanoes: the aſtoniſhment ex-
cited by their awful phenomena feems to
have affected even the underſtanding of
fome
H 3
( 102 )
fome of their ſpectators. The author of
many celebrated treatifes on volcanoes,
lately travelling into Scotland, exclaimed,
at the fight of every black ſtone he met
with, that it was lava, as I was informed
by one of his companions *; even the very
excellent Sir William Hamilton has fre-
quently been feduced from the ſimple path
of obfervation, to which, notwithstanding,
he profeſſed to adhere, into the mazes and
errors of a baſeleſs fyftem †. In a letter to
Sir John Pringle, May '1776, he tells us
that "Wherever bafaltic pillars like thoſe
"of the Giant's Cauſeway in Ireland are
"found, there without doubt a volcano
"muſt have exifted, for they are mere lava.'
At preſent, however, I believe none will
pretend that the volcanic origin of theſe
pillars is out of the reach of doubt. He
tells us that Vefuvius and Ætna were form-
ed by a ſeries of volcanic eruptions ‡,
though there is no certain proof that the
former was fo formed, and it is demonftra-
* Mr. Macie, a gentleman of the moft exact and ex-
tenſive mineralogical knowledge.
+ Ouvres de Hamilton, p. 10.
+ Ouvres de Hamilton, p. 11.
ble
( 103 )
ble that the latter exifted as a mountain
before it became a volcano. Padre Torre,
who has given a good defcription of Veſu-
vius, infifts that its primitive ſtamina, if I
may fo call them, are not volcanic, but
that it should rather be confidered as an
extenſion of the Appenines; the number
of Neptunian ftones it throws up, as may
be ſeen in Gioeni's Lithography of Vefu-
vius, confirms this opinion; that the cal-
careous ftrata are covered to a great depth
with lava cannot be doubted, but that the
whole mafs of Vefuvius confifts of volcanic
ejections has not been proved; it is faid
that in finking a well near the fea fhore,
beds of lava have been found at great depths,
but how eaſily may have the mother ſtones
of lava, hornblende, and fhiftofe horn-
blende, be miſtaken for lava itſelf!
With respect to Ætna there can be no
doubt. Dolomieu found immenfe heaps
of fea fhells in its north-eaſt flanks at the
height of near 2000 feet over the ſurface
of the fea. Hence he juſtly concludes that
this volcano exifted as a mountain before
it was uncovered by the fea; he adds, that
at the height of about 2400 feet there are
regular
H 4
( 104 )
regular ftrata of grey clay filled with ma-
rine fhells; theſe ftrata muſt then have
been depofited while the mountain was a
forming under the fea; it contained alſo,
he fays, prifmatic lava, but the word lava,
particularly with the addition prifmatic, can
now impoſe on no one *.
He farther affirms, that in particular
parts of this mountain, calcareous ftrata
exiſt under the lava.- So alfo Count Borch,
in his Letters on Sicily and Malta, informs
us, that the original ftone of which Etna
confifts is granite mixed with jafper, nei-
ther of which, furely, are lava; he fays,
that it abounds in mines of lead and copper,
neither of which are ever found in lava,
though their fragments may. This laft
mentioned geologiſt pretends that Ætna is
at least 8000 years old, which he infers
from the beds of vegetable earth which he
diſcovered betwixt different beds of lava.
Yet Dolomieu exprefsly tells us that fuch
earth does not exist between beds of lava,
Ponces, 472. and thus deſtroys the founda-
tion of thofe calculations that afcribe to the
* Ponces, 465, 466, &c.
globe
( 105 )
globe an antiquity incompatible with the
Mofaic hiſtory. Even if vegetable earth
were found betwixt beds of lava, yet no
conclufion relative to their age could fairly
be deduced from that circumftance, as fome
lavas become fertile much fooner than others.
Thus Chevalier Gioanni in 1787 found la-
vas projected in 1766 in a ſtate of vegeta-
tion, while other lavas much more ancient
ftill remained barren. Dolom. Ponces, 493.
And in particular, it is well known that
beds of volcanic afhes and pumice vegetate
fooner than any other*.
I have been led into this detail by ob-
ferving how fatal the fufpicion of the high
antiquity of the globe has been to the cre-
dit of the Moſaic hiſtory, and confequent-
ly to religion and morality; a fufpicion
grounded on no other foundation than that
whoſe weakneſs I have here expoſed.
Dolomieu tells us, that Canon Recupero
denied having ever expreffed any doubt on
that head, and could not conceive why a
late celebrated traveller fhould endeavour
to render fufpicious the orthodoxy of his
L
Ferber Italy, 169.
M.
belief.
( 106 )
*
belief, So far from having been perfe-
cuted on that account, he had a penſion
from the court of Naples to his death,
with many teftimonies of esteem and re-
gard. Ponces, 471.
}
1
}
F
ESSAY
( 107 )
ESSAY IV.
ON LAPIDIFICATION.
ANY earthy fubftance whoſe integrant
particles naturally cohere with ſufficient
force to refift the power of gravity, while
one part of them only is fupported and can-
not be ſeparated by mere fcraping with the
nail, is called a ftone; when they may be
feparated by the nail, but not by an in-
ferior force, they may be called indurated
earths; but this being the limit, ſubſtances
that thus cohere are alfo frequently deno-
minated from either extreme, being fome-
times called earths, and fometimes ftones.
When this coheſion is artificially produced,
particularly by fire, they are called from
the confideration of other properties, brick,
porcelain, glass, &c.
Hence the power of coheſion may be
confidered as the cauſe of induration; but
this power itſelf is derived from two ſources,
namely, the general attraction, or gravita-
tion,
( 108 )
tion, of all particles of matter to each
other*, and the ſpecific attraction of the in-
tegrant particles of one fpecies of matter,
either to each other, or to thoſe of another
fpecies; both theſe forts of attraction are ſo
much the ſtronger, and, confequently, fo is
alfo the refulting hardneſs, as the points
approaching to contact are more numė-
rous and nearer to each other † in the fame
mafs, and theſe are capable of becoming fo
much the more numerous as the particles
that preſent them are more minutely di-
vided; their furface (relatively to their
maffes) being increafed in proportion to
their divifion.
Hardness is properly that fort of coheſion
that refifts divifion by abraſion, or fciffion,
its oppofite is foftness. Firmness is that co-
herence which refifts percuffion, and its
oppofite is brittlenefs, or fragility. Brittle-
nefs arifes from the elafticity of the par-
ticles ftruck, and may be poffeffed in a high
degree by fubftances of great hardnefs, as is
evident in glaſs, ſteel, bell-metal, &c. in
* Except thoſe of the igneous element.
+ For exact contact perhaps never takes place.
all
( 109 )
all of which the approximation to contact
ſeems to be very near, but the points be-
twixt which this intimate approximation
takes place are not very numerous, as ap-
pears by the low ſpecific gravity of glaſs;
with refpect to ftony ſubſtances, the fpeci-
fic attraction of filiceous particles, and alſo
that of argillaceous particles to each other,
feems to be the greateft, that of calcareous
ſubſtances next greateſt, and that of mag-
neſian particles leaſt, in moſt inſtances.
Earthy fubftances acquire a ftony hard-
nefs either from cryftallization more. or
lefs perfect or confufed, concretion, cemen-
tation, or ſubſtitution of unorganic to or-
ganic matter.
Each of thefe modes of Lapidification I
ſhall now confider.
Cryſtallization, when perfect, is an ope-
ration by which the component particles of
bodies are fo arranged in uniting to each
other, as to affume a regular internal, and
external form; to effect this arrangement
they muſt be minutely divided, have liberty
of motion, be placed at a due diſtance from
each other, and be undisturbed by a force
fuperior to that of their mutual attraction;
in
( 110 )
in proportion as theſe circumſtances more
or lefs perfectly prevail or fail, the cryſtal-
lization is more or leſs perfect or confuſed,
as explained in the firſt volume of my Mi-
neralogy, chap. 1. § 2.
As bodies
may be minutely divided either
by igneous folution, that is, fufion, or by
folution in a liquid menftruum, cryſtalliza-
tion may in
in appropriate circumftances take
place either in the dry, or in the liquid
way; in the dry way, however, much more
difficultly than in the liquid, becauſe the
particles are too much crowded together;
hence the moſt perfect cryftallizations thus
formed, are produced in the act of fublima-
tion, as I have often obferved in expoſing
different mineral fubftances to Parker's
lens; and often alfo in crucibles, particu-
larly with reſpect to magneſia, and ſtones
of that genus. The cryftallizations formed
by mere fuſion are always imperfect, or ra-
ther rudiments of cryſtals, as the lamellated
or ftriated, or granular appearances of the
different metals, and metallic ores.
But the natural cryſtals of ſtony ſub-
ſtances were all (except a few found in
lavas) formed in the moift or liquid way,
no
( III }
no known natural heat being fufficient to
produce their fufion, and the circumſtances
that accompany them being incompatible
with igneous fufion, as will be fhewn in
the laſt of theſe Effays. Nay, fome cryf-
tals are found which by no poffibility could
be the refult of previous fufion, even though
every other neceffary circumftance ſhould
concur, namely, thofe which with, or
without an intermediate prifm, are termi-
nated by a pointed pyramid at both ends,
as thoſe of quartz and calcareous fpar fome-
times are; for cryſtals formed by previous
fuſion muſt neceſſarily adhere to fome baſis
in contact with them while in fufion, elſe
they could not be fupported, but theſe
could adhere to none without altering their
ſhape.
That filiceous earth is foluble in fimple
water, when fufficiently comminuted, ap-
pears from various obfervations. Mr. Gen-
fanne in the mines of Cramaillot in Franche
Compté, remarked that the water that
tranfuded through the rocks that formed
the vault of the works, produced concre-
tions that refembled ftalactites, but were
in reality quartz; they alſo fometimes ap-
peared
( 112 )
peared on the timber of the mine; this ob-
ſervation he attended to for ſeveral years.
Hift. de Langued. vol. 2. p. 28, &c. 1 Buf-
fon Mineralogy, 48. Mr. De Laffone found
the furface of a fandſtone which had the
year
before been inveſted with a filiceous
cruft, nearly as hard as agate, the particles
of which it was formed muft therefore
have been conveyed and depofited by wa-
ter. Mem. Par. 1774, p. 13, in 8vo. Berg-
man found filex in the waters of Upfal, but
in fmall quantity; Klaproth in a much
larger, in the waters of Carlſbad, 1 Klap.
335. 340. and though this water contains
an alkali, yet it is not to this that the fili-
ceous matter is indebted for its folubility,
for the alkali is fully aerated; and Wef-
trumb detected it in many more, as did
Santi in the waters of Pifa. Nott's tranfla-
tion, p: 53. The only queftion is, whether
it ſhould be faid to be mechanically fuf-
pended? that it is truly diffolved, appears
to me most confonant to truth; as Dr.
Black, however, ſeems to think otherwife,
any opinion oppoſite to that of a philofopher
of his acknowledged ability, deferves, before
it be admitted, the ftricteft examination;
the
( 113 )
5
the following proofs will, I hope, appear
fatisfactory.
1º. The Doctor himfelf found in an Eng-
liſh gallon of Rykum water 21,83 gr. of
filiceous earths, and 3 only of cauſtic na-
tron; though cauftic alkali has the power
of diffolving filiceous earths, yet, ſurely, it
cannot diffolve upwards of fix times its
weight of that earth, therefore, in this in-
ſtance, the ſolution of fo large a quantity
of filex cannot fairly be attributed to the
natron; among a variety of conjectures to
explain this fact, the Doctor thinks it moſt
probable that common falt and Glauber's
falt had been applied to the earthy and
ftony ftrata, which contain mixtures of
filex and argil; that theſe falts were in part
decompounded by the attraction of theſe
earths for the alkali of the neutral falt ;
that part of the acid had been diffipated or
changed into fulphur and fulphureous gas
by the fimultaneous action of inflammable
matter, and that the compound of alkali
and earthy matter had afterwards been long
expoſed to the action of hot water. But
this explanation the Doctor allows to be
merely conjectural. I fhould think that if
I
the
( 114 )
1
the filiceous matter had been decompofed
by its affinity to the alkali, the alkali would
have ſtill adhered to it in the quantity ne-
ceffary to hold it in folution, which we
find it does not. Let this inftance be com-
pared with any other cafe of folution;
when a metal or an earth is diffolved by
means of a menftruum, if that menftruum
be withdrawn, or faturated with fome other
fubftance, does not the fubftance it had
diffolved immediately fall, unleſs the new
compound be alfo a menftruum for it?
Thus, if magneſia be diffolved in water by
means of fixed air, or of a common acid,
does it not fall as foon as the fixed air has
cvaporated, or as foon as the common acid
is faturated with an alkali? But in the cafe
before us the alkali is for the moſt part
faturated, and yet the filex remains in folu-
tion for years: this inftance is therefore of a
totally different nature from that of the
cafes adduced, and the folution must be
attributed to the attractive power of the
menftruum that ftill holds it in folution,
namely, water.
In fact, the term, folution, denotes two
different forts of action: first, that of the
menftruum
( 115 )
menftruum on the integrant or component
parts of the aggregate to be diffolved,
whereby it ſeparates them from each other;
and, 2do that by which it holds them in
ſolution when ſeparated. The firſt ſort of
action is that which the Doctor fays he
never obſerved water to poffefs with re-
fpect to filiceous earth, nor do I contend
for it; the ſecond he certainly does not dif-
claim expreſsly, and his own experiment
proves it to exiſt in water; with refpect to
that earth, it is true, he feems to think
this the effect of a mechanical fufpenfion,
rather than that of a chemical attraction,
becauſe he could never diffolve flint, ever
fo finely pulverized, in mere water; but
this argues only a defect of the firſt ſpecies
of action, for furely the reafon of this in-
folubility is, that no artificial pulverization
is ever fufficiently minute. Thus we find,
that argil once baked, is very difficultly, or
ſcarce at all foluble in any acid, let it be
ever fo finely pulverized; and though acids
be its natural menftruums, yet if this argil
be ſtill more fubtilly divided, as it is by che-
mical agents in the act of precipitation, or
even after precipitation, while ftill moiſt,
I 2
it
( 116 )
it is then eaſily ſoluble in appropriate acids.;
and to come clofer to the cafe conteſted,
the Doctor will allow that cauftic alkali is the
natural menftruum of filiceous earths. Yet
Mr. Macie obferved, that powdered flints
were ſcarce at all acted upon even by boil-
ing fixed alkali, and the very little that
was diffolved was foon precipitated again
in the form of minute flocculi on expofure
to the air (a proof that it was argil, and
not filex); but the precipitate obtained from
liquor filicum by marine acid diffolved even
when dry, and very readily in this alkali,
and while ſtill moift did fo very copiouſly,
even without the affiſtance of heat *. It is,
therefore, plain, that the infolubility of filex
in water, in common caſes, ſhould be attri-*
buted to the defect of a divifion fufficiently
minute; the divifion requifite to render it
foluble in water fhould, perhaps, be ftill
more minute than that requifite to diffolve
it in fixed alkalies, or rather the particles
fhould be ſtill more difcrete, in order to
enable them to be furrounded by a fuffi-
cient quantity of water. Mechanical fuf-
* Phil. Tranf. 1791, p. 385.
penfion
( 117 )
penfion is not very difficultly diftinguiſhable
from chemical folution. Filtration com-
monly feparates particles fo fufpended, at
leaſt if ſeveral times repeated, and the li-
quor gently heated; of this we have a re-
markable inftance in the cafe of iron pre-
cipitated by the Pruffian alkali.
2do. Silex is found in the afhes of all
vegetables, as Mr. Bergman atteſts, § 172.
Anmerk and Ruckert, but principally in
the bambou reed, in whoſe joints even a
pebble hard enough to cut glafs has been
difcovered, Macie's Memoir above quoted.
It is plain, then, that this earth is con-
tained in the water imbibed by plants; the
fmall proportion of it that generally occurs
in a given quantity of water, is no proof
of a mere mechanical fufpenfion, for this
may and ſhould be attributed to the rare
occurrence of particles fufficiently minute
to be taken up by water; I fay it ſhould
be attributed to this circumſtance, becauſe,
in ſome caſes, namely, where this circum-
ſtance occurs, its proportion is very con-
fiderable: thus, Stucke found that accord-
ing to his experiments 20 oz. of water col-
lected in the internal cavities of bafaltic
columns
I 3
04
( 118 )
columns ſhould contain 14 grains of filex.
In this caſe the water percolating the pores
of the bafalt muſt have collected the mi-
nuteſt filiceous particles that occurred: here
not a particle of alkali was found; but on
the contrary, a large proportion of aerated
magneſia and argil. Stucke unterſuck, 119.
3dly. Zeolite is alfo foluble in water, as
Mr. Bergman has fhewn. 3 Bergm. 255.
Laſtly, to Dr. Black's authority I fhall op-
pofe that of a chymift equally refpectable,
that of Mr. Klaproth, who tells us, that
from his own experience he has learned
that in favourable circumftances filex is fo-
luble in water, without the co-operation of
a fixed alkali, and that the hypothefis of
the Doctor to explain the ſolubility of filex,
was no way requifite. 2 Klapr. 108.
There are few examples, however, of
the cryſtallization of ftony fubſtances at
this day, the reafon, of which is very obvi-
ous: all theſe fubftances were originally
created in that ſtate of minute divifion
which watry folution and cryſtallization
requires; and the greater part of theſe have
long fince entered into a ſtate of combina-
tion or accretion, from which mere water
can,
( 119 )
can, only in a great length of time, or
perhaps never, difengage very many of
them. This remark is particularly appli-
cable to the formation of cryſtals of the
filiceous genus; of which genus, when
pure and unmixed, 1000 parts water can
take up only one, and whofe perfect cryf-
tallization, moreover, requires perfect reft,
undiſturbed even by the alternate rarefac-
tion and condenſation of the atmoſphere,
as may be deduced from this circumſtance,
that theſe cryſtals are always found in ca-
vities well fecured from the free communi-
cation of the air, as in the veins and cavi-
ties of mountains, or in hollow ftones called
geods, or in rifts, &c. where the air has
had acceſs, or any diſturbance taken place,
the cryſtallization is imperfect, being merc-
ly granular or diſtorted. Some have attri-
buted the ancient folution of ftones of the
filiceous genus, to fome imaginary men-
ftruum which, they fay, has long fince
been deſtroyed or faturated. This fuppofi-
tion is both abfurd and gratuitous: abfurd,
becauſe it is grounded upon another fuppo-
fition, which evidently is fo, namely, that
filiceous fubftances were at firſt formed in
I 4
a concrete
2.
( 120 )
a concrete ftate, that they might by this
fictitious menftruum be immediately after
reduced to a diffolved ftate. Gratuitous,
becauſe no trace of fuch a menftruum can
be found; even the fparry acid, the only
known acid menftruum of filiceous fub-
ftances, has never been found in filiceous
cryſtals, and the quantity of it known to
exiſt, is infinitely too ſmall to effect ſuch
a folution, and its affinity to filiceous earths
is ſmaller than to earths of other genera,
to which, confequently, it would prefer-
ably unite. An alkaline menftruum would
be much more congenial, if any trace of
it could be found.
In modern times it is only the filiceous
particles that have efcaped combination,
or have, by fome means, been detached
from it, and often widely diſperſed, or
thinly ſcattered through other ftony maffes,
and flowly collected by the minute drops
of water that circulate through theſe maſſes,
that can in appropriate circumftances form
cryſtals, the drops of water gradually eva-
porating in thefe hollows, and depofiting
the filiceous fubftances, firſt on the baſis to
which they adhere, and afterwards on each
other.
( 121 )
other. The annual alterations of heat and
cold which prevail even at the greateſt
depths, though ever ſo ſmall, are fufficient
in a great length of time to condenfe, pro-
mote, and carry off, thefe vapours: this
circulation of vapours in the interior parts
of the earth, has been lately proved by
Baron Trebra in his third letter.
That even filiceous cryftals were formed
in water, appears not only from the fore-
going general reaſoning, but from various
concomitant circumſtances. 1°. Baron Vel-
theim lately found fome in a lonely retired
fpot, that ſeemed recently formed, being
as yet foft. 1 Gerh. Geſch. 17. 2°. All
of them, even the moſt ſolid and compact,
lofe fome part of their weight when ex-
poſed to a ſtrong heat, and many of them
decrepitate; the weight thus loft is mere
water. Thus zeolytes lofe from 5 to 18
per cent. as is well known; and in Kla-
proth's experiments compound fpar lofes
45 per cent. opals from 6 to 18; fhorl from
7 to 9; turmaline lofes 15 per cent. Bra-
filian topas 20; common flints 5; and red
quartz 3 per cent. 1 Klapr. Beytr. 41
Roz. 95. Fleaurieu de Bellvieu found Car-
rara
( 122 )
1
rara marble, heated below calcination, to
lofe
I
IT उ
part of its weight.
3º. Pebbles filled with water fome-
times occur; nay, Ferber obferved in the
mineral cabinet of Pifa, a round quartz
cryftal, half filled with water, and even
containing an infect. If it be faid, the
water was introduced through a chink, I
afk, how the infect could be introduced?
for the chink, if there were any, was fo
fmall, that Ferber could fcarce believe his
eyes when he perceived the water, whereas
the wonder would ceaſe if there were a
perceptible chink*. Inftances of the ſame
kind have frequently occurred.
4°. Gerhard well remarks that ftones
formed in the dry way, being heated to
rednefs, become ſtill harder, or at leaſt re-
main equally hard; but thofe formed in the
moiſt way being fo treated, become fofter:
now filiceous cryſtals, thoſe of quartz for
inftance, become fofter when heated to
redneſs, therefore they muſt have been
formed in the moiſt way † As to calca-
*
Italy, 434, 21ft letter.
+2 Gerh. 118.
rcous
( 123 )
reous fpars, they have often been formed by
art in the moiſt way, but, furely, never by
igneous fufion; Sauffure obferved fome
formed in a bottle of aerated water. 1 Sauff.
270. 2 Sauff. § 1097, in note.
5º. Siliceous cryftals are found in the
cavities of calcareous ftones, where theſe are
fo fituated that infiltrations from the for-
mer claſs may paſs into them; thus Mr.
Sauffure found cryftals of quartz in a cal-
careous mafs of 400 feet in extent, which
leaned againſt a mountain, formed of quartz
and mica, on the fide adjacent to this gra-
nilitic rock. 2 Sauff. 118.
6º. Siliceous ftalactites have lately been
found in Montarniata, hanging from Pe-
perino, and alfo in the form of an incruf-
tation ſuperficially inveſting lavas; now this
ftone is infufible in the ftrongeſt heat,
therefore it does not owe its origin to vol-
canic heat, but muſt have been formed by
tranfudation, or infiltration through the
lavas after they had cooled; in ſtructure,
tuberofity, rugofity, &c. it exactly refem-
bles calcareous ftalactites; fee Chy. An.
1796, 589, &c.
Laſtly,
( 124 )
1
Laftly, Siliceous folutions in fixed alkali,
after the alkali has been fuper-faturated
with an acid, being flowly evaporated, de-
pofit the filex in the form of cryftallized
grains, which fhews, that filex can cryf-
tallize in mere water, when the proportion
of water neceffary to hold it in folution
is flowly diminiſhed.
1 Klapr. 211.
{
The next mode or immediate caufe of
Lapidification is concretion, that is, the
cloſe union of earthy particles to each
other, without any fort of cryftallization,
but arifing merely from their approximation
to each other after the expulſion of the
fuperfluous water; thus clays are indurated,
and many forts of ſtone of the argillaceous
genus are formed, particularly when calces
of iron, petrol, or carbonaceous fubftances
are found in them; bricks have often been
formed in this manner by mere folar heat.
in hot and dry climates. That the hard-
neſs thus refulting is derived from their
clofer union and the expulfion of water, is
clearly proved by the contraction of their
dimenfions which they experience, and
their lofs of weight; the Poliſh and Hun-
garian
*
1
( 125 )
garian huts formed of clay, are a further
proof of the induration thus produced *.
We may, however, remark, 1º. that ſome
proportion of water is always neceffary to
promote this lapidiſcence, for earths that
have all their water expelled, remain in
duft, or if a confiderable proportion be ex-
pelled, they remain much fofter, and hence
to harden them, fome water muſt be add-
ed; this Dolomieu remarked with refpect
to lavas. Ponces, 417.-20. That the di-
menfions of fome compounds that acquire
a ſtony hardneſs by concretion, are ſome-
times increaſed, namely, when they abforb
air; the compound, for inftance, that
forms Pouzzolana expands while it hardens,
as its ferruginous part abſorbs the oxygen
of water.
Water, in fome fmall proportion, ſeems
even an effential ingredient in many fpe-
cies of ftone, even the hardeſt; quartz, for
inſtance, loſes its tranfparency when de-
prived of it. In theſe caſes the water ſeems
to be folidified by a lofs of great part of its
ſpecific heat, in the fame manner as that
* Schwed. Abhand. 1770, 195.
contained
}
1
1
( 126
contained in Glauber's falt is now known
to be.
The hardneſs induced by deficcation in
ftones of the filiceous genus has been
often remarked; thus, Delius obferved,
that Hungarian opals when firſt dug up,
are fo foft as to be friable betwixt the fin-
gers; but by expofure to the air and fun
only for a few days, they acquire a ftony
hardneſs. 44 Roz. 48. and Sauffure tells
us, it is well known to all mineralogifts,
that moſt ſtones, even granites, are harder
on the furface than in the interior of moun-
tains. 6 Sauff. 319. That many argilla-
ceous ftones are foftened by water, and
hardened by expoſure to the air, is a mat-
ter of general obfervation. Bergm. Journ.
1789. 724.
Even calcareous ftones are hardened by
deficcation; this fact I often obferved with
reſpect to compact limeſtone taken from a
quarry level with the furface of the earth,
not only the fuperior ftrata, but even the
inferior were much lefs hard while in the
quarry than in a few days after they were
taken out of it and expofed to the air; this
6
has
( 127 )
has often been obſerved by others. Mem.
Par. 1746. 1075. 1 La Mether. 12.
That calcareous concretions of a ftony
hardneſs have been formed in modern
times, and ftill continue to be formed,
particularly in the vicinity of ſprings ſtrong-
ly impregnated with calcareous or calcareo
fulphureous matters, as in Derbyſhire, Bo-
hemia, &c, is quite notorious; and that
vaſt maſſes of limeftone have within a few
centuries concreted in the fame manner,
may be collected from the diſcovery of va-
rious artificial fubftances within thoſe
maffes. As thefe, however, have been by
fome, afcribed to fome fictitious Preadam-
tick periods, I fhall quote one, which,
without very violent fuppofitions indeed,
cannot be attributed to any other but
very modern times. In working a block
of ſtone raiſed near Paris, the barrel of a
piftol was found imbedded in the midſt of
it.
1 Buff. Mineral. 39. Stalactitic con-
cretions of modern formation, and even ar-
tificial, are too well known to require any
illuſtration; but are alſo a full proof of
the formation of ftones by concretion, or
at leaft, a commenced cryftallization; and
perfect
( 128 )
perfect calcareous fpar has been found in a
ftalactitic form. 1 Bergm. Journal, 1792,
218.
The third cauſe of lapidification is ce-
mentation, fee Black on Geyfer, p. 22, that
is the introduction of particles, either of the
fame or of a different ſpecies, into the inter-
ftices of fubftances that either did not ad-
here at all to each other previous to this
introduction; or at leaft were of a loofer
or leſs indurated texture. Thus Sauffure
tells us, that in the neighbourhood of Mef-
fina, where grits are quarried near the ſea
fhore, the cavities formed by their extrac-
tion are foon filled with fea fand, which in
a few
years is folidified, having its particles
agglutinated by the calcareous matter intro-
duced by the fea water. I Sauff.§ 305. p. 248.
Bowles remarks, that in the neighbourhood
of Cadix, the fea poffeffes the fame power,
as the fragments of brick, mortar, &c.
thrown on the fhore, are, after a certain
time, cemented with the fand and fhells
into an uniform mafs of ſtone. Bowles'
Spain, 99. Flurl relates, that fragments
of rocks are cemented together, even at
this day, by ſtreams impregnated with cal-
careous
( 129 )
careous matter, and depoſiting it on and
between theſe fragments, at Hugelfing
in Bavaria. Flurl Bavaria, 23, 24. Mr.
De la Faille, an Academician of Rouen, ob-
ferves, that the fea near Chatelaillon after
a ftorm throws up a fort of mud on which,
after a few days, a fpecies of fhell-fifh, cal-
led griffites, appear, and foon after, the
whole hardens into a ftone as folid as the
hardeſt limeftone. 20 Roz. 43, in note*.
But, perhaps, no where does this effect take
place fo quickly as at Crainburg, near the
banks of the Save; for in quarrying a ftra-
tum of ſtone, it was obſerved, that the frag-
ments, if not immediately removed, were
in a fhort time fo firmly cemented by the
river water that oozed through the banks,
that they required to be quarried over again.
2 Born Phyſ. Arbeit 8vo. in note; and hence
the ingenious author, Mr. Gruber, clearly
deduces the origin of breccias. In many
cafes calces of iron minutely divided form
the whole of the cement; or at leaſt
powerfully contribute to the cementing
power of other earths.
Zimmermann
*See alfo Mem. Par. 1721. 343, 8vo.
I
K
mixed
( 130 )
mer.
mixed one part filings of iron and three
parts fand, ſprinkled, or rather covered them
with water, and let them ſtand fix months,
at the end of which period he found the
veffel burſt by the expanſion of the oxy-
genated iron, and the fand fo firmly com-
pacted, that the mafs thus formed could
not be broken but by a chifel and ham-
Henckel Origine des Pierres, 405 in
note; and that this induration may, and
does take place at great depths in the ſea,
is evidently proved by the obfervations of
Rinman. Mem. Stock. 1770, related by
Gadd, that an iron anchor long depofited
in the fea, had hardened into ſtone all the
fand, clay, and fhells, which furrounded it,
to a pretty confiderable diſtance; and is
farther confirmed by a fimilar obfervation
of Mr. Edward King, Phil. Tranf. 1779,
p. 35, that a violent ſtorm having laid bare
part of the wreck of a man of war that
had been ſtranded 33 years before, ſeveral
maffes, confifting of iron, ropes, and balls,
were found covered over with a hard fub-
ſtance which upon examination appeared
to be fand concreted and hardened into a
kind of ftone: that which concreted round
the
( 131 )
the rope, retained the impreffion of that
part of the ring to which the rope was
faftened in the fame manner as the im-
preffions of extraneous foffils are often
found in various ftrata. Alfo round the
iron handle of a braſs cannon that remain-
ed in the ſea a much longer time, a much
harder incruftation of fand was found, in-
clofing cockles, mufcles, limpets, oyſters,
&c. all fo firmly fixed, and converted into
a ſubſtance ſo hard, that it required as
much force to ſeparate or break them, as to
break a fragment of any hard rock. Ib. 40,
41. It appears alfo, that a very fmall pro-
portion of calx of iron is fufficient to pro-
duce induration, when diffuſed through the
maſs of earthy matter, not only by the ob-
fervation of Rinman above related, but
alſo by that of Mr. King on the induration
cauſed by the point of a nail, in the paper
above quoted.
Stones already formed, may be ſtill fur-
ther indurated by the infiltration of flight-
ly oxygenated iron; thus Dr. Fothergill ha-
ving watered pieces of Portland ſtone with
water impregnated with iron ruft, found
it in a few years to have acquired a ſenſi-
K 2
ble
( 132 )
*
ble degree of fuch hardneſs as to yield a
metallic found, and refift any ordinary tool.
Phil. Tranf. 1779, 44.
That a proceſs of the fame nature has
been, and ſtill is, carried on in the inte-
rior parts of the earth, wherein hardneſs is
induced or increaſed by the infiltration of
particles of the fame, or of a different,
nature, appears by many obfervations, of
which I fhall only mention a few, as being
perfectly decifive.
1º. Mr. Werner obferved in the moun-
tain of Zeigelberg, ftrata of blue clay and
compact red iron ſtone, to alternate ſeveral
times with each other, and that each had
peculiar petrifactions not found in the other;
for inſtance, only turbinites were found in
the one, and in the other only chamites,
or mufcullites, &c. which fhews thefe de-
pofitions were not fimultaneous, but ori-
ginated at different periods of time. Now
the petrifactions found in the 'ftratum of
the blue clay, when placed under the iron
ftone, were conſtantly filled with the fer-
ruginous matter of that ftone, and, on the
contrary, the petrifactions found in the
iron ſtone, when under the ftratum of clay,
were
( 133 )
were filled, at leaſt in the parts contiguous
to the clay, with argillaceous matter, but
the hardness of the iron ftone prevented it
from receiving much of the argillaceous
matter. Wedem. Umwandl. p. 118.
2º. The petrifactions found in chalk are
frequently filled with filiceous matter, and
fo hardened as to give fire with fteel. Now
chalk itſelf is found conftantly to contain
more or leſs of minute filiceous particles;
it is, therefore, to the infiltration of theſe
that this increaſed hardneſs is to be attri-
buted.
3º. It is remarked, that coloured mar-
bles (of the compact kind) are generally
harder than the white, as by infiltration or
otherwiſe they received, either during or
after their formation, particles of another
fpecies, by which their interftices were
filled. Nadault. 1 Buffon Mineral. 342.
4°. The calcareous Farcilite called Amen-
la, is formed of rounded calcareous maffes of
extreme hardnefs, cemented by a calca-
reous cement. Now near the furface where
the calcareous cementing matter could not
be fo abundant, thefe ftones are but looſely
connected or united, but at greater depths,
K 3
for
( 134 )
for the contrary reaſon (there being more
calcareous matter incumbent) the cement
becomes fo hard that the maffes it forms
cannot be ſeparated but by exploſion with
gunpowder; per Sauvages Mem. Par. 1746,
1086, in 8vo.
That the cementing matter was of pof-
terior formation, is evidently inferred from
the veins of calcareous fpar that run through
the rouned maffes, but which never pafs
into the cement, as the fagacious author
well remarks, p. 1091.
5°. Gufman attefts, that he has feen
petrofiliceous breccias, whofe calcareous
cement originated from their own decom-
pofition. Lithophy. Mitfian. 114.
6°. The refuſe ſtones thrown out of mines
are frequently hardened again by the mat-
ter ariſing from their difintegration and de-
compofition, as Lafius obferved at Ramelf-
berg. Hartz. 283 and 3. De Luc Let-
tres à la Reine, 298. Sometimes a com-
menced cryſtallization is found in theſe
adventitious accumulations. Flurl Bavaria,
565.
It fometimes happens that a cement
which was originally a mere confuſed ag-
gregation,
6
1
( 135 )
}
gregation, becomes, after ſome ages, fo mi-
nutely comminuted by folution, as to cryf-
tallize into a tranfparent matter; this, Mr.
Nadault obferved in the fragments of a very
ancient rampart, in feveral fathoms of
which the ftones were connected, not by
mortar, but by a tranſparent fubftance (a
fpar) into which the calcareous particles of
the mortar were converted by the infiltra-
tion of rain water *; the fame effect ſeems
alfo naturally to take place in many lime-
ftones of a looſe fpungy texture, the water
that pervades part of their maſs gradually
conveying into another part of the fame
mafs fuch particles as it can diffolve: theſe
being thus brought into a clofer union with
each other, cryftallize, and induce an ad-
ditional hardneſs in that part of the mafs
in which they ſettle. The hardnefs thus
produced is the refult, not of one, but of
feveral fucceffive infiltrations, and hence
various degrees of hardneſs are obferved to
take place between the looſe and ſpungy
extremity of the ftone, and the extremity
which has received its maximum of folidity.
Per Nadault, 1 Buffon Mineral. 391.
I
K 4
Calcareous
#
( 136 )
Calcareous maffes of this fort have been
obſerved by the Abbé Sauvages* and others.
In Mr. Greville's cabinet there are many
hornſtones, in which the gradual tranſition
from an indurated clay into filiceous hard-
neſs and fracture, may be evidently dif
cerned. It has been afked, what becomes
of the water that conveys theſe cryſtallizing
particles? The anſwer is eaſy; all ftones,
and even the denfeft metals, contain va-
cuities; theſe act as capillary tubes, and
foon reconvey the water to the upper fur-
face, from which it gradually evaporates.
Of the hardneſs induced by obfcure and
confuſed cryſtallizations pervading ftony
maffes, we have an indubitable proof in
many impure gypfums, which undoubt-
edly coalefced by cryftallization, though
the cryſtalline grains are fcarcely difcern-
ible.
The cements are of many different forts,
but more generally of the fame fpecies as
the ftone cemented. Sometimes they run
in veins; fometimes they are difperfed
through the whole mafs invifibly to the
* Mem. Par. 1746, 1105, in 8vo.
naked
( 137 )
naked eye, or viſible only in a ſtrong light,
or by a lens; fometimes very visible in mi-
nute fhining fpecks: thus, in the calcareous
clafs they are more frequently parry, but
often alſo filiceous or ferruginous; fome-
times argillaceous or pyritous, more rarely
gypfeous or fluoric-in the argillaceous they
are commonly ferruginous, but fometimes
calcareous or filiceous, &c. and, as lately
has been diſcovered, fometimes carbon-
aceous.
The laſt known mode of inducing ftony
hardness, is SUBSTITUTION; that is, the in-
troduction of ftony, and, fometimes, of
metallic fubſtances, into organic bodies
whether of the vegetable, or of the animal
kingdoms, in proportion as the particles of
thefe organic fubftances are deſtroyed by
putrefaction, ſo as to affume the place, and,
confequently, the form and figure of thefe,
as if caft in the fame mould.
The mineral fubftances, thus moulded,
are called petrifactions in the moſt proper
fenſe of the word; but, by many, particu-
larly by the Germans, this word is ufed
in a loofer fenfe, to denote any organic fub-
ftance found buried at great depths in the
earth,
( 138 )
earth, or embodied in ftone, whether con-
verted into ſtony matter or not.
The hardneſs thus induced, arifes from
the proximity of the ftony particles to each
other, and the fuperior attraction of theſe
particles, in compariſon of thofe of the or-
ganifed fubftances whofe place they oc-
cupy.
The mechaniſm of petrifaction, I con-
ceive to be ſhortly this, organic fubftances
petrified, are either found in water, re-
plete with the ftony matter found in petri-
factions, or, they are inclofed in earths,
fands, or ſtones; in both cafes the firſt
ſtep in the procefs of petrifaction, is the
eſcape of the hydrogen and part of the car-
bon of which the organiſed ſubſtance con-
fifts. If this fubſtance be ſurrounded by
water ſtrongly impregnated, the ftony par-
ticles are immediately attracted and fubfti-
tuted in the place occupied by the particles
that eſcaped; but if the patrifaction takes
place more quickly than water can ſupply
the ftony particles, then no petrifaction
takes place, and hence the fofter organiſed
fubftances are ſcarce ever found petrified.
The process is thus continued by gradual
putrefaction
V
( 139 )
1
*
putrefaction on the one part, and gradual
infinuation of ſtony particles on the other,
until the petrifaction is completed.
Shells, bones, and woods, are the fub-
ſtances that decay moft flowly, and there-
fore are moſt frequently found petrified;
but the fibrous parts of thefe decay more
flowly than the fofter or medullary, and
thence the difpofition of the ftony particles
introduced, muft, neceffarily, be as differ-
ent as the diſpoſition and form of the fi-
brous particles were, whofe form and place
they affume. We muſt alſo conceive that
the petrifaction is at first imperfect, and
not abfolutely completed until long after
it has penetrated into the interior of the
organic fubftances. The minute interſtices
at first left, are afterwards gradually filled
up, though in fome inftances contrary ap-
pearances occur.
In fome cafes, alfo, the interior or more
central parts of the
of the organiſed ſubſtance firſt
decay, while the exterior remains found; in
fuch cafes the petrifying operation takes
place only in the interior: this has often
been obferved in woods where the wood is
of a fpecies that ſtrongly refifts putrefaction,
or
( 140 )
or the water in which it is lodged is but
flightly impregnated with petrefcent par-
ticles, the petrifaction very flowly takes
place; of this we have a memorable in-
ſtance in one of the timbers that fupports
Trajan's bridge over the Danube, fome
miles below Belgrade. About the year 1760,
the emperor of Germany being defirous to
know the length of time neceffary to com-
plete a petrifaction, obtained leave from
the fultan to take up and examine one of
thefe timbers. It was found to have been
converted into an agate, to the depth only
of half an inch; the inner parts were flightly
petrified, and the central ftill wood. Un-
doubtedly the timber employed was of the
kind leaſt ſubject to rot, and the Danube is
not known to contain any notable quantity
of filiceous particles; but the fact is im-
portant, as it proves to a demonftration,
that filiceous particles are foluble in water,
are taken up by wood, that petrifactions
arc carried on in appropriate circumſtances
in modern times, and the fucceffive procefs
of petrefcence as above ftated. Jufti Gefch.
des Erdkorpers, 267. 1 Gerh. Geſch. 222.
But in the moſt favourable circumſtances,
that
( 141 )
(141
that is, where the wood is of a fpecies more
fufceptible of putrefaction, and the water
in which it is immerfed, richly impreg-
nated with ftony particles, petrifaction
takes place much more quickly. Don Ul-
loa tells us, that north of Quito, at the
foot of mount Anlagua, there is a river
that petrifies any fort of wood or leaves that
are thrown into it, and that he had whole
branches thus petrified; the fibres of the
rind, even the ſmalleſt fibres of the leaves,
and the meanders of the fibrilla being equally
difcernible as when fresh cut from the
tree.
All the rocks in this river, he obferves,
are covered with a cruft little inferior in
hardneſs to the rocks themfelves. This
matter, he adds, faftens much more eaſily
on corruptible fubftances, and frequently
forms a lapidcous tegument round the
leaves, &c. *
Mr. Stedel found the pieces
of elm left in a fountain, near Ulm, be-
come petrified in ſeven years †.
The petrifaction induced in woods fur-
rounded by fands, or inclofed in ftones,
* Ulloa's Voyages, p. 377, Irish edition.
+ 6 Roz. 8vo. 3d part, p. 18.
originates
( 142 )
1
originates exactly from the fame cauſes, and
is produced in the fame manner. Mr.
Glediſch obferved one of the roots of a pine.
tree ſtill in a ſtate of vegetation, converted
into the calcareous petrifaction called Ofteo-
colla: it was furrounded by fand, and part
of the wood in a rotten ftate remained in
the center of the root. Mem. Berl. 1748,
p. 49, 50.
This fame petrifaction, which exactly
reſembled the root of a tree, Margraff ana-
lyfed, and found it to yield volalkali from
fome remains of the putrid wood that were
ftill contained in it. 1 Margr. 246. 261
and that putrefaction ever precedes petr
faction, may be deduced from the exiſtence
of fixed vegetable alkali in the marls that
furround petrifactions, and the volalkali
alſo often obtained by diftilling them; fee
Gefner's Differtation in 6 Roz. in 8vo. 2d
part, p. 20, &c.
Several lakes or other waters that an-
ciently poffeffed a petrifying power, have
fince loft it by having imparted the greater
part of the ftony particles they contained
to ſuch ſubſtances as were capable of re-
taining them.
ESSAY
(( 143
143 )
F
ESSAY V.
ON THE DECOMPOSITION AND DISINTE-
GRATION OF STONY SUBSTANCES.
Decompofition confifts in the feparation of
the conftituent parts of a ftone or other fub-
ſtance, and may be either total or partial.
Difintegration denotes the ſeparation only of
the integrant parts; both often take place
in the fame ſubſtance.
The only cauſes of mere difintegration as
yet known, are the viciffitudes of the at-
moſphere; the abforption and congelation
of water; the fudden dilatation or contrac-
tion produced by the former, particularly
when extreme, cannot but loofen the texture
of moft ftony fubftances, and when aided
by the abforption of water, ſtrongly tend to
feparate them. The water thus received in
their minuteſt rifts, being afterwards fro-
zen, burſts them with incredible force, of
which frequent inftances occur in the
northern countries, and in the more ele-
vated
(144)
vated mountains of the fouthern, where the
moſt ſudden tranſitions of heat and cold,
and the highest degrees of the latter fre-
quently prevail; and hence the broken crag-
gy ftate of their loftieft fummits.
The known external caufes of decom-
poſition, are water, oxygen, and fixed air.
The internal caufes are, the baſes moſt
capable of forming an union with the ex-
ternal, as faline fubftances, fulphur, flightly
oxygenated calces of iron, or of manganefe,
lime, argil, bitumen, carbon, and mephi-
tic air, which is certainly contained in
many ftony ſubſtances, as Dr. Priestley has
fhewn in the firft volume of his laft edition,
p. 64; but as to its nature and effects it is at
preſent too little known: all theſe are af
fifted by a looſe texture, of the ſubſtance
acted upon.
Saline fubftances, particularly when (rela-
tively to their mafs) they prefent a large
furface, are diffolved by water, and, con-
ſequently, the ftones, of which they ſome-
times form a component part, are decom-
pofed; thus muriacite, which confifts of
27 per cent gypfum, 14 common falt, 5
mild calx, and 53 of micaceous fand, muſt
be
( 145 )
be decompofed when long fubjected to the
action of water.
Sulphur promotes decompofition by ab-
forbing oxygen, while it is thus converted
into vitriolic acid; but moiſture is alfo re-
quifite. To this cauſe the decompofition
of fuch ſtones as contain pyrites is to be
attributed; it feldom acts, however, unleſs
united to fome metallic fubftance; and
hence its combinations with argil, unleſs
affifted by heat, are not ſenſibly decom-
pofed, or only in a great length of time.
Calces of iron, moderately oxygenated, are
the moſt general caufe of decompofition,
particularly when affifted by a looſe tex-
ture, and the other caufes of difintegration;
thefe act by abforbing a greater proportion
of oxygen and fixed air, but require alfo
the affiftance of moiſture. By this abforp-
tion they gradually fwell, and are difunited
from the other constituent parts of the ſtone
into whofe compofition they enter.-When
leaſt oxygenated their colour is black, or
brown, or bluiſh; and in fome inſtances,
when united with argil and magneſia,
grey, or greenish grey; the former in pro-
portion as they become more oxygenated
become
L
( 146 )
become purple, red, orange, and, finally,
pale yellow; the latter become at firft blue,
then purple, red, &c.
Iron, in its perfect metallic ftate, or at
leaft but flightly oxygenated, alío decom-
poſes water; but if expofed to the air it
becomes farther oxygenated, and the com-
pound in which it enters gradually withers,
as Dr. Higgins obferved, in imitating pouz-
zolana, on Cements, 124.
But ſtones into whofe compofition calces
of iron highly oxygenated feem to have
originally entered, are very difficultly
decompofed, as red jafpers, &c. as they
already poffefs nearly as much as they can
abforb.
Manganefe, when flightly oxygenated, is
known to attract oxygen ftrongly, particular-
ly with the affiftance of heat and moiſture ;
hence it is, in many cafes, a principle of
decompofition, as in fidero calcites, &c. it
alfo frequently affifts or promotes that ef-
fected by calces of iron.
Lime, from its attraction to fixed air, and
its folubility in water, muft promote, in
favourable circumftances, the decompofi-
tion of ftones, of which it forms a con-
ftituent
( 147 )
ſtituent part; to it the decompoſition of
felfpars, and many zeolites, may, in part,
be attributed *.
Argil, when its induration does not ex-
ceed 7, muft, by the common annual vi-
ciffitudes of heat and cold, gradually become
rifty, abforb, foften, and fwell, and thus
promote difintegration, and decompoſition.
Bitumen is faid to form the cement of
fome limeftones, and, probably, of various
other fpecies. Bowles found it fo in va-
rious parts of Spain, and Flurl in Bavaria;
and to its fufion and withering (probably by
attracting oxygen) he attributes the difin-
tegration of feveral compact limeftones in
Bavaria. p. 78.
Carbon has lately been found in feveral
fpecies of ſtone; as it powerfully attracts
oxygen, to it we may, perhaps, attribute
the difintegration of many of them, as
marls, marlites, fome, argillites, fhales, &c.
Mephitic air (the azote of the French)
by its property of forming nitrous acid, when,
during its nafcent ftate, it is gradually
* That the calx is in a cauftic ftate, fee Pelletier's
analyfis. 20 Roz. 422.
7 and 17.
7
I, 2
brought
( 148 )
brought into contact with the oxygen or
the atmoſphere, in a moderately dry ſtate,
may alſo promote decompofition; calcareous
ſtones are known to contain it in pretty
confiderable proportion, and thoſe that con-
tain animal remains, probably, moft; from
this confideration we may derive fome ex-
planation of a very remarkable phenomenon
related by Mr. Dolomieu. 36 Roz. 116.
"All the houſes of Malta are built of a fine
grained limeſtone, of a looſe and ſoft
"texture, but which hardens by expofure
"to the air. There is a circumſtance
"which haftens its deftruction, and reduces
"it to powder, namely, when it is wetted
66
by fea water; after this it never dries, but
"is covered by a faline effervefcence, and a
"cruft is formed fome tenths of an inch
* 6
thick, mixed with common falt, nitre,
"and nitrated lime; under this cruft the
ftone moulders into duft, the cruft falls
SK
off, and other crufts are fucceffively form-
ed, until the whole ftone is deſtroyed.
"A fingle drop of fea water is fufficient to
produce the germ of deftruction; it forms
"a fpot which gradually increafes and
fpreads like a caries through the whole
"mafs
( 149 )
"maſs of the ſtone; nor does it ſtop there,
"but, after fome time, affects all the
66
66
neighbouring ftones in the wall. The
"ſtones moſt fubject to this malady are
"thoſe that contain moft magneſia; thoſe
"which are fine grained, and of a clofe
texture, refift moft." Short as this ac-
count is, it appears from it, that the lime-
ftone of Malta contains both calcareous
earth and magnefia, but moſt probably in
a mild ftate; and the ftone being of the
loofer kind, is of the fpecies which is known
to contain moft mephitic air. Mr. Dolo-
mieu fhews at the end of his tract on the
Lipari iſlands, that the atmoſphere of Mal-
ta, in fome feafons, when a fouth wind
blows, is remarkably fouled with mephitic
air, and at other times, when a north wind
blows, remarkably pure; and hence, of all
others, moft fit for the generation of nitrous
acid.-Again, fea water, befides common
falt, contains a notable proportion of mu-
riated magneſia, and a ſmall proportion of
felenite. From thefe data we may infer,
that, when this ftone is wetted by fea
water, the felenite is decompofed by the
mild magneſia contained in the ſtone, and
intimately
L 3
( 150 )
intimately mixed with the calcareous earth;
of this decompofition, two refults deſerve
I
attention, 1. The production of vitriolic
Epfom; 2. The extrication of mephitic
air, the muriated magnefia of the fea wa-
ter ferving, during this extrication, the
purpoſe of attracting and detaining a ſuf-
ficiency of moisture. This air, thus flowly
generated, and meeting the dry oxygen of
the atmoſphere, forms nitrous acid, highly
mephitifed, but it foon acquires a due pro-
portion of oxygen by deoxygenating the
vitriolic contained in the Epſom ſalt, which
by fucceffive depredations of this fort is
gradually deſtroyed. Part alfo muft unite
to the mild calx, which in its turn is de-
compoſed by the remaining mild magneſia ;
more mephitic air is fet loofe, and more
nitrous acid is produced, until the ſtone is
deſtroyed; how the alkaline part of the
nitre, which is one of the products refult-
ing from the decompofition of this ſtone,
is formed, is as yet myfterious; Is it not
from the tartarin lately difcovered in clays
and many ftones?
ftones? I am as yet inclined to
think that it is derived from the putrefac-
tion of vegetable and animal ſubſtances;
and
( 151 )
and though nitrous acid formed of oxygen
and air, from putrefying fubftances, be
found united, not only to the abſorbent
earths to which it is expofed, but alſo to a
fixed alkali; yet I fhould rather ſuppoſe
that the alkali is conveyed into thoſe earths
by the putrid air, than newly formed; and
the reafon is, that tartarin, notwithſtand-
ing its fixity, is alfo found in foot, and in
the fame manner may be elevated in putrid
exhalations. As to the common falt, faid
alfo by Dolomieu to be found in the blif-
ters of this mouldering ſtone, I am as yet
in doubt, for common falt was alſo ſaid to
accompany the native nitre found in the
pulo of Appulia, yet Klaproth in analyſing
this nitrated earth could find none; fee
Zimmerman's account of this native nitre.
36 Roz. 111. 113, and 1 Klap. 319.
So alfo when the calx of iron contained
in ftones is but flightly oxygenated, it may,
by reaſon of the cloſe texture of the ſtone,
remain undecompofed for ages; but if by
any accident, as fracture, or contact with
fome faline matter, or the alternate recep-
tion and diſmiſſal of water, the reception
of more oxygen is facilitated, a decompo-
fition
L4
( 152 )
fition will commence, which, as in the
former cafe, will fpread like a caries, be-
caufe the lefs oxygenated part of the iron
takes oxygen more eaſily from the more
oxygenated part, than from the atmoſphere,
by reaſon, that the abforbed
abſorbed oxygen is
more condenfed than it is in the atmo-
ſphere. Thus, iron inferted into a highly
oxygenated folution of vitriol of iron, and
which, therefore, refuſes to cryftallize, will
take up the exceſs of oxygen, and thus re-
ftore the folution to a cryftallizable ſtate;
or as calx of tin takes up oxygen from calces
of filver, antimony, &c. in the beautiful
experiments of Pelletier. 12 An. Chym.
229, &c.
Hence, alfo, ferruginous ftones near, or
upon, the furface of the earth, being more
expofed to air and moiſture, and the dif-
ruptive action of growing vegetables whoſe
roots pierce through their minuteſt rifts,
and, by fwelling, burft them, are more
expoſed and ſubject to decompofition. Wa-
ter carries down the ferruginous particles
into the lower ftrata, and forms there thofe
illinitions and maffes of pifiform argillaceous
iron ore, which Buffon and others have,
without
( 153 ).
without fufficient reafon, derived from de-
cayed vegetables *.
Bafalt, when pure, ftrongly refifts de-
compofition, or its furface alone bears any
marks of it; the argillaceous, filiceous, and
calcareous ingredients, and part of the fer-
ruginous, foon recombining and forming
a hard cruft, which invefts and protects
the remainder of the ftone;-but wacken
is very easily decompofed, and hence the
baſalts or traps into whofe compoſition it
enters, yield cafily to the decompofing
principle. Some granites, I may ſay moſt,'
are in appropriate circumſtances not diffi-`
cultly decompofed; the mica and felfpar
are chiefly affected; the fame may be alfo
faid of moſt ſandftones, particularly thoſe
whoſe cement is argilaceous or ferruginous,
and many porphyries, and gneiſs.
* See alfo Flurl Bavaria, 191, 192.
OF
( 154 )
OF MOUNTAINS.
AMONG the various inanimate objects
which Nature has fo profufely ſcattered
around us, there are none which at firſt
fight convey ſo awful an impreffion of the
power of its great Author, as thoſe ſtu-
pendous maffes we call MOUNTAINS; none
in which reflection difcovers more con-
vincing proofs of wifdom and beneficence,
than in their diverſified heights and arrange-
ment, exactly fuited to the varieties of their
geographic pofition and the general economy
of the globe. Without them the earth would
be little more than a fandy defert, and the
atmoſphere a peftilential receptacle of noi-
fome exhalations; by conducting the elec-
trical fluid, and the principle of heat, they
contribute to the production of rain, which
fertilizes the former, and purifies the latter.
Their elevation enables us to extract me-
tallic, combuftible, faline, and other fub-
ſtances, whofe ufe is indifpenfable, yet which
in flat fituations, from the impoffibility of
drawing off the water, we could not ob-
tain. Among the ftony fubftances they
prefent
7
1
( 155 )
prefent us, many are applied to building,
ánd to various arts; many are the harbin-
gers of metallic or other valuable fubftances,
and many others, both ftony and metallic,
exift, whofe uſes, through the unpardonable
neglect of former ages, are as yet unknown;
mankind unacountably forgetting that the
principal occupation originally affigned to
them was to cultivate, that is, to labour on,
and extract every poffible advantage from
the earth, and the fubftances it contains.
Nor is the wiſdom of the geographic pofition
of mountains, and of the degrees of their
diverfified elevation, fuited thereto, leſs
obvious and ſtriking; thus, in the north-
eaft parts of our continent, the vaſt Afiatic
platform, from which fo many mountain-
ous chains branch forth, afforded, in the
infancy of the globe, an habitation for man
and animals; while inferior regions, for the
purpoſe of completing their arrangement,
ftill remained buried in the bofom of the
deep. The height of theſe mountains that
raiſe their lofty fummits in the eaſtern
parts, is proportioned to the courſe which
their mighty rivers muſt hold in the exten-
five empires of Indoftan and China, and
fitted
( 156 )
fitted to produce the refreſhing blaſts necef-
fary to moderate the ardour of thofe fultry
climates; whereas, in the more weſtern
tracts, the fame reaſons not exiſting, the
elevations are far leſs conſiderable. In the
fouthern parts of Europe, the accumulated
and exalted maffes of the Alps, Appenines,
and Pyrenees, difpenfe the fame bleffings
as in the north-eaſt part of Afia; and on
the other hand, in Africa and Arabia, im-
menfe fandy plains occur, whofe heated
furface produces thofe alternations of at-
moſpheric currents that occafion the mon-
foons, and the varieties of ſeaſon requiſite
for the fertility of the tropical regions.
In common language, mountains are
diftinguished from hills only by annexing
to them the idea of a fuperior height,
not affigning to either the exact height that
fhould entitle it to its particular denomi-
nation. Geologiſts have aimed at greater
prccifion; Pini and Mitterpachter call any
earthy elevation a mountain whoſe declivity
makes with the horizon an angle of at leaſt
13°. and whoſe perpendicular height is not
lefs than of the declivity. Mitterp. 182.
Werner calls a mountain high, when its
perpendicular
1
( 157 )
perpendicular height exceeds 6000 feet; mid-
dlefized, when its height reaches from 3000
to 6000 feet; and low, when its height is
beneath 3000 feet. Berg. Kal. 176. Be-
twixt the tropics, the boundaries of vege-
tation are fixed at the height of about
12000 feet; in the temperate climates at
from 5 to 8000; and within the polar
circle ftill lower.
>
Before I proceed farther, I muſt notice an
ill-founded opinion, advanced by a late
highly refpectable philofopher, the reverend
Doctor Michel; Tranf. for 1760, vol. 51,
p. 584. namely, that they were forced up
from the earth, and, confequently, not
formed by precipitation from a fluid, as I
have ſtated in my firft Effay; this notion
was fuggefted to him " by remarking," he
fays, "that, in all high and mountainous
"countries, the ftrata lie in a fituation more
“inclined to the horizon than the country
itfelf; the mountainous countries being
generally, if not always, formed out of
"the lower ftrata of the earth-from this
"formation of the earth, it will follow,
"that we ought to meet with the fame
"kinds of earths, ftones, and minerals, ap-
3
(C
pearing
(158)
*
66
pearing at the furface, in long narrow
flips, and lying parallel to the greateſt
"rife of any long ridges of mountains; and fo
" in fact we find them." The only proofs
he gives of this difpofition are, that the
"Andes have a chain of volcanoes extend-
6.6
66
ing 5000 miles, which are all, probably,
"derived from the fame ftratum; and that
"another chain, parallel to thefe, runs at
"leaſt 100 leagues; and that the gold and
"filver mines worked by the Spaniards,
are found in a direction parallel to theſe.
It muſt be evident, that here is not even
the fhadow of a proof, not a fingle ftratum
common to the plains and mountains is
mentioned, much lefs a fucceffion of ftrata,
which alone could afford a proof. The Andes
and American mountains were moft inju-
diciouſly chofen, as, in refpect to their
compofition, they are perhaps of all others
the leaſt known, having never been de-
fcribed by any mineralogift; nor has the
ſtratum, on which inflammation depends,
in any volcano been ever known by obſer-
vation. But of the very reverſe of his
opinion, numberless inftances might be
adduced. Though the ftrata of mountains
are
( 159 )
I
}
are often inclined to the horizon; yet many
are perfectly horizontal, as will be feen in
a fubfequent Effay. I fhall at preſent
quote only one inftance, namely, that of
the mountain of Kinneculla in Weft Goth-
land; it confifts of five different ftrata, all
horizontal, the laft repofes on granite; and
of this, and this only, the neighbouring
plains confift: the four others are found
only in the mountain. Now by Dr. Michel's
account, all of them fhould be found in
the plains, and the ftratum that is higheſt
in the plain, ſhould alſo be higheſt in the
mountain; whereas the only one common
to the plain and mountain, is that which is
loweſt in the mountain. 29 Swed. Abhandl.
24. 5 Bergm. 115, 128. 3 Bergm. 214. It
rarely happens, that the ftrata of mountains
conform to their convexity, and bend into
the valleys. Mem. Par. 1747, 1082 in 8vo.
Mountains are faid to have their courſe
in that direction of their length in which
they defcend, and grow lower, or in the
direction of the ftream of a river, when any
runs parallel to them. The courfe of
mountains is feldom uniform. Bourguet
and Buffon pretend that in two parallel
chains,
1
( 160 )
chains, the faliant angle of the one con-
ſtantly correſponds with the internal angle
of the other, but fubfequent Geologifts
utterly deny this correfpondence, except
where a river runs between them. Sauffure
and De Luc deny it to take place in
the Alps. 1 Sauff. 402, 411. 2 Sauff.
§ 920. Fortis in Dalmatia, 459. Pallas
in Siberia, Act. Petrop. p. 40, and 1 Nev.
Nord. Betyr. 294. Gentil in Eaſt Indies,
Mem. Par. 1781, p. 433; hence the fan-
taſtic though beautifully decorated theory
of Buffon, refting principally on this
foundation, falls to the ground.
As not only groups of mountains, but
even fingle mountains are formed of va-
rious materials, their claffification cannot
be deduced from the nature of fubftances
thus variable and diverſified. It muſt then
be founded on fome general relation of the
maffes of which they confift, with other
ſubſtances foreign to the mineral fyftem;
and of theſe relations, the moít general,
and to which all other properties of moun-
tains are cafily referable, is that of their
priority, or their pofteriority, to the exift-
ence of organized fubftances. Hence their
primary
(161
primary divifion is into primeval and ſe-
condary or Epizootic. And the epizootic
mountains are ſtill farther diſtinguiſhable
into original and derivative. The claſs of
fecondary, and, perhaps, alfo that of
primary, 'may be fubdivided into inert and
ignivomous, into volcanic, and pfeudo vol-
canic. The volcanic have indeed hitherto
been generally referred to the fecondary
mountains, but as feveral of the Andes
are faid to be volcanic whofe height.ex-
ceeds that of any known fecondary moun-
tain, for instance, Catopaxi, and as the ma-
terials of volcanic mountains have been
found in fome primary mountains, it is
highly probable, that primary mountains
alfo may fometimes be the feat of volcanos,
hence I fhall treat of theſe apart.
The most extenfive montanic ranges com-
monly confift of three chains, of which
the internal are generally primary and the
external ſecondary; the internal is generally
narrow and often fharp, the external broad-
er and more extenfive. See Pallas Act.
Petropol. Vol. 1. 30. Gentil. Mem. Par.
1781, 433. 1 Sauff. 189. 30 Roz. 275. 39
Roz. 401. Defcrip. Pyren. 144. .
M
Some
( 162 )
Some mountains diverge from a high
extenſive platform, as the numerous chains
that ſhoot from the Altaiſhan Platform.
Pallas ibid. Others fhoot like branches, from
fome confiderable trunk, others appear
retiform, croffing each other in various
directions, and fome few ſtand fingle.
Many mountains are fteep on one fide
and gently inclined to the plains on the
other: the ſteepneſs often ariſes from the
rupture of the ſtrata, often from their de-
compofition, being more expoſed to rain
and impetuous predominant winds on one
fide than on the other. The gentle inclina-
tion often proceeds from the unequal exten-
fion of the ſtrata, the lower being the moft
extenfive, and the higher gradually nar-
rower; often alfo from the failure and de-
preffion of the lower ftrata. The caufes of
which are to be fought for in the na-
tural hiftory of the different countries in
which they occur.
The appropriation of different parts of
the globe to fome particular fpecies of
ſtone environing it, is contradicted too evi-
dently by notorious facts to be now ad-
mitted. See 5 Sauff. 461.
CHAP.
( 163 )
CHAP. I.
OF PRIMITIVE MOUNTAINS.
THE principal character of primeval
mountains, is the abfence of all organic re-
mains from the interior part of their maſs
and the compofition of the ftones and rocks
of which they confift. I fay from the
compofition*, becaufe between theſe rocks
and in their veins and cavities fuch remains
are fometimes, but very rarely, found ac-
cidentally depofited through rifts pofterior-
ly choaked up, and often on their fummits,
being left there by the deluge. Pallas
Loc. Cit. 44. Prince Le Gallitz. Minera-
logy, p. 27.
2° They commonly form the higheſt
ridges in any chain, and the moſt extenſive:
this Pallas atteſts with reſpect to the Ura-
lian and Altaifhan chains, Born of the
Tranfylvanian and Hungarian, Tilas and
Bergman of the Swedish, Haller and Sauf-
Haidinger 7. Mem. Par. 1747, 1072.
M 2
fure
3
( 164 )
1
fure of the Swifs, Charpentier of the Saxon,
Ferber of the Bohemian, La Peyroufe of
the Pyrenees; but frequently alfo when in-
termixed with fecondary mountains their
height does not exceed 2 or 300 feet.
3º They never cover fecondary moun-
tains, but are often covered by them.
Mem. Par. 1747, 1082. Nor do they lean
on the fecondary, but the fecondary often
lean upon them and cover their flanks and
inveſt them; but they often cover each
other.
4° They are fometimes ſtratified, but
more frequently in huge blocks: their ſtrata
never alternate with fecondary ſtrata. Some
are unigenous, confifting for the greater part,
at leaſt, of one ſpecies of ſtone or aggregate;
fome polygenous, confifting of various fpe-
cies, alternating with, or paffing into, or
mixed with each other.
The materials of which they conſiſt, or
which they contain in different inſtances,
are granites and ftones of the granitic claffes,
as granitines, granitells, granilites, fienite,
grunftein, or gneifs, fhiftofe mica, filiceous
fhiftus, bafanite, hornflate, fhiftofe or horn
porphyry,
}
( 165 )
porphyry, jaſper, petrofilex, quartz, pitch-
ſtone, hornblende, hornblende flate, argil-
lite, trap, wacken, mandelſtein, porphyry,
ferpentine, pott ſtone, ſand ſtone, breccias,
pudding ſtone, rubble ſtone, granular lime-
ftone, fluors, gypfum, topaz rock; for
fand ſtone and rubble ſtone may be pri-
meval, being formed after the cryftalliza-
tion of the greater maffes.
Some of theſe are common both to pri-
meval and ſecondary mountains, as trap,
argillite, porphyry, fandſtone, breccias; pa-
rafitic ftones are omitted,
Among primeval mountains a diftinc-
tion may be eſtabliſhed betwixt thoſe whoſe
exiſtence preceded that of fixed air, and
thofe of pofterior formation; though in
fome parts of the globe mountains of the
moſt ancient denomination, as thofe of
granite and gneifs, feem contemporaneous
with the exiftence of fixed air, becaufe
mountains of the fame denomination could
not all have been exactly coeval; thoſe,
however, whofe exiftence was ſubſequent
to that of fixed air, are very rare. Among
primeval ſtones we may alſo diſtinguiſh the
M 3
original,
( 166 )
original, as granite, gneifs, &c. and the
derivative, as rubble ftone, breccias, &c.
§ I.
Of Granite, and Granitic Compounds.
By granitic compounds, I mean granit-
ines, granitells, and granilites. As they
are frequently found in the ſame mountain;
among granitincs and granilites, I com-
prehend fienite, according to the proportion
of its ingredients; and among granitells I
reckon grunftein.
Granite is moſt commonly found in huge
blocks, feparated from each other by rifts
irregularly difpofed; but it has alſo been
found forming ftrata, either vertical or
nearly fo, or horizontal, in Siberia. Renov.
37. Ferb. Act. Petropol. 1782, 2 Part, p.
201. 4 N. Act. 285. 1 Berg. Jour. 1791,
85, Charp. 389, and in the Pyrenees, La
Peyroufe traité des Mines de Fer, p. 329,
and Defcript. des Pyrenees, 172; and by
Sauff. 6 Sauff. 317. 322: fometimes it is
found in rounded blocks with earth be-
tween them, La Peyroufe Loc. Cit. 332.
The
1
3
1
( 167 )
*
The largeſt maſs of granite is that called
the Pearl diamond, thirty miles from the
Cape of Good Hope; its circumference is
half a mile, and its height about 400 feet.
Phil. Tranf. 1778, 102.
In Dauoria it is frequently fhot through
or impregnated with calcareous particles,
or contains primitive limeftone as a con-
ſtituent part, or calcareous fpar; per Pa-
trin, 38 Roz. 231. 235. 7 Sauff. 83. It is
alfo frequently fhot through with calces of
iron; fometimes it contains red or brown
hæmatites, or compact brown iron ſtone,
or tin ſtone, as in Lefke, G. 62, &c. Some-
times galena, or native filver, or black co-
balt ore. 2 Widenm. 1004; gold, copper,
biſmuth, martial and arfenical pyrites, and
molybdena more rarely. 7 Sauff. 274. 2
Lenz. 335. Flints have alfo been found
in nefts in it in Bohemia. Werner's Cron-
ftedt. 138. And various parafitic ſtones
fee 2 Lenz. 334. and Garnets, 3 N. Nord.
Beytr. 175. Layers of limeftone are never
found in it, but lumps of gneifs fometimes
Werner Kurze Claffif. 9. Argillite
has alſo been found ftuck in granite. Born
Hungary, 207. A lump of cryftallized cal-
are.
M 4
careous
( 168 )
careous fpar has been found in the midst of
a block of granite, not occupying a par-
ticular ſpace, but entering into the com-
pofition of a particular part of the granite.
39 Roz. 9. And at Gedre and Gavernie,
it has been obferved incloſed between ſtrata
of primitive limeſtone. 13 An. Chy. 166.
Granite, with fienites and grunftein, is
found on the fummit of Mont Blanc, 7
Sauff. 280. 288. Nay the whole moun-
tain confifts of it. Ibid. 385. The higheſt
mountains are of the granitic kind, and
froin their partial decompofition afford
lofty fpires and various grotefque figures;
they are commonly covered with mofs.
Pallas 1 Act. Petropol. 24, 25. 1 Saufſ.
§ 131. It is one of the rocks moft univer-
fally diffuſed through the globe. Voight
Prack. 29. Lafius thinks it the bafis of all
the mountains in the Hartz. Lafius, 65.
Maffes of granite are often found at a dif-
tance from the mountains to which they
belong; theſe, incredible as it may feem,
have, in ſome caſes, been carried off by
an immenſe torrent. Thus in
Thus in 1775, a
fudden foutherly wind
having partly dif-
folved, and partly loofened, an enormous
mafs
( 169 )
mafs of ice, it was carried down to a nar-
row paffage, which ſtopped for fome time
the waters that ufually flowed down
through that paffage; but thefe at laſt col-
lecting, forced it down that paffage, and
daſhed it with fuch infuperable violence
againſt the obftructing rocks, as to bear
down in its defcent, to confiderable dif-
tances, granitic maffes of feveral hundred
cubic feet. 1 Helvet. 9, 10. In fome
cafes, where higher mountains of another
claſs intervene, theſe blocks might have
rolled down, or have been carried down,
from granitic mountains, originally much
higher, but fince degraded, and before the
vallies that now feparate them from the
intervening mountains were formed. Such
as are found on the fummits of mountains,
might have been the remains of the de-
compofition of ſtill larger and higher maffes;
or may have been fhattered by lightning.
Some may have been bolted off by the
fhock of an earthquake; fome may have
been fragments of a granitic mountain
fwallowed up, after various convulfions, by
the earth (as near Geneva; fee 33 Roz. 8.);
and fome may be regenerated granite, re-
fulting
( 170 )
fulting from the reunion of the fand of
a decompofed granite. Granite and fienite
have, in fome inftances, been found fuper-
impoſed on other rocks of the primeval
clafs. Pallas found granite repofing on
argillite; and fienite, on argillite or gneiss.
3 Helyet. Magaz. 175. 2 Pallas Reifs, 517.
520. And alfo Soulavie in the Cevennes,
3 Soulav. 162. And La Peyrouſe in the
Pyrenees, Sur les Mines de Fer, 329. Or
on ferpentine, or a compound of ferpentine
and Iade. Ibid. Voight on hornblende flate
at Ehrenberg. 2 Berg. Jour. 1790, 300.
Soulavie on primeval limeftone; and not
piercing through it, as ſome have imagined,
for a gallery was worked through the lime-
ſtone under the granite, without meeting
the granite. I Soulavie France Meridionale,
374, 375. 377, 378; and the anonymous
author of Deſcription des Pyrenees, 144.
But maſſes of granite have often tumbled on
limestone, and hence have been erroneouſly
thought to have originally repoſed on it,
per Ferber, Act. Petrop. 1783, 298, 299.
But far oftner, and almoſt univerſally, gra-
nite ferves as a bafis on which other rocks,
both primitive and fecondary, reft. Thus,
it
(171)
it underlays argillites, gneiss, and limeftone,
moſt commonly, per Ferber, Act. Petrop.
1782, 2 part, 208. granular limeſtone, jaf-
per, breccias, ferpentine, and porphyry. I
Gerh. Geſch. 66. 3. Soulavie, 72. Ferber
Bohemia, 106. And in the Alps, gneiss,
Shiftofe mica, argillite, hornflate, and lime-
ftone, repofe on fienite. 3 Helvet. Mag. 175.
4 Helvet. Mag. 267. 312. 315, The
mountain of Taberg in Sweden, refts on
grunſtein, conſiſting of felfpar and horn-
blende. 2 Bergm. Jour. 1789, 2002. It is
alfo frequently furrounded and inveſted
with rocks of various fpecies, which lean
on it at various heights, but which its
fummit furpaffes. Thus in the Tyrole, the
granite pierces through, and rifes above,
the argillite that ſurrounds its Ferber Italy,
46. And in the Pyrenees. 13 An. Chy. 164.
It fometimes alternates, and fometimes is
mixed with other ftones, fee § 20. It
fometimes decompofes into concentric lay-
crs. Charp. 31.
Granite is alfo fometimes newly formed,
not as to its individual component particles,
but in reſpect to the reunion of the grains
that compoſe it. A ftratum of this fort,
Mr.
( 172 )
Mr. Gerhard met with at Schreiberhau in
Silcfia, and D'Arcet near Bareges, over ar-
gillite and limestone. I Ger. Gefch. 68.
This regeneration takes place, as Lafius
well remarks, when the granitic fand lies
in a damp fituation, and fcreened from a
free acceſs of air; thus he found granitic
fand, employed in filling a dyke in the
Elbe, to have hardened to fuch a degree,
in the ſpace of fixty years, as not only to
prevent the paffage of water, but to prefent
folid maffes, fcarcely diftinguifhable from
native original granite, and, where conti-
guous to this laft, to be difficultly ſeparated
from it by a blow. Lafius Hartz, 91, 92.
Friefbben, 189. Mr. De La Coudroniere
alfo obferved on the banks of the Miffiffippi,
mountains of fand half converted into gra-
nite, and in the midft of one of them a
branch of green oak petrified. 21 Roz. 237.
Granite is alfo found in veins, and confe-
quently of modern formation, as Werner
obferves. Werner Enftehung der Gange,
§ 49. and I Sauff. § 600, 601. Bartol-
lozzi found a paffage anciently wrought to
extract cryſtals in mount Baveno, filled by
a vein of regenerated granite, 21 Roz. 468.
Lavoifier
( 173 )
Lavoifier alfo found near the mountain of
St. Hypolite, two alternating beds of in-
durated granite, or, as he calls it, true gra-
nite, intercepted betwixt two beds of gra-
nitic fand that lay over each: this muſt
have been regenerated granite, formed by
infiltration from the fuperior granitic fand.
Mem. Par, 1778, 439. Sauffure found it
alſo in the fiffures of gneifs. 1 Sauff. 601.
Pallas thinks that all ftratified granite is
formed of the decompofed grains of the
primitive blocks. 2 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 366.
§ 2.
Of Gneiss, and Shiftofe Mica.
I treat of thefe together, as they are
chiefly diftinguiſhed from each other by
the abſence, or prefence, of felfpar; in moſt
other particulars they agree, infomuch,
that fome authors (1 Gerhard Gefch. § 62.)
comprehend both under the name of gneiss.
Stellftein alfo is another name by which it
is often denoted. Gerh. Ibid. and Berg.
Kalend. Both are ſtratified. 1 Ger. Geſch.
§ 51, and generally in the direction of
the mica. Voight Prack. 32.
Gneifs
( 174 )
Gneifs frequently contains huge maffes or
layers of granular limestone, as Sauffure
obferved in Mount Simplon. 37 Roz. 7:
And Charpentier in Saxony. Charp. 173,
174. And blocks of granite perfectly incor-
porate with, and paſs into it. Charp. 391.
2 Sauff. § 676, and 8 Sauff. 64. And huge
maffes of felfpar. 1 Gerh. Gefch. 85. Or
vaſt layers of porphyry, as at the mountain
of Kimerſdorf, either argillaceous, or petro-
filiceous. 2 Berg. Jour. 1790, 455, 456,
457. Often alſo ſtrata of hornblende flate;
and hornblende fometimes enters into its
compofition. Berg. Kal. 202. Trap alfo
has been found in it. 4 Helv. Mag. 546.
It is alſo remarkably metalliferous; moſt
of the Saxon and Bohemian mines are
feated in it. Berg. Kal. 203. Shiftofe mi-
ca alfo contains, fometimes, beds of pri-
meval limestone, or hornblende flate. Berg.
Kal. 204.
Alſo calcareous fpar, fappare,
and garnets, as already mentioned. In
metallic fubftances it is nearly as rich as
gneifs. Mountains of gneifs are not fo
high nor fo fteep as thofe of granite, Mount
Rofe in Italy, and a few others, excepted;
and their fummits are generally more round-
ed.
( 175 )
ed. Gneifs refts moftly on granite, but
fometimes on argillite, porphyry, ferpentine,
granular limeftone, or trap. Per Charpentier.
4 Helvet. Mag. 545, 546. 2 Lenz. 341.
Or fandſtone. 2 Lenz. Ibid.
It ſometimes underlays granite (fee gra-
nite). At Montevideo in Mexico Granite
and gneifs alternate with each other. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1789, 193. It fometimes alternates
with argillite. 5 Sauff. § 1219. Sometimes
with granular limeftone. Charp. 2 Lettere
Oritologice al Signor Arduino. Shiftofe
mica alfo refts on granite, or porphyry.
2 Lenz. 345. It underlays argillite, lime-
ſtone, and ſandſtone. 2 Lenz. 345. Voight
Prack. 38.
Where gneifs is contiguous to granite,
its quartz and felſpar are more apparent, and
the micaceous part lefs predominant. 1
Gerh. Geſch. 78. And where moſt diſtant
from granite, the contrary happens, and it
often graduates into argillite. Ibid. Or
into filiceous fhiftus. Id. 83. The nearer
it is to metallic veins, the more earthy or
fofter it becomes. Id. 80. Charp. 79. That
gneifs and granite were frequently at leaſt
contemporaneous, appears from this, that
metallic
(176)
metallic veins run without interruption from
one to the other. Charp. 256. Sometimes
a difintegrated granite reappears in the
form of gneifs. Flurl Bavaria, 3:0.
§ 3.
Siliceous Shiftus, and Bafanite.
In upper Lufatia an entire mountain is
formed of it. Karſten on Leſke, G. p. 21.
Charp. 24. And no petrifactions are found
in it. Ibid. 26. And in Siberia, per Her-
man, in 1 Berg. Jour. 1791, 82, and as Re-
nov. 31. fays of blue hornflate, which I
fuppofe to be either filiceous fhiſtus, or ba-
fanite. It is alfo found in the Alps between
gneiſs and hornftone. 4 Helv. Mag. 115.
Yet Werner in Pabft's catalogue, p. 236,
places it among fecondary rocks; Voight
places it among the primary (but confounds
it with filiciferous argillite. Prack. 43), and
Charpentier, 4 Helv. Mag. 547. Schlan-
genberg in Siberia moftly conſiſts of it,
mixed with hornblende and felfpar. Renov.
86 and 89. It is found among the primitive
rocks of Altai. Renov. 86. He calls it
hornfhiefer. It frequently occurs in argillitic
mountains.
( 177 )
mountains. 2 Lenz. 351. It often makes
right angles with the argillite, and paffes
into it. 3 Helv. Mag. 252. It frequently
forms high grotefque cliffs, repofes on, and
even ſtrongly adheres to granite. 2 Frieſle-
ben, 203. Charp. 22. It feems to be what
Lafius calls filicited trap. N. 73. whoſe
ſpecific gravity is 2,685. Lafius, 124. When
black it ſeems intermediate between fili-
ceous ſhiftus and Lydian and quartz.
Friefleben, 201. Others alfo call it horn-
fels. When mixed with hornblende it
looks greenish grey, and becomes heavier.
Frieſleben, 208. May it not be the petro-
filex, 2 Sauff. 4°. § 1045. and which he
call palaiopetre. Vol. 5, in 8vo. § 1194 ?
The only difference is, that its tranfpa-
rency feems greater than that of filiceous
fhiftus. The thinnefs of the lamella of
Sauffure's feems to proceed from horizontal
cracks. See alfo 5 Sauff. in 8vo. p. 77,
§ 1223.
§ 4.
Jaſper.
1
Mountains of ſtriped jafper occur in Si-
beria, and often with breccias, but with-
>
N
out
( 178 )
(178
1
out petrifactions, per Herman. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1791, p. 84 and 94.
Of red jafper,
Ibid. 88. And alſo of green jafper. 2 Gme-
lin, 81. (French.) It often forms thick ftrata
in mountains of ſhiftofe mica in the Ap-
penines. Ferber Italy, 109. and in Siberia,
2 Herm. 281. In Saxony it is found alter-
nating with, and fometimes mixed with,
compact red iron ſtone. 2 Berg. Jour. 1788,
485..
In the fouth of France it occurs repofing
on granite, and underlaying baſalt. 3 Sou-
lavie, 72. In the Altaiſchan mountains it
has never been found in contact with gra-
nite, but it ſometimes underlays argillite.
6 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 115.
§ 5.
Hornftone, Petrofilex.
This is one of thoſe ftones which occurs
of primary, as well as of fecondary forma-
tion. In Siberia, mountains of hornftone
in which fragments of hornblende and fel-
fpar are difperfed, occur. Renovantz, 31.
And hornſtone penetrated with limeſtone,
is found in mighty layers in Douria, but
without
1
(179)
without petrifactions. 1 Chy. Ann. 1791.
155 and 345. And Patrin in 38 Roz. Ac-
cording to Dolomieu, 44 Roz, 247, petro-
filex is found only in primitive mountains;
but the contrary will be fhewn in Chap. II.
§ 4. At Menard in Forez, it is frequently
found mixed with pitchſtone, per Bowman.
30 Roz. 377. But query, May we not
diſtinguiſh with Sauffure a primary and
fecondary? Near Bidart black hornftone is
found alternating in thin layers with a
coarfe (feemingly primary) limeftone. De-
fcript. Pyren. 2. Sauffure found it on the
fummit of Mont Blanc. 7 Sauff. 275.287.
$ 6.
Quartz.
The mountain of Kultuck, on the S.W.
end of the lake Baikal, 350 feet high, and
4800 long, and ftill broader, confifts en-
tirely of milk-white quartz; per Laxman
1 Chy. An. 1785, 265. Alſo Flinzberg in
Lufatia, almoſt entirely. 2 Berg. Jour.
1789, 1054. There is alfo an extenfive
narrow ridge of quartz, fome miles long,
in Bavaria, 2 Berg. Jour. 1790, 529, &c.
Flurl
N 2
( 180 )
Flur Bavaria, 309. Monnet mentions a
rock of quartz 60 feet high. 17 Roz. 163.
Mountains of it alfo occur in Thuringia.
Voight Prack. 69. and in Silefia. Ġerh.
Beytr. 87. and in Saxony. 1 Berg. Jour.
1788, 269. and in layers between gneifs
and flate mica. 2 Lenz. Alfo in Scotland.
2 Wms. 52. It is not metalliferous. Wer-
ner Kurze Claffif. 15. Petrol is often found
in it. 1 Berg. Jour. 1791, 91. The moun-
tain of Swetlaia-Gora, among the Uralian,
conſiſts of round grains of quartz, white
and tranfparent, and of the fize of a pea,
united without any cement.
2 Herm.
278.
$ 7.
Pitchftone.
In Mifnia, it forms entire mountains. 2
Berg. Jour. 1788, 491. And in other
mountains huge ftrata that alternate with
porphyry, and as they contain abundance
of quartz and felſpar may be called pitch-
ftone porphyry. Ibid. and I Emerling, 264.
I do not find it mentioned among primi-
tive ftones, except when a porphyry; fee
Ι
Karften
(
181 )
1
Karſten in Lefke. It is often the ſubſtance
of which petrified wood confifts. It fome-
times alternates with granite. Charp. 63.
}
§ 8.
Hornblende and Hornblende Slate.
Mountains of black hornblende exiſt in
Siberia. Revantz. 32. as the Tigereck. 4
Nev. Nord. Beytr. 192. and others men-
tioned by 2 Herm. 271. Frequently mixed
with quartz, mica, or felfpar, or fhorl, and
either greenish or black. Ibid. But it is
more commonly found in mighty ftrata, as
in Saxony; or ftill oftener as a conftituent
part of other primeval rocks, as in fienite and
grunſtein; fometimes in layers in gneifs, or
granular limeſtone, or argillite; and fome-
times in horn porphyry. 2 Berg. Jour. 1788.
508. 1 Lenz. 325. 1 Emerling, 325. or
in the gullies of granite. Herm. Ibid. horn-
blende flate was obferved among the prime-
meval rocks on the afcent of Mont Blanc.
7 Sauff. 241. 253. mixed with plombago.
Ibid. and on its fummit. Ibid. 289.
Strata of fhiftofe hornblende occur fome-
times in gneifs, as already mentioned. At
Miltiz
N 3
( 182 )
1
1
1
Miltiz a ftratum of it has been found over
granular limeſtone. Voight Prack. 33. In
lower Silefia it has been found on fienite.
4 Berl. Beob. 349.
349. Granite ſometimes
refts on it. 2 Berg. Jour. 1790, 300. Voight
Mineral. Abhandl. 25. Hence there can be
no doubt of its being a primitive ſtone. A
mountain of it exifts in Tranfylvania. I
Bergb. 40. Nay, granite has been found
in it. 1 Berg. Jour. 1789, 171. It is fre-
quently mixed with mica, more rarely
with viſible quartz. Emerling.
§ 9.
Indurated Lithomarga.
This often occurs in the rifts, or joints,
or intervals, of beds of gneifs, porphyry,
ferpentine, and alſo in topaz rock, and,
therefore, muſt be primitive, if not deriv-
ing from decompofition. It often alſo forms
nefts in traps, bafalts, or amygdoloids.
Emerl. 359.
§ 10.
1
( 183 )
1
§ 10.
Argillite.
It forms whole mountains, Voight
Prack, 38. But more commonly, only par-
tially enters into them, as in Saxony.
Charp, 175. Or entire ftrata, as at Zil-
lerthal in Tyrole, its mountains are of
gentle afcent.
There is no doubt of its being often pri-
mitive, for in Saxony it frequently alter-
nates with gneifs and fhiftofe mica.
3 Helvet. Mag. 190. 1 Berg. Jour. 1792,
536. And with primitive limeſtone. 8 Sauff.
144. And in Hanover granular limeſtone is
found betwixt its layers. 1 Bergm. Jour.
1791, 306. We have alſo ſeen that both
granite and gneifs often reft upon it.
Both Karſten 3 Helvet. Mag. and Mon-
net in 25 Roz. 85, fufficiently eſtabliſh this
diftinction. There are two forts of it
par-
ticularly to be attended to, the harder and
the fofter; the harder border upon and of-
ten paſs into filiceous fhiftus, or baſanite,
or hornblende flate. The fofter border upon
or pafs into trap, or wacken, or rubble
N 4
ſtone,
7
( 184 )
ftone, or rubble flate, or coticular flate, or
indurated clay, and the harder often gra-
duate into the fofter. 3 Nev. Nord. Beytr.
169. Or border upon the muriatic genus
and paſs into fhiſtoſe chlorite, or fhiſtoſe
talc, or gneifs or fhiftofe mica. It often
contains quartz, both in veins and betwixt
its laminæ. Voight Prack. 41. More rarely
felfpar, fhorl, garnets or hornblende and
granular limeſtone. Berg. Kal. 205, 206.
The fofter forts are remarkably metallifer-
ous. Bergm. Kal. Voight Prack. 40. The
famous mountains of Potofi confiſt of it
chiefly. 1 Bergm. Jour. 1792, 545. In.
Saxony it is found in primitive limeſtone,
2 Bergm. Jour. 1792, 134, and often mixed
with it, as in Lefke, G. 328. It is fo much
the more filiciferous as it approaches more
to granitic mountains. Lafius 121. It
paffes into rubble ſtone. 2 Bergm. Jour.
1788, 498. In the argillites of the Py-
renees no organic remains are to be found.
Deſcrip. Pyren. 27. Sauffure found it in
the fnowy regions of Mount Blanc. 7
Sauff. 256.
§ II.
1
( 185 )
§ II.
Trap.
On the fubject of this rock I muſt enter
into a long detail, on account of the various
falſe or imperfect defcriptions given of it,
and the various fpecies of ftones that have,
on that account, been erroneouſly denoted
by this appellation.
In the first place it muſt be allowed that
as this name is come to us from Sweden,
the deſcription and properties of it given by
the moſt exact Swediſh Mineralogiſts ſhould
be thoſe which we ſhould alſo adopt and
denote by that name. Among thofe Mi-
neralogifts I felect Cronstedt, Bergman,
Wallerius and Hermelin. Cronstedt defines
trap to be a rock formed of foft martial jaſ-
per, or an indurated martial clay. § 265
of Brunich's, or 267 of Engeftrom's English
tranflation. "Its colour is dark grey, as
"that of the top of Kinneculla, and that
"of Kunneberg in Weft Gothland, or
:(
black, as that of Stahlberget in Dalarne,
or Hallefors, Salbergmine, Norberg in
“Weſtmanland and Ofterfilverberget in
"Dalarne; or grey, as that of Dalwick, or
"bluish,
( 186 )
GC
1
bluiſh, as that of Ofterfilverberget, or deep
"brown, as that of Gello in Norway, or
CC.
reddish, as that of Bragnas in Norway, or
"Dalſtugun in Dalarne. It forms whole
"mountains, as Hunneberg, or Drammen,
"but is oftener found in the form of veins
"in mountains of another kind, running in
6C
a ferpentine manner acroſs the direction
"of the rock. Where it is preffed clofe
"it feems to be perfectly free from he-
terogenous ſubſtances. But where not pref-
"fed, it appears lefs homogeneous. When
66
very coarſe, it is interfperfed with felfpar,
"but it is not certain that the finer forts
"contain any.
Befides there are fome
fibrous particles in it, and fomething that
" reſembles calcareous fpar, but which does
"not effervefce with acids, and melts as
66
eaſily as the ſtone itſelf into a black folid
glafs " We have of that found on the
fummit of Kinneculla, (which conſequent- .
ly is leaft compreffed and apparently con-
tains heterogenous particles) 2 fpecimens
in Lefke's cabinet G. 252. and S. 145.
The colour is grey, as Cronstedt deſcribed,
from a vifible mixture of black hornblende
and white quartz; but the hornblende in
far
(187)
far greater proportion; its luftre 2, or o;
and that of the quartz 1, or o; a few par-
ticles of yellowith felfpar may alſo be dif
tinguiſhed in both. Cronstedt diftinguiſhes
three varieties, namely, the coarſe grained
fpicular, the coarſe grained granular, and
the fine grained: theſe laſt he calls touch
Stone, which are thofe already mentioned of
Hellefors, Norberg, Dalwich, and Dolftu-
gun. The fracture of the firft, which are
from the fummit of Kinneculla, I found to
be the coarſe grained earthy; hardneſs 9;
fpecific gravity of one fpecimen 2,949, of
another 2,947.
Calcined it cracks and
reddens, and on effaying it, yields 12 or
more per cent. of iron; no other fort of
166
<<
CC
ore is found in it, unleſs now and then
"fomewhat fuperficial in its fiffures, for it
"is commonly cracked, even to a great
6c
depth, in acute angles, or in the form
"of large rhomboidal dice. By expo-
fure to the air it flightly decays, and
"leaves a brown powder." The fine grained
black, which Cronstedt called touchſtone,
is now allowed to be that now called ba-
falt, and, confequently, differing from
trap only in grain, and in being, apparently,
3·
more
( 188 )
more homogeneous; fee Karften on 1 Lefke,
201, But its compofition is evidently the
fame, as will appear, ftill more clearly,
from Bergman's account.
66
66
66
Bergman in his letter to Vantroil, p. 392,
tells us, "that trap is generally found in
fquare irregular cubes, whence it pro-
bably obtained its denomination on ac-
"count of fome fimilarity with ſtones uſed
"for ſtair-cafes. It is alſo found in prif-
"matic triangular forms, though rarely;
as alfo in the form of immenfe pillars,
"as thofe called traelftenar at the foot of
Hunneberg, which have feparated them-
"felves from the remaining part of the bed."
And in his account of the mountains of
Weſt Gothland, he fays, that in the fpring
feaſon, this ſtone often cracks into rhombic
fragments. 5 Berg. 116, 117. On com-
paring the bafaltic pillars of Staffa with
the fine grained traps, he found their co-
lour, fracture, and hardneſs, the ſame; the
fpecific gravity of the Staffa pillars was
3,000, that of the trap 2,990. Their re-
lation to fire, and to acids, the nature and
proportion of their component parts, he
found alfo to agree as nearly as poffible.
Voutroil,
(189)
}
He
Voutroil, 394, &c. 3 Bergm. 212.
tells us, that in Sweden it forms flender
veins in primeval mountains. Ibid. 214.
Wallerius alfo adheres to Cronstedt's defini-
tion. He calls it corneous trapezius. Sp. 172.
Its colour, he tells us, is black, grey, blu-
iſh, greenish, or reddiſh; the black forms
a fort of touchſtone, and takes a poliſh,-
occurs in mountains divided into cubes or
rhomboidal figures; fracture conchoidal,
fometimes preſenting fcaly, fometimes fpi-
cular, concretions; hardneſs 9, fpecific gra-
vity 2,800; heated quickly, it decrepitates;
if more flowly, it hardens, and at laſt melts
into a folid black glafs. It fometimes
flightly effervefces with acids. It contains
from 8 to 15 per cent. of iron. He refers
it to the fame mountains as Cronstedt.
Baron Hermelin alfo calls the upper ftratum
of Kinneculla, a trap, and refers to Cron-
ftedt; he allows it from 8 to 16 per cent.
of iron. Schwed. Abhandl. 1767, 26. but
he means iron in its metallic ftate. Hence
we may infer, with Bergman, that the
cloſe grained trap and bafalt are exactly the
fame, both as to external and internal cha-
racters, and that the fine grained differs
from
+
(
( 190 )
from the clofe grained, only in the mi-
nuteneſs of the particles that compoſe them,
arifing folely from compreffions as Cron-
ſtedt well remarked. The quantity of iron,
we fee, is variable, from 8 to 16
per cent.
in the dry way; but in the moiſt way,
Bergman found it to amount to 25 per
cent. This, however, I believe is rather too
much; I believe it rather to be from 12 to
22 per cent. and hence from the difference
of a finer or coarfer grain, the variation of
the ſpecific gravity from 2,800, or at leaſt
from 2,78 to 3,000, or 3,021. The fpe-
cific gravity of ferrilite I marked too low,
for I find it 2,800.
Many are inclined to place trap among
aggregates, or compound ftones, on ac-
count of the number of foreign ftones that
are often found ftuck in it, and which I
have already enumerated in my firſt volume;
but as this compofition is neither determi-
nate nor conftant as it is in granites and
porphyries, I think it proper to leave it
among the fimple ftones, all of which are
fufceptible of fuch compound appearances;
notwithſtanding the eafy fufibility of trap
and bafalt in clay crucibles, Klaproth
found
( 191 )
found it infufible in a crucible made of
charcoal. 1 Klapr. 7. Probably becauſe
the iron, to which it owes its fufibility, had
abſorbed too great a quantity of carbon,
and was thus converted into plombago; or,
rather, becauſe the iron to which its fufi-
bility is due, was reduced to a metallic
ftate. Gerhard tells us, that a ftone, which
he calls jafpis trapezius, and which, he fays,
is the trap, and corneus trapezius of Walle-
rius, was not melted in a clay crucible. 2
Gerh. Geſch. 22. N. 52. poffibly it may
have been a real jafper that he uſed, or
perhaps a trap fo highly impregnated with
carbon as to be difficultly fufible.
Renovantz tells us, that the Ruffian go-
vernment of Olonitz abounds in mountains
of trap, feveral fpecimens of which occur in
Lefke S. from N. 90 to N. 109; but all
of them are not genuine trap, for inſtance,
N. 94, of which I found the fpecific gra-
vity to be only 2,747; and as Karſten re-
marks only a few fpecks of acicular horn-
blende are difcernible in it; its colour is
dark greenish grey, from a mixture of mi-
nute white ſpecks, and in fome places
brownish grey; its fracture uneven
or
earthy;
(192)
earthy; hardneſs 9, it therefore contains
a mixture of wacken.
Sienite is alſo often mistaken for trap;
thus the fpecimen in Lefke, S. 1316, ap-
proaches nearly to trap, but its specific gra-
vity is only 2,713; its colour is dark grey,
from a mixture of white particles of various
fizes, with a ground which at firſt fight
appears black, but on cloſe inſpection, or
viewed through a lens, appears reddish black.
Luftre o; tranfparent where thin, 1 or 2;
the tranfmitted light is whitiſh and yellow-
iſh; fracture coarſe grained earthy; hard-
nefs 9. Again, the fpecimen S 504; Kar-
ften calls a "ftone in which a large pro-
66
portion of quartz and hornblende are
"mixed, and perhaps a variety of trap."
This is N. 4. of Voight's firſt collection;
and in the catalogue annexed to his Geo-
logical Letters, p. 68, he calls it a gra-
1
CC
"nitic mixture of hornblende and a whit-
ifh grey quartzy fubſtance." Yet he does
not allow it to be a quartz, becauſe it dif-
ficultly gives fire with fteel. Afterwards
in his Mineralogical Deſcription of Ilmenau,
he calls it a " granitic mixture of horn-
blende, quartz, and felfpar," p. 8. In
(C
the
( 193 )
{
.
1
the next page he calls it a grunſtein, as
hornblende is the principal ingredient. In
his fecond catalogue, p. 13, N. 5, he calls
it a granitic mixture of black hornblende
and white compact felfpar, and thinks it
may be called a fienite; its colour is fpeckled
grey, from a viſible mixture of black horn-
blende and a greyish white ſtone, which
has, indeed, a quartzy appearance, with
nearly an equal proportion of hornblende
and fome dark red knobs, that appear to
be dull garnets. Luftre of the hornblende,
in a direct view 2, in an oblique o; of the
white ſtone I or o; tranfparency of the
hornblende o, of the white ftone 1, tranf-
mitting a yellowish light; fracture, coarſe
grained earthy, tending to the uneven;
hardneſs 9; ſpecific gravity 2,933; hence
it appears to be a trap; and the white ſtone
cannot be a common felfpar, elfe its fpe-
cific gravity would be lower. Lafius thinks
that trap and bafalt can be diftinguiſhed
only by their ſituation in their natural abodes.
(Lagerftadt.) Baſalt, he ſays, never has any
regular direction, whereas trap has both di-
rection and dip. Hartz. 128. Yet Karften,
near Winneburgh, found bafalt in ftrata
O
that
( 194 )
that dipped to the E. under an angle of
60°, ſtretching from N. to S. 1 Bergm.
Jour. 1788, 337. Werner cites other in-
ſtances in 2 Bergm. Jour. 1788, p. 890 and
the annexed note. Charpentier alſo men-
tions layers of it, p. 19. Widenman com-
prehends both trap and wacken under the
fame fpecies, though they differ much in
fpecific gravity, and hardnefs, and grain;
and wacken never contains compact felſpar,
as trap often does: Charpentier diftin-
guiſhes them exactly, though he thinks the
Swedes did not. Saxony, p. 187. Hence he
conſtantly denotes both trap and baſalt by
the name baſalt. According to Werner,
bafalt, wacken, hornblende, and fhiftofe
porphyry, are of the fame formation; the
Swediſh mineralogiſts, he thinks, compre-
hended them all under the name of trap.
2 Berg. Jour. 1789. Yet it is evident that
neither Cronstedt, Wallerius, nor Bergman,
confounded hornblende and trap: as to
bafaltic pillars (except thoſe of Hunneberg)
they appear not to have been acquainted
with them; Bergman indeed knew them,
and diftinguiſhed them only as varieties,
as I do.
7
Karften
( 195 )
Karſten, in his catalogue, of the Lefkean
cabinet, denotes both trap and baſalt by
the name of bafalt, except in the geogra-
phical part; he thinks trap ſhould be rec-
koned an aggregate of hornblende, felſpar,
and quartz, the quartz only viſible in white
fpecks, and the felfpar in oblong particles,
imbedded as in ſhiftofe porphyry, and the
hornblende the prevailing ingredient. Note
to Lefke, G 269. Specular and magnetic
iron ſtone, and calcareous fpar, he thinks
peculiar to it, as garnets to flate mica;
Charpentier and Nofe alfo conftantly denote
what I call trap, by the name of baſalt.
Dolomieu in 44 Roz. 256, deſcribes trap
by contraſting its characters with thofe of
a ftone, which he calls roche de corne; a
ſtone which he diftinguiſhes from horn-
blende, and whofe characters are defcribed
only by contraſting them with thoſe of trap.
As I can form no idea of this ſtone, I con-
fefs the whole to me is unintelligible. Fau-
jas in his treatiſe on traps, p. 2, juſtly re-
marks that "the denomination roche de
66
corne is purely ideal, and only ferves to
"lead into error. The Germans avow
they do not know how to tranflate it. I
02
Berg.
( 196 )
Berg. Journ. 1792, 459, and 2 Berg. Journ.
1792, 468, in note. The learned anony-
mous author of a defcription of the Pyrenees,
fays, "this denomination has been applied
to fo many different ſubſtances, that I dare
not uſe it." Pref. XV.
Faujas, deriving his knowledge from the
Swedes, has given the beſt account of traps
hitherto extant; it is only to be regretted
that he has omitted its external characters:
he allows it can be diftinguiſhed from bafalt
only by local circumftances. The name
bafalt he confines to this fubftance when of
volcanic origin; an origination to which it
is well known he is ſtrongly attached, and
which I have endeavoured to refute in the firſt
volume of my Mineralogy: he does not dif-
tinguiſh it from wacken. This feems, how-
ever, to be the fixth variety of his homo-
geneous traps.
Karſten thinks trap compounded of horn-
blende, quartz, and felfpar, and certainly the
ingredients of theſe are found in it, but not
in the fame proportion as in any mixture of
the three, as I have already fhewn: he does
not extend this compofition to baſalt; yet,
whatever are the ingredients of trap, the
fame
1
(
(
197 )
ſame muſt be thoſe of bafalt, as they differ
only in folidity and figure, and the folidity
arifes entirely from compreffion, as Cron-
ſtedt has remarked; the various cryſtallized
ftones that may occur in trap, are merely
paraſitic, and baſalt is not deftitute of them,
only they are ſmaller.
To form an idea of the compoſition of
this ſtone and the adjacent ſpecies, we muſt
confider the educts of its analyſis, by Berg-
man, Gerhard, Faujas, and Sauffure: thefe
are,
Baſalt of Che-
Bafalt and com- Bafalt.
pact trap.
Bafalt of
Staffa.
Bafalt of
Antrim.
nevari in the
Vivarois.
Bergman *. Gerhard + Faujas ‡. Faujas. Faujas.
|
Silex.....50 60
40
46
40
Argil 15 ΙΟ
Calx..... 8 8
Magneſia. 2
20
16
20
12
10
8
5
3
6
Iron..
25
22
21
22、
2.4
*
3 Bergm.
+ Crell Beytr. 3 Stucke, p. 5-
Faujas Sur les Traps, 66, &c.
03
(198)
A Trap, or Pierre A decayed
de Carne Dure.
Bafalt.
Prifmatic po-
rous Lava
from Iceland.
Sauffure*. Gerhard + Gerhard‡
Silex... 51
33
62
Argil.. 16,6
Calx... 8,4
Magnef. 3
35,5
20
2,5
2
O
Iron... 12
29
16
This is evidently
imperfect.
of yellow
calx.
Hence, taking Bergman's analyſis for a
ftandard, we learn, 1°, That the filiceous
part may be increaſed or diminiſhed
I
दु
with-
out any change of the fpecies, the argilla-
ceous, the calcareous may be increaſed,
but not diminiſhed. The magneſia may be
abſent, and the iron may be diminiſhed a few
grains.
2º. We learn to diſtinguiſh decayed ricket-
ty bafalts from porous lavas. In the firſt, we
find the quantity of iron much the fame as in
undecayed bafalts, for 29 per cent. of the
yellow calx contains nearly the fame quan-
tity of metallic iron as 25 of the black calx,
which is that found in baſalt, but the quan
I
2 Sauffure, 135.
+ 1 Crell Beytr. ibid. 10, 11.
‡ Ibid. 12.
tity
( 199 )
tity of filex is diminiſhed confiderably; the
proportion of argil, on the other hand, is
doubled, and that of calx reduced, where-
as in the lava the quantity of filex is in-
creaſed, and alfo that of argil fomewhat,
but that of calx and that of iron confide-
rably diminiſhed: this may go a great way
towards deciding the controverfy touching
the fufpicious foffils of Fulda, &c.
With reſpect to the kindred ſpecies of
rocks or ftone, we may lay it down as a
certain truth, that if the proportion of one
or more of the conftituent parts of bafalt
or trap be notably altered (the others re-
maining with refpect to each other in the
original proportion, or one of them vaniſh-
ing), either the fpecific gravity, colour, or
hardneſs, or all three, will alſo be altered;
a notable alteration is, that which exceeds
the limits already mentioned.
Thus, if the proportion of filex be increaſed
to its utmoſt limit nearly, and that of iron di-
miniſhed about, the other ingredients con-
ftant, we fhall have toadſtone, and the whins
whoſe ſpecific gravity exceeds or amounts
to 2,780. If the quantity of iron be reduced
to 10 or 12 per cent. we ſhall probably have
0 4
the
}
(200)
3
the lighter whins, whofe fpecific gravity is
between 2,72 and 2,78, and to theſe the
name of whin fhould exclufively be confined,
the heavier being traps. If the quantity be
reduced to 7 or 8 per cent. this will pro-
bably form the hornflate of Voight, or, if it
contains felſpar, the ſhiftofe porphyry of Wer-
ner*. If the proportion of filex be increaf-
ed, and the argil eliminated, and the iron
nearly fo, with fome addition of carbon,
then we ſhall have filiceous fhiftus.
On the other hand, if the proportion of
filex be at its lowest limit nearly, and that of
argil increaſed 2 or 3 fifths, and that of
magnefia increaſed to 12 or 15 per cent.
that of iron being conftant, or nearly fo,
and that of calx diminiſhed a few grains, we
fhall have hornblende.
50 Silex
30 Argil
Again
15 Calx
5 Iron
fhould I imagine give
wacken, Charp. 186;
this is fometimes effer-
verfcent, ibid. and if
the calx be eliminated,
and in its place, iron
ſubſtituted, ferrilite will
refult.
* I believe there must be fome error in Weigleb's
analyſis, or it was filiceous fhiftus he analyſed.
Laftly,
( 201 )
Laſtly, 46 filex, 26 argil, 8 magneſia, 4
calx, 14 iron, gives the heavier argillites
whoſe ſpecific gravity paffes 2,800.
As in the ſeries of colours exhibited in the
prifmatic spectrum, feven principal colours
are diſtinguiſhed, notwithſtanding the nu-
merous ſhades through which they paſs into
each other; fo I think a natural feries of
ftones might be formed, taking in not only
the compoſition, but alſo the texture, grain,
and ſpecific gravity: even imaginary compo-
fitions when grounded on analogy, are of
ufe towards fixing our ideas until real and
fecure analyſes are obtained.
!
That trap is often of primeval and often
of fecondary formation, will appear by the
obfervations I fhall now mention, and thoſe
that will occur in the next chapter.
1º. It is found in huge ftrata in the midſt
of gneifs, per Charpentier, 4 Helv. Mag. 545,
546, and cryſtalliſed mica in the midſt of it.
Gerhard found veins of it in the midſt of
gneifs, at Krobſdorf in Silefia, 3 Crell. Beytr.
3 Stuck. 7. And Reufs, in Bohemia, Mittel.
Geb. 94, 196; alſo in granite, 2 Berl. Beob.
197, Ferb. 4 Helv. Mag. 156.
2º. It has been found alternating with
granite
3
(202)
granite near St. Malo, Faujas Trap 86, and
with gneifs, Charp. 187.
3º. The nearer trap is to granite, the har-
der it becomes, which fhews they originated
at the fame time, Lafius, 121. Veins of
quartz about one foot deep, have been found
on the ſurface of a mountain of trap, 1 Nev.
Nord. Beytr. 143, 145. Mandelſtein (or
Amygdaloid) fometimes belongs to primary,
fometimes to fecondary mountains, Werner,
13; it forms whole mountains in the terri-
tory of Deux Ponts, Lafius 259; in Nor-
way it repoſes on granite, Haiding 52.
Wacken is alfo found in gneifs and flate
mica, Charp. 81. 3 Helv. Mag. 236; it even
alternates with gneifs, Charp. 187.
As trap contains aerated calx, it is plain
its formation was fubfequent to that of fixed
air; but fo alſo were fome granites and other
primitive ſtones, for it is not to be imagined
that all were every where formed at the
fame exact time.
Trap fometimes alternates with argillite,
as at Leidenberg, 1 Nofe 209. Sometimes
with ferpentine, 1 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 146.
Black limeſtone has frequently been miſ-
taken for trap, Nofe Samlung 274, 278.
I am
(203)
I am convinced that ferpentine alſo, eſpeci-
ally when containing hornblende, has been
taken for trap, and vice verfa. Porphyry
containing zeolyte has alſo been thought a
trap, Lefke G. 237.
Primeval trap is frequently metalliferous,
per Ferber, 4 N. Act. Petropol. 286; it con-
tains iron and copper ores, Ronov. XII.
1 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 140, 143. At Schei-
benberg a ſhaft has been driven under fome
bafaltic pillars that stood upright on the
fummit of the mountain, but nothing ba-
faltic was found, Charp. 224, 2 Bergm. 1.
849, 852: the pillars are alſo ſupported by
horizontal ſtrata, ibid.: fo that the idea of
their being thrown up from underneath is
perfectly refuted. Near the lake Onega it
is found refting on primitive limeſtone, 1
Nev. Nord. Beytr. 137, and fometimes on
argillite, ibid. 149, and the argillite on gra-
nite, ibid.; fometimes on a quartzy gneifs,
3 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 173.
§ 12.
(204)
§ 12.
Serpentine and Pottftone.
Serpentine is often found in layers alter-
nating with granular limeſtone, Berg. Ka-
lend. 215, or underlaying it, 8 Sauſs. 87, and
under gneifs, per Charp. 4 Helvet. Mag.
546; and in his Saxony, p. 398, he fhews
them to be of contemporaneous formation.
Zobtenbeg, in Lower Silefia, conſiſts entire-
ly of ferpentine, in which ſome hornblende
is found; its ftrata are nearly vertical, 4 Berl.
Beobacht. 353. Whole mountains of green
ferpentine are alſo found in Siberia, 1 Berg.
Journ. 1791, 99, 102; in fome it contains
white felfpar, and alternates with jafper,
ibid. 103. So alfo mountains of it exiſt near
Genoa, where it is called gabbro; when it
contains veins of white fpar, it is called pol-
verezza, Ferber Italy, 118, 119. It forms
part of Rabenberg, and is found between
gneifs, Charp. 175. It is not metalliferous,
Wern. K. Claffif. 14; however, magnetic
iron ſtone and veins of copper fometimes
traverſe it, Berg. Kalend. 216. The moun-
tain
I
( 205 )
tain of Skiolſdafport in Norway, confiſts en-
tirely of pottftone, Waller. de Montibus,
p. 59; and ſeveral occur in Jemptland in
Sweden, and fome in Tyrol, Haiding
63; they repoſe on ftellſtein or hornſlate.
Afbeftiform fteatite is likewife found at
great heights in the afcent of Mount
Blanc, 7 Sauff. 253, and common ftea-
tites at the fummit, ibid. 280. Serpen-
tine near the White Sea, has been found
feated on trap, 1 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 149.
and fometimes on talky quartz, ibid.; fome-
times on a quartzy gneifs, 3 Neve Nord.
Beytr. 173. The mountain of Regelberg
in Germany, which conſiſts of ferpentine,
is magnetic, its fouth fide attracts the north
pole of a magnet, and its north fide the ſouth
pole, 1 Chy. Ann. 1797, 99, 1 N. Berg.
Journ. 257.
§ 13.
Porphyry.
Porphyry has been found under gneifs and
alternating with it, and metallic veins tra-
verfe both without interruption or devia-
tion, or any alteration in their metallic con-
tents,
1
( 206 )
tents, per Charpent. 4 Helvet. Mag. 545;
hence he juſtly confiders them as of contem-
porary formation. It has alſo been found
in the midſt of ſhiftofe mica, Berg. Kal. 211,
and reciprocally gneifs has been found in
the midſt of porphyry by Widenman, 4
Helv. Mag. 163. Clay porphyry forms
whole mountains in Lower Hungary, but
hornſtone porphyry feldom does, 1 Berg.
Journ. 1789, 600; it there repoſes on gra-
nite, Haiding, 42.
Porphyritic mountains form cones, and
porphyry like baſalt ſometimes covers other
hills, per Werner, 1 Berg. Journ. 1789,
607 (this however may be fecondary). Por-
phyry is alſo often found in a columnar form
like bafalt. See 2 Berg. Journ. 1790, 325.
Haiding, 48.
The faxum metalliferum in Hungary, is a
difintegrated porphyry, but in the Palatinate
it is a difintegrated amygdaloid (mandel-
ftein) that forms the faxum metalliferum,
per Lafius in 1 Beg. Journ. 1791, 312.
Porphyry generally forms whole moun-
tains, compofed of mighty ftrata; they
repoſe fometimes on granite, 6 Nev. Nord.
Beytr. 115; fometimes on gneifs, Hai-
dinger,
( 207
dinger, 46. Charpentier mentions a fort of
ſtone which he calls porphyraceous, though
he does not aſcribe felfpar to it. It confifts,
he ſays, of quartz and indurated clay of va-
riable hardneſs, and containing nefts of clay
of different colours, or lithomarga. It ſeems
rather a ſort of ſand-ſtone, Charp. 69.
In Siberia it never underlays granite,
Nev. Nord. Beytr. 115.
The porphyries with a baſe of indurated
clay, frequently contain calcedonies, carne-
lians, amethyfts, or zeolyte, 2 Lenz. 363,
Lefke G. 235, 237. That with a bafis of
hornftone, often contains galena, black blende,
fulphur pyrites, fulphurated biſmuth, fidero
calcite, or molybdena, 2 Lenz. 365, Berg.
Kal. 211, 2 Berg. Journ. 1793, 214.
That which contains zeolyte has often
been miſtaken for trap, Lefke G. 237.
§ 14.
Hornflate of Charpentier. Shiftofe Porphyry
of Werner.
This Charpentier reckons among the pri-
mitive rocks, 4 Helv. Mag. 547. Renovantz
alfo
( 208 )
alfo found it among the primitive rocks of
Altai, Renov. 86, and Patrin mixed with gra-
nite and hornblende on the borders of the
Baikal, 38 Roz. 227, 229. Mountains of
it are found in Siberia, Renov. 31; and
Schlangerberg chiefly confifts of it with in-
terſperſed hornblende and felfpar, ibid. 86.
Alfo in Bohemia, where it fometimes re-
pofes on, and fometimes underlays trap, Reuff.
Bohemia XXXII. and III.; the mountain of
Schlofsberg confifts almoft entirely of it, 1
Berg. Journ. 1792, 222; that of Bilinirftein
forms pillars like baſalt, ibid. 237, and Reuff.
M. Geb. 100; and fome alfo in Saxony,
Charp. 29. Saufſure diſcovered it near Pfaf-
fenfprung intercepted between ſtrata of
gneifs, 7 Sauff.
Sauff. 91.
§ 15.
Sandftone.
This ftone is generally reckoned among
the fecondary, yet where no organic re-
mains are found in it, where it does
not reſt on any fecondary ftone, where
no fecondary ſtone enters in its compo-
fition, I do not fee why it may not be
aggregated
( 209 )
aggregated to the primary. Sand amongſt
the convulfions occafioned by the volcanic
irruptions before the creation of animals,
muſt have been formed, and even indepen-
dently of theſe ſome muſt have been depo-
fited, during or after the cryftallization of
the various fubftances contained in the
chaotic fluid, fee 5th Sauff. 294. Mount
Jorat and the Coteau de Boitly, near Geneva,
1 Sauff. 246, 349, feem to be primeval; fo
alfo the fandſtone found in the island of
Bornholm, 5 Berl. Beobacht. Alſo that men-
tioned in 2 Sauff. § 763, which graduates
into gneifs, muft alfo be primary, though
it contains tumblers (caillous roulés). The
fandſtone near Lifchau, in the vicinity of
Prague graduates into hornſtone, and even
into granite. Mr. Rofler even thinks it to
have been originally a granite, whoſe fel-
fpar was decompofed into clay, which then
cemented the quartzy grains; a moſt in-
genious and probable conjecture, 1 Bergbau,
339 and 341.
Moft of the arenilitic mountains of Bo-
hemia, on both fides of the Elbe, appear to
me primitive, by Reus's defcription, fee Reufs
P
96,
( 210 )
96, &c. in the E. and N. parts of Bohemia,
many of them are ſplit, or form columns re-
fembling bafalts, 2 Berg. Journ. 1792, 70.
In Bohemia, fandftones with an argilla-
ceous cement alternate with thofe whoſe ce-
ment is filiceous, Reufs. In Kinneculla, the
loweſt ftratum incumbent on granite feems
alfo to be primitive, over it the fecondary
ftrata repoſe, 29 Swed. Abhand C. 29, 5
Bergm. 126.
In Brainſdorf in Saxony, it paffes into
fhiftofe mica and alternates with argillite,
2 Crell. Beytr. 64. In Riegelfdorf it forms
the fundamental rock on which femiprotolite
immediately lies, which is covered by other
fecondary ftrata, 2 Berg. Journ. 1790, 285.
Near Oyben and other tracts of Saxony, no
petrefactions or conchylaceous impreffions
are found in it, though in that of Pirna
adjoining, they are found, Charp. 24 and
26; it fometimes repofes on hornflate, Charp.
24.
The mountain Steinthal, in the Voſges,
of red fandítone, is confidered, by Baron
Diedrich, as primeval. 2 Diedr. Gites des
Minerais, 209, 210. The fandſtone men-
tioned
( 211 )
tioned in 6 Sauff. 81, which alternates
with primitive limeftone, muſt alſo be
primitive.
§ 16.
Rubble Stone.
This alfo is generally thought to be only
of fecondary formation; Voight and Lafius,
indeed, judge it to be among the moſt an-
cient of thefe, yet in the circumſtances
mentioned in the laft fection, it ſeems to
me to rank among the primary.
The rubble ftone found in Siberia, on
the banks of the Iffet, near Kamyſchenka,
mixed with fragments of ferpentine, feems
to be primitive; it is not ftratified, but in
huge maffes, Chy. An. 1793, 512, and 2
Herman, 312.
§ 17.
Farcilite (Pudding ftone), Breccias and Marlites.
Breccias, confifting of fragments of jafper
and flints, cemented by indurated, or rather
lapidified clay, occur frequently in Siberia
they are ſtratified, and appear to be primi-
tive, on the banks of the Sentelek, 1 Berg.
P 2
Journ.
( 212 )
Journ. 1791, 83. Whole mountains of
marlite are found in the fame vicinity; in
fome, breccias, porphyry, jafper, ftratified
ſandſtone, and marlite, alternate with each
other; and, therefore, as the Jaſper is always
primitive, ſo muft, in this inſtance, all the
others, ibid. Alfo an entire mountain of
farcilite, containing flints, ſtuck in a quartzy
bafis, has been difcovered there, ibid. 89.
The argillitic farcilites found by Mr. Sauf-
fure, defcending from the mountain of Bal-
me to the Valorfine, 2 Sauff. § 692. appear
to me to be primary; they conſiſt of round-
ed primeval ſtones in an argillitic cement.
A mountain of farcilite exifts in Siberia,
near the rivulet Tulat, confifting of rounded
fragments of jafper, calcedony, aigue marine,
and carnelian, in a quartzy cement, 1 Berg.
Journ. 1791, 81 and 106. Some farcilites
with an argillaceous cement, are alfo found
in Dauria, per Patrin, 38 Roz. 22, which
he thinks fecondary; but by my definition
at leaſt, muſt be primary, as no petrifactions
are found in that country.
At Meifenheim, in the Palatinate, over,
and adjoining to vaſt maſſes of trap, there
are immenfe heaps, and even a mountain of
farcilite,
( 213 )
farcilite, 1 Berg. Journ. 1791, 310. The
famous mountain of Monferrat, near Barce-
lona, feems to be a breccia formed of fand-
ſtone, quartz, and bafanite, in a calcareous
cement, by Bowles's defcription, Bowles,
402. Sauffure alſo thinks farcilites may be
primitive, 8 Sauff. 290.
§ 18.
Granular Limestone.
That this ſtone is primeval, and not
formed of fhells, is now generally agreed
upon, fee Werner, Voight, Charpentier,
Sauffure, Ferber, Herman, &c. no petrefac-
tions are ever found in it, nor does it ever
reſt on, or alternate with ſecondary rocks;
its height frequently exceeds 7 or 8000
feet, and it often underlays primitive rocks.
Whole mountains of primeval limeſtone are
found in Stiria, Carinthia, and Carniola,
Berg. Kal. 214; and in Swifferland, 4 Helv.
Mag. 116; and in the Pyrenees, La Peyroufe,
336; that of Carrara in Italy is well known,
Fenſter anhors, Jungfrau, Schreckhorn,
in Swifferland, all exceed 10,000 feet in
height, 4 Helv. Mag. 115, 116; alſo in
Scot-
P 3
( 214 )
Scotland, being probably that which Wil-
liams calls mountain limeſtone, 1 Williams,
I
58; it often preſents lofty fpires like granite,
8 Sauff. 332.
Mountains entirely formed of primitive
limestone are not commonly ftratified, but
confift of huge blocks without any regular
dip or direction, like granitic mountains,
Lafius Hartz, 60, 175, 176; yet in poly-
genous primeval mountains it is frequently
found in ſtrata; thus in Dauria, near the vil-
lage of Pechova, it alternates with filiceous
fhiftus, 38 Roz. 298.
At Altenberg, near the lake of Neven-
berg it forms ftrata, 4 Helv. Mag. 306.
Mr. Sauffure on Simplon, found it inter-
cepted between layers of fhiftofe mica, Roz.
7 ; in Saxony it frequently alternates with
fhiſtofe mica and argillite, Werner, K.
Claffif. 14, and huge ftrata of it have been
found in gneifs, and fhiftofe mica and argil-
lite, Charp. 85, 86, 87, 174, 201, 400.
Berg. Kal. 214; and between fienite and
hornblende flate, Voight, Prack. 48, The
unigenous limeſtone mountains of Carniola
are ſtratified, but contain no petrifactions,
2 Phyf. Arbeit. 3, 4, 7. One of the moſt
fingular
( 215 )
!
fingular mountains of this fort is that of
Filabres, Bowles's Spain, 149. It confifts of
a block of white marble, three miles in cir-
cumference and 2000 feet high, without
any mixture of other ftones or earths, and
fcarce any fiffures; hence the notion of Buf-
fon, that calcareous ftones of the fort we
call primitive, are of fecondary formation, and
refult from the tranfudation of lapidific juices
from fuperior ftrata of conchyferous lime-
ſtone, is evidently groundleſs; where? and
how high muſt have been the ftrata of fhelly
limeſtone from whofe tranfudation fuch a
mountain as this, or Schreckhorn, could have
refulted? Primitive limeftone is not always
white, nor is the grain of it always very per-
ceptibly fcaly or lamellar, but approaches
by reafon of its minutenefs, fo nearly to the
compact, as to paſs for fuch; nay, it is faid
fometimes to diſcover a ſplintry fracture,
but very rarely; fometimes its texture ap-
proaches to the fibrous, 1 Nev. Nord. Beytr.
137. It is frequently dark iron grey, or
reddish brown, both in Siberia and in the
Alps, and hence has been taken for trap, as
already mentioned. So the mountain of
Rauſchenberg on the frontiers of Bavaria is
formed
}
PA
(216)
formed of limestone feemingly compact,
filled with ſpar and without petrifactions,
2 Bergm. Journ. 1789, 926. So the weft fide
of the Ourals is a chain of mountains of com-
pact limeſtone in which no petrifactions are
found, or only a few ſcattered impreffions,
per Pallas, 1 Act. Petrop. 48. The moun-
tains of Wetterhorn, Wellhorn, and Burg-
horn, are primitive limeftone, whofe frac-
ture is faid to be fplintry, and their colour
greyish yellow, 4 Hel. Mag. 272, 273. A
ſtratum of it free from petrifactions exifts in
Toſchnitz in the foreft of Thuringia, but
this to me appears fufpicious, Voight Prack.
48. As fome traces of marine acid are
found in fecondary limeftones, Bergi. Vor-
lefung. 278, and Georgi in Act. Petropol.
1782, 278, and none are found in primitive
limeſtone, this may be a good teſt for dif
tinguiſhing them. The ftratum of yellowish
and bluish grey limeftone, found in the
midſt of a mountain of fandftone called
Kalkberg in Bohemia, Reufs Bohemia, 117,
feems to me primitive, though its fracture is
ſplintry, paffing to the uneven.
This ftone often contains a mixture of
various other fpecies; in Dauria it often
contains
( 217 )
उ
contains 50 per cent. of filex. 1 Chy. Ann.
1791, 155. being of cotemporary forma-
tion. In Switzerland, Schreckhorn, Fen-
ſteraahors, and Jungfrau, conſiſt of lime-
ſtone mixed with flints and minute quartz.
4 Helvet. Mag. 116. In Stiria it is fo
mixed with mica as to refemble gneifs, or
ſhiſtofe mica. Werner K. Claffif. 15. and
Wild montagne faliferes 30; fometimes
of it is argil and quartz, 38 Roz. 232.
Sometimes even hornblende, actinolites, af-
beftus, fteatites, and ferpentine, are found
mixed with it. Wern. K. Claffif. 14. Berg.
Kalend. 214. Charpent. 400. 1 Nev. Nord.
Beytr. 137. and fhorl in Siberia. 1 Chym.
Ann. 1791, 345. Its fiffures are often filled
with ſpar, and fometimes with quartz. Feṛ-
ber Italy, 450. Renov. xiii. It fometimes
enters in aggregates of the granitic kind,
forming fingular groups; fee the excellent
memoir of Mr. Le Febre on this ſubject in
39 Roz. 354. As 1º. A fragment of quartz,
mica and limeſtone, confufedly cryſtallized.
2º. Again actinolite, fteatites, quartz, fel-
fpar, and granular limeftone; another with
garnets, both thefe from the Pyrenees;
another of ſhiftofe mica, with compreffed
ovoidal
1
(218)
ovoidal limeſtone; another from Iceland, in
which ſteatites, fhorl, and cryſtallized mica,
are imbedded in the limeſtone, from Sib-
bo in Iceland; hence there is no fpecies of
ſtone with which our limeſtone may not be
affociated, or into which it may not enter,
or which excludes it: it has been found in
the centre of a block of granite, in Tyrole,
39 Roz. 9. and rounded agates have been
found in it, in Idria, 3 N. Act. Petropol.
262. Of metallic fubftances, few, at leaſt in
Europe, are found in it, and theſe are ga-
lena, magnetic iron ftone, and, rarely, black
blende. 1 Berg. Jour. 1789, 176. Lately alſo
ſome ſcattered flips of the black and red
filver ores, and fulphur pyrites. Charp. 401.
Berg. Kalend. 215. 2 Berg. Jour. 1792,
133 in note. But in Siberia the richeſt
copper mines are found in it. 1 Chy. Ann.
1793, 511. It often repoſes on granite, 1
Chym. Ann. 1793, 510. Renov. 32. Gerh.
Gefch. 66. or on gueifs. Charp. 217. or on
argillite. Ferber Italy, 30. 4 N. Act. Petrop.
285. or on porphyry. Ibid. On the other
hand, it often underlays, or is covered by,
granite or gneiss. 1 Chy. Ann. 1791, 155.
4 Helv. Mag. 314 and 546. Charp. 218.
39 Roz.
4
1
(219)
39 Roz. 9. per Dolomieu 1 Berg. Jour.
1789, 174, 175. or argillite, Lafius, 178.
or primeval trap. 4 N. Act. Petropol. 286.
Near Averdach, Lafius found it between
ftrata of argillite. 1 Berg. Jour. 1791, 306.
Sauffure found gneifs inclofed between its
ftrata. 8 Sauff. 201. The bluish or reddifh
grey of Saxony is mixed with argillite. 1
Berg. Jour. 1789, 169; fometimes with
hornblende, and then is remarkably fufible.
Ibid. 171. In the mountain of Campo Longo,
not far from St. Gothard, it is found mixed
with tremolite, and ftratified, 41 Roz. 89.
at the height of 6400 feet. When ſtratified
its ſtratification is always imperfect. 1 Wil-
liams, 58. Yet 2 Wms. 22 and 26, it is
faid to occur frequently regularly ſtratified.
Marlite.
This alfo forms whole mountains with,
out any trace of ſtratification or animal re-
mains, fome of which are alfo metalli-
ferous in Siberia. 2 Herman, 312.
§ 19.
( 220 )
§ 19.
Gypfum, Fluor.
Fluor, in an earthy or fandy form, has
been found at the depth of fixty feet, in a
vein of quartz, at Kobola Poiana in Upper
Hungary. Emerling Mineralog. 516. But
compact fluor is faid to form whole ftrata
in the mountains of the foreft of Thuringia.
Voight Prack. 70. and Werner Enfteh. der
Gange 111. and hence he counts it among
primitive ſtones.
Gypfum has been found on Mount St.
Gothard mixed with mica, 44 Roz. 183.
but fuch inftances are exceeding rare, and
by Pallas it has been found affociated with
felfpar in Siberia. 5 Nord. Beytr. 280. Ba-
rofelenite is found in confiderable beds in
Savoy. Werner Gange, 111. Might not
all theſe combinations take place in the
chaotic fluid?
Fluors are alfo found in the cavities of
granite at Baveno; in that cafe they are.
parafitic. Pini Mem. Surla Cryſtallization
des Felfpars, p. 28.
§ 20.
( 221 )
1
§ 20.
Topaz Rock.
The component parts of this fingular
aggregate I have already mentioned in my
firft volume of Mineralogy; it is reckoned
among the primitive, both by Werner and
Voight; it forms part of a mountain near
Averbach in the metalliferous mountains
(Erzgebirge) of Saxony, but no metal has
as yet been found in it. Various other
anomalous aggregates daily occur.
$ 21.
Of polygenous primeval Mountains.
Heretofore it was fuppofed, that prime-
val mountains were entire; or, if in an undi-
vided mountain, maffes of primeval ſub-
ftances occurred, that they formed collateral
parts, without either being fubjected to
the other; confequently, all ſtratified moun-
tains were confidered as fecondary, and called
undigenous (flotzgebirge); but of late, in
many primeval mountains, ftrata have been
difcovered of different kinds, fuperimpofed
one upon the other; nay, in fome, different
aggregates
( 222 )
1
aggregates of the primeval have been ob-
ferved confuſedly mixed with each other:
a few inftances of both I ſhall here adduce.
1º. In the Solatarifchian mountains in
Siberia, argillite, porphyry, and granite, al-
ternate. Renov. 37*. So alfo in the Gram-
pians in Scotland. 1 Bergb. 399.
2º. The mountain of Gardette, in the
ſouth of France, confifts of granite at bot-
tom, over that gneifs, and over that lime-
Schrieber. 36 Roz. 355.
ſtone, per
3º. In the circle of Miſnia, granular lime-
ſtone alternates with hornblende flate, and
is partly mixed therewith, and hence
fufible; in this, ſhiftofe, hornblende, felſpar,
quartz, and mica, are difcerned. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1789. 171.
4°. At Ehrenberg, near Ilmenau, granite,
ſhiſtoſe hornblende, porphyry, and argil-
lite alternate with each other. Voight
Prack. 21.
5°. At Schneeberg, argillite alternates
with gneifs and flate mica. 3 Helv. Mag.
190, from Charpentier.
6º. Swucku, in the Norwegian chain,
* If I underſtand the author right; the text is to me
fomewhat obfcure.
confifts
(223)
A
confiſts of petrofilex and porphyry. Waller:
de Montibus, 59.
7. Hornflate often alternates with trap.
3 Helvet. Mag. 241.
8°. In Chalances, in Dauphiné, gneifs
and primitive limeftone are jumbled, or
mixed together. 24 Roz. 381.
9°. Sauffure defcribes Mount Jovet, in
Savoy, as confifting of feveral alternating
ftrata of ſtriated ſteatites, ferpentine, horn-
blende, and a micaceous and quartzy lime-
ftone, which is undoubtedly primitive. 2
Sauff. 398.
10°. On the banks of the Selinga, in
Dauria, the mountains confift of granite,
hornblende, and hornflate, fometimes al-
ternating, fometimes mixed, per Patrin,
38 Roz. 227. And near the Ingoda, horn-
flate and granite alternate. Ibid. 229.
11°. All the primitive ftones being in
fome place or other coeval, feem fo mix-
ed as to paſs into each other, though as to
their nature totally different from each
other; for inſtance, gneifs and primitive
limeſtone. Charp. 201. granite and argil-
lite. Ibid. 283. In the mountain Silber-
berg in Bavaria, granite, gneifs, and fhif-
tofe
(224)
tofe mica, are confufedly mixed with each
other. Flurl. 255, 256.
CHAP. II.
OF SECONDARY OR EPIZOOTIC
MOUNTAINS.
§ I.
Theſe are either marigenous or alluvial.
The diftinctive character of fecondary
mountains is the preſence of organic re-
mains either in their natural, or petrified
ſtate, (or at leaſt of their impreffions below
the furface) either entering into, and form-
ing the compofition of the ftony ſubſtan-
ces of which thefe mountains confift, or
imbedded in them, or lying between their
ftrata, or under them; there may be fome,
however, as thofe which evidently derive
their origin from the difintegration of primi-
tive mountains, in which no organic re-
mains may be found, as the carboniferous
hills. In great chains, the fecondary cal-
careous are generally on the outfide; with-
in them the argillitic, and the primary
in the midft. 1 Sauff. 402. Pallas, Gentil,
Ferber, Born, &c. but elſewhere they fre-
quently
( 225 )
quently lie promifcuouſly with each other.
The fecondary, even when otherwife inde-
pendent, always reft on, and cover, primary;
but very commonly alfo they lean on their
fides or inveſt them. 2 Sauff. 338. § 919. but
they are never covered by primary. 1 Gerh.
Gefch. 125. Lehm. flotz. Gebirge, 169.
13 Ann. Chy. 164. 167, &c.
164. 167, &c. Quartz and
felfpar in an arenaceous form are often
found in them, and alfo mica, as in the fe-
condary ſtrata of Mansfeld, 1 Gerh. Geſch.
§ 72. Between primary and fecondary
ftrata, commonly a ſtone or fubftance of a
middle nature, participating of both, inter-
venes, as Sauffure has well remarked, as far-
cilite, or fandſtone, or breccia. 1 Sauff. §
594, p. 528. the reafon of whichI have given
in my firſt Effay; this obfervation was firſt
generalized by Mr. Sauffure: the ſtone itſelf
is called todt liegendes; I call it, from its con-
ftitution, femiprotolite, being femiprimige-
nous. Sometimes petrifactions are found
in the upper ftrata, and none in the lower,
I Sauff. § 409. p. 333. and Lafius. The
ſtrata of ſecondary mountains are ſo much
the more irregular or inclined as they ap-
proach nearer to primary mountains. 1 Sauff.
Q
I
§ 287.
1
(226)
§ 287. Secondary mountains or ftrata are not
all of equal antiquity, thofe in which ammo-
nites and belemnites only are found, ſeem the
moft ancient; and, next to thefe, thofe in
which madrepores and millepores are found.
Some are derivative, being formed fubfe-
quently to the production of organic fub-
ſtances, and originating from difintegration.
The principal character by which deri-
vative mountains are diftinguifhed, confifts
in their exhibiting vegetable fubftances, or
petrifactions, or at leaſt their impreffions,
or land fhells, as thofe of fnails, or fluviatile
fhells, with either none, or ſcarce any ma-
rine remains, though fome of diluvian cri-
gin may exhibit theſe alſo.
Secondary mountains are either formed
of one ſpecies of ſtone, or of ftrata of differ-
ent ſpecies, one covering or alternating with
the other; the former I call unigenous, the
latter polygenous: thefe are commonly ftra-
tified, the former often not. In fome, dif-
ferent fpecies are jumbled together, thefe I
call faraginous; they are by fome called
tertiary, as refulting from the ruins of other
mountains, tumultuouſly and promifcuouſly
heaped together. The fubftances that form
fecondary
( 227 )
fecondary mountains are either calcareous,
of which there are various fpecies, or argil-
laceous, or filiceous, or arenilitic, or ferrugi-
nous, or faliniferous, or carboniferous; of
both theſe laſt mentioned I fhall treat of
apart. The ftrata of fecondary mountains
frequently correfpond with each other both
in number, fpecies, and thickneſs, in differ-
ent mountains, not very diftant from each
other, as in Weſt Gothland, &c.
Although no certain order prevails in the
diſpoſition of ſecondary ftrata, yet there are
particular diſpoſitions, which, according to
Voight, 2 Berg. 1793, 211, are conſtantly
excluded; thus coal is never found under
primitive argillite, &c. but he certainly,
in his other inſtances, only proves that pri-
mitive ſtones are not found over fecondary.
According to Dolomieu, no ftratum of
cryſtalliſed, or granularly foliated ftone, is
ever found in fecondary mounts. 8 Sauff.
284. he must except gypfum.
Q 2
§ 2.
го
(228)
1
§ 2.
OF CALCAREOUS MOUNTAINS.
Limestone.
During the laſt period of the cryſtalliza-
tion of calcareous ftones, fifh were created,
hence fome of theſe mixed with, and dif-
turbed the cryftallization; the ftones, how-
ever, which were formed in theſe circum-
ſtances, have a much more compact grain
than limeftones of fubfequent formation,
which were folidified by a more partial cryf-
tallization. In fome inftances, vaft maffes
or banks of coral have their intervals filled
up with cryftallized calcareous matter; the
ſtony maffes thus formed, are, confequently,
not divided in ftrata, but rather irregularly
rifted like primeval maffes; of this fort is
the mountain of Iberg in the Hartz. La-
fius, 180. The petrifactions are fcarcely
difcernible until the ftone is fomewhat wi-
thered. Ibid. 214. and feveral of the higheſt
calcareous mountains of the Vivarois. i
Soulavie, 13. as that of Vinezac. Ibid. 190.
and the rocks of Bidon. Ibid. 192. and
fome in Siberia. 4 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 191.
་
were
{
(
229 )
1
were thus formed. But more frequently this
limeftone forms ftratified mountains; as at
Burren, in the county of Clare; the loweſt
ftrata of theſe are the broadeft, the fucceed-
ing ftrata narrower, fo that the afcent is
like that of ſtairs; their height is from 600
to 1200 feet above the level of the fea; no
other fpecies of ſtone interpofes between
them.
In many inftances, however, thin beds
of clay, ochre, and even flints, or hornſtone,
(and agates near the Volga. 3 Nev. Nord.
Beytr. 162.) occur between limeftone ftrata.
(2 Herm. 302.) Voight Prack. 109, 110.
11 Ann. Chy. 226, 1 Soulavie, 189. or
even in the midſt of a limestone rock. I
Sauff. 197.
In Bohemia the interceding
hornftone has been found of the thickneſs
of five or fix inches. Reufs Mittel Gebirge,
38, 39. This argil and the filiceous ftones
are evidently the refult of tranfudation or
percolation. In Savoy, Saleve, the Dole,
and the Mole, are ftratified, an inftructive
account of which may be ſeen in Vol. I. of
Sauffure's Voyages. The fhells found in
limeſtone ſtrata are commonly entire; fome
preferve their internal mother of pearl glofs,
Q 3
and
T
(230)
and do not therefore appear to have been
rolled or tranſported, but rather to have
been fucceffively accumulated in nume-
rous families; and, therefore, not of
diluvial origin. In fome, the calcareous
matter is regularly cryftallized, but more
commonly confufedly; frequently only the
impreffions of fhells remain; in their rifts
calcareous fpar or granular limeſtone often
occurs. Some limeſtones appear to be of
late origin, for the fhells found in them are
of common garden fnails; fuch occur in
Siberia, fee 7 Kaifer Accad. Naturforfh,
411. 3 Crell. Chy. Archives, 261. Vaſt
caverns are frequently formed in the interior
of theſe mountains, or even in plains whoſe
fubftratum is calcareous rock; theſe evi-
dently refult from the erofion or folution
of the fofter calcareous particles by water;
fee Pilkington's Derbyshire, 63. In the
Cevennes, conchiferous limeſtone ſtrata at
the fummit repofe on argillitic, and theſe
again on limeftone whofe fhells are of a
different kind, 1 Genfanne Hift. Langue-
doc, 260, 261.
Secondary limeſtone mountains always
repofe mediately or immediately on fome
primeval ſtone; thus in Siberia they have
for
( 231 )
for a baſis granite, porphyry, or hornblende.
Renov. 75, 76. 3 Ann. Chy. 163. In Sax-
ony they repofe on granite. Charp. 51.
fometimes on granular limeftone. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1789, 166. fometimes on argillite,
fometimes on fandſtone. Ibid. In Sweden
they often bear on fandftone. 1 Bergm.
Erde. Befchrib. 226. in Swifferland they
reft on argillite or gneifs. Ferber, Briefe,
9, 10, &c. or calcareous farcilite, or femi-
protolite. 4 Helv. Mag. 116, 117. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1790, 176. The calcareous moun-
tains of the Vicentine and Veronefe have
alſo a primeval bafis. Ferber Italy, 44. In
Stiria and Carinthia a micaceous argillite.
Ibid. 45. or granite, or ftelſtein. 1 Phy.
Arbeit. 106. or in Bohemia on ſandſtone.
Reufs Bohemia, xxxi. and alfo in the Hartz.
Lafius, 221. in St. Domingo on granite. 31
Roz. 174. in Auftria and Stiria on horn-
flate, argillite, ftelftein, or granite, per
Stoulz Phy. Arb. 83. thoſe of Auvergne
on granite. 32 Roz. 186. and 39 Roz. 189.
in Hainault on argillite. 25 Roz. 85. at
Ivry in Burgundy on granite. 2 Mem. Di-
jon, 1782, 121. 132. On the other hand,
this ſtone is covered, fometimes by ſandſtone
as on the N. extremity of Jura. 1 Sauff.
Q 4
281.
( 232 )
281. 2 Berg. Jour. 1790, 321. and in the
Hartz fometimes by rubble, ſtone. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1793, 199. or by a calcareous brec-
cia. Ferber Italy, 10. In Saxony a bed of
it upwards of one hundred feet thick is
found covered with clay and ferruginous
fand, to the depth of fixty or eighty feet.
Charp. Saxony, 6. Calcareous ftrata often
cover, indifcriminately, both primeval and
fecondary mountains, as in the foreſt of
Thuringia. 2 Berg. Jour. 1790, 315. It
often alternates with marlite and fwineftone,
Wern. K. Claffif. 17.
In the Hartz it is found between rubble
ftone and argillite. 1 Berg. Jour. 1793, 207.
In the mountain of Voirons it is incloſed
in calcareous grit. 1 Sauff. 217 and 248.
In Bavaria it alternates with argillite and
marlite. Flurl, 44. The fuperior ftrata of
limeſtone are commonly the fofteft, the in-
ferior are harder and denfer; the loweſt are
generally thin. 1 Soulavic. 178. Some
contrary inftances occur in Swifferland, but
then a different compofition alfo takes
place.
Sometimes calcareous mountains are rent
in various directions, and then preſent poly-
gonal
( 233 )
(233
gonal pillars, quadrangular, pentangular,
&c. like bafalts, as at Ruoms and Bidon, in
Soulavie, 194. 200.
the Vivarois.
1
In
Saxony a ruſty limeſtone is found refem-
bling a fandy indurated clay, this breaks
into prifms; it is there called planar.
Charp. 49,
In Europe, limeftone is feldom metalli-
ferous, the ores moft frequently found in it
are galena, the ſparry iron ore, fulphur py-
rites, and copper pyrites. 2 Lenz. 380. and
pure fulphur. 1 Herm. 14.
I
2.
Swine Stone.
This is either compact, flaty, or, porous ;
it commonly contains no petrifactions.
Voight Prack, 105. yet that of Kinneculla
contains many, per Hermelin Schwed. Ab-
handl. 1767, 28. but, as he alſo ſays, the
fame ftratum contains fome common lime-
ftone, it is probable it is in that the petri-
factions are found; much may alfo depend
on the degree in which the unctuous mat-
ter exifts in them; Flurl Orogr. Briefe 76.
mentions petrifaction to be found in it. I
Nofe
(234)
1
Noſe Forfetz. 75. but impreffions of fiſh, or
of fhells, infects, or leaves, are often found
on this ftone. 2 Lenz. 381. it fometimes
contains flints. Lafius, 130. and Elumenb.
from Voight's Mag. V. B. 1 St. p. 19. men-
tions a brown fwineſtone in which belem-
nites are contained. Blumenb. Natur.
Gefch. 601, and Flurl Bavaria, 78. It
commonly repoſes on marlite. Lenz. 382.
fometimes on compact limeftone. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1789, 167. I ftrongly fufpect that
fwineſtone is in ſome caſes a primeval lime-
ſtone, penetrated with petrol. Mr. Wil-
liams thinks petrol is found in all limeſtone,
in greater or leffer quantities; in Scotland
he fometimes found it of the confiftence of
an ointment, in the cavities of limestone.
I Wms. 235.
3.
Oviform Limestone.
This is not common; the balls or glo-
bules have for the moſt part a grain of ſand
in the middle. 2 Lenz. 381.
4. Porous
;
1
(235)
4.
Porous Limeftone.
In
Often contains impreffions of leaves, and
fometimes wood. 1 Helvet. Mag. 9.
Siberia it fometimes covers granite, and
contains petrifactions. Renov. 27. theſe
are evidently of diluvial origin; thoſe found
in high fummits in Peru, are probably con-
tained in this fpecies of ftone, and of the
fame origin.
5.
Marlites, and calcareous Sandstone.
Bituminous marlite commonly bears im-
preffions of fish, generally of carps; often.
of marine plants; often alfo native copper,
or copper pyrites, or vitreous copper ore; it
frequently refts on femiprotolite. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1789, 214.
Calcareous fandſtone
frequently forms whole mountains, as thoſe
of Voirons and Boiffy in Savoy. 1 Sauff.
215. 247. Common marlites often alter-
nate with clay. Voight Fulda, 15. they
fometimes contain gypfum, fpar, mica,
fand; frequently fhells, or petrifactions,
ammonites,
( 236 )
ammonites, pectinites, tubulites, and im-
preffions of leaves of oak. 2 Lenz. 382.
flints are alfo found in marl. I Gerh.
Gefch. 124.
In Swifferland calcareous
fandftones, as in Jorat, repofe on femipri-
migenous breccia. 4 Helv. Mag. 118.
Struvius obferved, near Cully, a calcareous
farcilite. 2 Berg. Jour. 1791, 242. Char-
pentier obſerved near Priefnitz, in Saxony,
a fort of marlite that refembles granite.
Charp. 61. it is alfo found of all colours,
and beautifully variegated, and regularly
ftratified, in Scotland. 2 Wms. 35.
In Bavaria, marlites, or indurated marl,
alternate with fandftone. Flurl Bavaria,
555. and fometimes with fand. 3 Nev.
Nord. Beytr. 28. Hills of femilapidified
marl frequently occur in Carinthia, Car-
niola, and in the Tridentine, and Venetian
territory. 3 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 28. It has
alfo been found between ftrata of limestone
and of argillite. Ibid.
6.
Chalk.
Chalk feems to refult from the precipi-
tation of calcareous matter, impregnated
3
with
( 237 )
(237
with as much fixed air as was neceffary to
precipitate it, and no more; the water that
held it in folution feems alfo to have been
charged with a finall proportion of argil,
and a far larger of filex in its ultimate ftate
of divifion; hence the calcareous matter
was not cryſtallized, and its interpofition in
a large proportion prevented the filex alfo
from cryſtallizing. From fucceffive preci-
pitations beds of chalk, moſtly in a hori-
zontal pofition, have refulted; but by the
fucceffive infiltration of water, the filiceous
particles were gradually reunited, and form-
ed with the addition of a few of the calcare-
ous and argillaceous genus, thofe irregularly.
fhaped concretions, known by the name of
flints, which are found difperfed in regular
ftrata through the chalk. 1 Berg. Jour.
1791, 317. 2 Bergb. 384. Their regular
ftratifications proceeds from the uniform
denfity of each ftratum of chalk, through
which they were infiltrated: it muſt not be
imagined that thoſe found on the furface of
chalk were always on the furface, as the
primitive furface was long blown or waſhed
off; hence petrified fhells are often found in
chalk, and even converted into calcedony.
Lafius,
(238)
܆
Lafius, 106. and vice versa, from a fimilar
percolation calcareous fpar is found cryſtal-
lized in the fame grottos or hollows, in
which rock cryſtal is found, under immenſe
maſſes of granite. 2 Sauff. 131. Flints them-
felves often contain petrifactions. Ferber
Italy, 383. Woodward's Catalogue, and
Lefke, S. 209, &c.
The petrifactions found in chalk are
echinites, pectinites, chamites, mytilites,
corallites, &c. 2 Lenz. 396, but metallic
fubftances are never found in it. Werner
K. Claffif. 19. Berg. Kal. 232. yet in
France martial pyrites are faid to be found
in it, 39 Roz. 358.
7.
Gypfum.
Mountains, but more frequently hills,
only of gypfum, occur in different parts of
France, Italy, Spain, Poland, &c. many
alſo exiſt in Aſia, in which it is commonly
ftratified and horizontal, but ſome are maf-
five. Ferber 4 N. Act. Petropol. 289.
Mountains of it occur alfo in the N. Archi-
pelago, between Afia and America, per
Steller, 18 Roz. 41. and to the cafy folu-
रे
bility
(239)
Quartz, cal-
bility of fubftances of this fort, the dif
parition of the intervening continent may
in great meaſure be owing.
cedony, agates, hyacinths, hornftone, ſpar,
and boracite, have been found in the gyp-
fum; alſo green and grey copper ore, and
galena. 2 Lenz. 398. 27 Roz. 70. and fal
gem. and fulphur in the Ourals. 1 Herm.
14. Petrifactions feldom, but impreffions
of leaves and fish, have occurred in 1 Berg.
Erde. 253. 2 Lenz. 398. Voight Prack.
§ 59. Townſend found fome in that of
Spain. Vol. I. p. 144. and fome alfo occurs
in the vicinity of the White ſea, in hills of
gypfum. 1 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 144. The
mountains frequently contain caverns. La-
fius, 204. it commonly alternates with
marl, or marlite, fometimes with fandſtone,
and, rarely, with limeftone. Berg. Kalend.
235. Flurl found it between ftrata of com-
pact limeſtone, without any trace of marl.
Bavaria, 79. its different families alfo alter-
nate with each other; fometimes it only
forms veins in calcareous mountains.
Bowles, 374. fometimes it is found on the
fummit of a calcareous mountain. Bowles,
131. Where it forms hills or mountains,
the
(240)
the upper ftrata are always impure, being
fouled by argil, or marl, the higheſt ftrata
being always argillaceous or marly. In
Swifferland Sauffure notices a mountain
formed of an aggregate of gypfum, fand,
and argil. 2 Sauff. 528. In Auſtria rocks of
gypfum of a white, grey, greenish or red-
diſh colour, occur. 1 Phy. Arbeit. 85. It
often repoſes on fandſtone. Voight Prack.
107. fometimes on fecondary limeftone.
Mem. Par. 1763, 39, in 8vo. ſometimes on
marlite. 6 Sauff. 37. In the Hartz it is
covered by fecondary limeftone. Lafius,
233. and fo almoſt conſtantly in Saxony.
Charp. 350. At Aix, near Avignon, it is
immediately covered by bituminous mar-
lite, and with pifcine remains, but does not
alternate with it. 6 Sauff. 41. That it is
of modern formation admits of no doubt,
after the curious obfervations of Werner in
his letter to Lefke. 2 Biblioth. du Nord.
73 and 82. yet Sauffure found it in a fhif-
tofe form mixed with mica near St. Go-
thard. 7 Sauff. 178.
§ 3.
( 241 )
§ 3.
Argillaceous.
Under this head I comprehend not only
ftones, &c. of the argillaceous genus, but
alfo fuch fandſtones, porphyries, breccias,
as bear an argillaceous cement.
I.
Argillite.
There can be no doubt but argillite is
frequently of fecondary origin; Ferber ac-
knowledges it to be partly primeval, and
partly fecondary. 4 N. Act. Petropol. 289.
Gruner found ammonites in the argillite
near Meyringen in Swifferland. 3 Helv.
Mag. 191. in a fpecimen from Heffia,
mytilites occur; fee Lefke, G. 339. Voight
found a limestone with petrifactions, be-
tween ftrata of argillite. 1 Mineral. Ab-
handl. 86, 87, 88. It often contains pif-
cine remains betwixt its laminæ, Lafius,
105. Sauffure found argillitic ftrata inter-
mixed with black marble. I Sauff. 401.
In the Hartz impreffions of reeds, ruſhes,
R
and
( 242 )
and pectinites, are found on it where it
adjoins to rubble ftone. Lafius, 103. 105.
Sometimes it hardens and grows more fili-
ceous from the bottom upwards. Lafius,
105. Sometimes it is harder at greater than
leffer depths. Idem, 102. In the Hartz it
alternates with, and fometimes is intimately
mixed with, rubble ftone. Lafius, 138. It
alfo paffes into fandſtone. Idem, 105. At
Kinneculla it alternates with aluminous
flate and marlite. 29 Schwed. Abhandl. 26.
כג.
Indurated Clay.
Pectinites, chamites, mytilites, turbi-
nites, &c. have been found in it, alſo ſpar,
gypfum, quartz, fulphur pyrites, martial
ochre, common falt, vitriol, and alum,
2 Lenz. 403. It often alternates with
limeſtone, gypſeous, and fandſtone ſtrata.
Lenz. Ibid. In Saxony it has been found
alternating with thin beds of argillaceous
iron ore, filled with fhells. Charp. 8. Is
not the ſtriped jafper 1 Berg. Jour. 1791,
p. 97. in Siberia, in which petrifactions
are found, rather an indurated or lapidified
clay ?
3. Shale
( (243
243 )
:
3.
Shale (Shiefer thon).
Impreffions of reeds or fern, fometimes
of mufculites, mytilites, &c. are found on it.
2 Lenz. 378. Alternates with coal and fand-
ftone. Voight Prack. Paffes into argillite,
marl, fandſtone, and rubble ftone. 2 Lenz.
Ibid.
4.
Bituminous Shale (Brandfchiefer).
This is generally found in ftratified moun-
tains that contain argillaceous iron ſtone.
It forms thick ftrata which alternate with
that ore, and with fhale, marlite, or cala-
mine, and many petrifactions. 1 Emmerl.
291. and Werner's Letter to Lefke in 2
Biblioth. du Nord, 81.
5.
Indurated Lithomarga.
It fometimes bears the impreffions of
reeds; and is found ftratified in coal mines.
Emmerl. 357· 359·
It paffes into indurated clay, or moun-
tain ſope, or ſteatites. Emmerl. Ibid.
R 2
6. Rubble
( 244 )
i
6.
Rubble Stone, or Slate.
Petrifactions, as hyfteriolites, mytilites,
&c. are found in it, or impreffions of reeds,
or ruſhes, and madrepores, at the depth of
1200 feet. Lafius, 206. Lefke, G. 874.
Wern. K. Claffif. 18. It fometimes covers
conchiferous limeſtone. 1 Berg. Jour. 1793,
199. It is frequently metalliferous; the
fubftances of that fort it bears are galena,
copper, and fulphur pyrites, bifmuth and
cobalt. 2 Lenz. 391. It alternates with,
and frequently paffes into, argillite and
fandſtone. 2 Lenz. Ibid. A filiceous fand-
ſtone mixed with argillite at Bornholm, is
called a rubble ſtone, 5 Berl. Beob.
Berl. Beob. 94. hi-
therto it occurs principally in the Hartz.
7.
Argillaceous, or ferruginous Sandfione.
Sandſtone, with an argillaceous or ferru-
ginous cement, frequently forms whole ftra-
tified mountains in Saxony and Bohemia.
Charpent. 41, &c. the ftrata are often of
confiderable thickneſs, and horizontal; the
6
uppermoſt
(245)
uppermoft and lowermoft often the looſeft;
the interior of each ftratum the hardeſt.
Ibid. 44. The loweſt parts contain petri-
factions. Ibid. The cement is argillo-ferru-
ginous. In Normandy the ferruginous
ſandſtone, called rouffier, confifts of calca-
reous gravel in a ferruginous cement;
it
contains oftracites, Mem. Par. 1763, 404,
in 8vo. 81, in 4to. but more commonly the
granular part is of the filiceous genus.
Werner, 17.
The petrifactions found in ſandſtone are
moſt commonly orthoceratites, chamites,
tellinites, oftracites, &c. and often the im-
preffions of leaves and fifh. Charp. 44, 45.
47. 2 Lenz. 389. hence it cannot be a dif-
integrated granite, as fome have imagined.
It fometimes contains fhells converted into
calcedony. Lafius, 225. 3 de Luc, 15. It
is feldom metalliferous, Werner, 18. yet
the vitreous copper ore, malachite, cinnabar,
fulphur pyrites, iron ftone, fometimes oc-
cur in it. 2 Lenz. 389. Lafius, 146. But
query, if in the fecondary? In Saxony its
loweſt ſtrata repofe on granite, or argillite.
Charp. 45. in Bohemia chiefly on granite.
Reufs Bohemia, 100. 103. 110, &c. yet I
ftrongly
R 3
1
t
(246)
*
ftrongly incline to think the Bohemian
fandſtone, mentioned by Reufs, primeval.
In Swifferland it fometimes leans or refts
on fecondary limeſtone, as at Mount Emen-
thel, 4 Helv. Mag. 118. or repofes on it.
2 Mem. Lauf. Part II. 17. 5 Sauff. 283.
In the territory of Ilmenau, Voight found
it repoſing on ſecondary limeftone. Voight,
53. 55. It paffes into argillite, rubble ſtone,
or wacken. 2 Lenz. 389. Lafius, 145,
146. 151.
It alternates with unguilite
(Nagel fluhe) in Swifferland 1 Berg. Jour.
1790, 174. and in Bavaria. Flurl, 88. In
the Hartz it forms the higheſt ftratum of
moſt of the mountains, Lafius, 148. co-
vering argillite. Id. 150. yet this ſtratum
contains no petrifactions, though the lower
ftrata do; but this is mere chance. Mem.
Par. 1747, 1059, in 8vo. Ibid. Sometimes
it covers fwineftone. Id. 225.
When fomewhat withered, the ferrugi
nous part often fails, then it appears porous;
yet theſe pores often contain iron in an
ochry form, which fufficiently indicates
their origin. Lafius, 149.
8. Porphyry.
1
( 247 )
(247
8.
Porphyry,
In Bohemia fhiſtoſe porphyry ſeems to
be fometimes a fecondary rock, for impref-
fions of leaves have been detected betwixt
its laminæ. Reufs Mittel Gebirg. 101, 102.
In the Hartz porphyry alternates with a red
argillite, which is ſecondary; for a petrified
nautilite was found in it. Lafius, 154. 110.
In Saxony it fometimes covers a fecondary
limeſtone, and therefore muſt be ſecondary.
Charp. 49. who remarks that it bears a
ſtrong reſemblance to granite. Ibid. 50.
9:
Trap, and Bafalt.
The conftitution of this ſtone has been
already fufficiently difcuffed in the firſt
chapter we have there fhewn, alſo, that
in fome places it is of primeval origin; but
now it will be made to appear that it is of-
ten, alſo, of ſecondary origin, as it will be
fhewn to repoſe on ſtones evidently of that
origin.
R 4
The
( 248 )
4
The mountain of Kinneculla, in Weſt
Gothland, is ftratified: its higheſt ftratum
is
trap; the next to that is argillite; and
to this reddish brown compact limeſtone:
under theſe fwine ftone, and a mixture of
gypfum and fwine ftone, and a grey flaty
limeſtone, in which petrifactions are found:
below this fandſtone; and under that gra-
nite. Swed. Abhand. 1767, 25, &c. Petri-
factions are alfo found in the compact
limeſtone. Id and 5 Bergm. 124. Hence,
as this trap is incumbent on fecondary
ſtones, it muſt alfo be itfelf fecondary; and
Faujas, approving of Bergman's reaſons, al-
lows this trap not to be of volcanic origin;
fee his tract on traps, p. 12. and yet it is
fonorous like bafalts, which on that account
has been thought volcanic. Some Swediſh
mineralogifts imagined the trap was only
invefted, but not underlayed, by the other
ſtrata, apparently inferior to it, but both
Bergman and Hermelin have proved the
contrary. To demonftrate the falsehood of
this opinion more fully, we have only to
obferve, that at Pohlberg, in Saxony, where
bafaltic pillars repofe on gneifs, a gallery
has been puſhed into the gueifs, under the
bafalt,
( 249 )
baſalt, without meeting it, fo that it is plain
it had not pierced up through the gneifs,
but was barely laid over it, per Charpent.
223. 4 Helv. Mag. 546. 1 Berg. Jour.
1789, 258. Werner obferved the fame at
Anaberg in Saxony, where the baſalt re-
poſed on clay, into which a gallery was
worked without meeting the baſalt, though
under it. 2 Berg. Jour. 1788, 851. and
Faujas in the . . . ., near Mezinc, where
the pillars repofe on coal. Recherches fur
les Volc. Eteints, 338.
In Heffia the bafaltic or trap mountain,
called Noll, repofes on blue compact lime-
ſtone, which contains petrifactions, as Mr.
Riefs, who lately defcribed it, obferves. I
Berg. Jour. 1792, 373. But the moſt con-
fiderable bafaltic mountain in Heffia, is
that called Meiffener; it is above 1200 feet
high, the fummit is formed of baſalt, but
the inferior ftrata are coal, and bituminous
and carbonated wood. I Berg. Jour. 1789,
274. 1 Berg. Jour. 1792, 378. This trap or
baſalt muſt then be fecondary.
In Bohemia the bafalt of Lufchitz refts
partly on compact limeftone, partly on ar-
gillaceous marl. Reufs M. Gebirg. 72, 73.
In
i
(250)
In Scheibenberg the bafalt paffes into wac-
ken, which paffes into clay; the clay into
quartzy fand, and this lies on gneifs. 2
Berg. Jour. 1788.
1
In the environs of Sortino, in Sicily, Do-
lomieu found trap covering a limestone
that abounded in fhells, a circumftance
that embarraffed him exceedingly, as he
thought it a lava, but could not diſcover
from whence it iffued. 25 Roz. 192. Ba-
faltic pillars are fometimes of an extraordi-
nary length, thoſe of Stolpe, in Saxony, ex-
ceed 300 feet without any articulation or
divifion, Charp. 37. and in the Ifle of Fe-
roe, 120 feet long, and 6 feet in diameter.
Nofe Samlung. 138. Bafaltic pillars are
fometimes dilated in the middle, and in-
curvated; this dilatation and curvature Sou-
lavie diſcovered to proceed from a nucleus
of a foreign ſtone in the part dilated; yet
frequently this nucleus was found only in
one pillar; but the bending of that pillar
obliged, by its preffure, the next pillar to
bend alfo, as did this the next, and thus the
whole range of them was incurvated. This
obfervation evidently proves that all the
pillars were originally in a foft ftate, and
formed
3
(251)
formed a coherent mafs, for if they were
originally as diftant from each other as at
preſent (in the mountain of Antraigues,
where he made this obſervation), they could
not prefs one on the other, and, confe-
quently, that theſe pillars did not affume
the columnar form by cryftallization, but
by difruption, as I have elſewhere fhewn.
It alfo deferves to be remarked, that the gra-
nitic nucleus did not appear in the leaft
altered; a fign, furely, that it had experi-
enced no heat, and, confequently, that the
ſoftneſs of the baſalt did not proceed from
its having been in a ftate of fufion. 2 Sou-
Javie, 76 and 51.
•
In a mountain of Bohemia, bafalts have
been found ſtanding on clay, which formed
of the whole mountain; and, therefore,
could not have arifen from the decompofi-
tion of the baſalts, as fome have imagined
clay to do in a fimilar cafe. Reufs Bohemia,
177. Impreffions of leaves or fhells have
fometimes been found on it. Lenz. 374.
or on the marl contained in its cavities. I
Chy. Ann. 1792, 70. and Bruckenman
found muſcle fhells, and ammonites, and
corallites, in bafalt of the pretended extinct
volcanoes of France. 1 Chy. Ann. 1794,
103.
(252)
1
103*. It is found imperfectly ftratified in
various parts of Scotland. 1 Williams, 58
and 71. He obferved columnar baſalts to be
perfectly vertical, when the ftratum they
repoſed on was horizontal; but oblique if
the ftratum was inclined. 2 Williams, 38.
On the weſtern declivity of Snowden, ba-
faltic pillars reft on hornftone. Aikin
Wales, 99.
10.
Hornblende.
This has very unexpectedly been proved
to be fometimes of fecondary formation, for
Baron Afh has prefented to the muſeum of
Gottingen a number of fhells, moſtly telli-
nites, filled with ftriated fhining horn-
blende, found in the Crimea. Blumenb.
Handb. Natur. Gefch. 579, in note.
II.
Argillaceous and calcareous Breccias, and
Farcilites.
Lafius obferved, argillite, quartz, and
hornſtone, ſtuck in an argillaceous cement,
forming a rubble ſtone breccia in the Hartz;
its ſpecific gravity 2,579. Lafius, 143, 144.
* Doctor Richardfon lately diſcovered, and fhewed
me, fhells in the bafalts of Ballycastle.
The
( 253 )
The hill of Morsfeld, in the Palatinate,
in which mercurial ores are found, is com-
poſed of vaſt layers of argillaceous breccia,
betwixt which thin ftrata of argillite are
intercepted, per Lafius, 1 Berg. Jour. 1791,
308; on thefe impreffions of fiſh are diſ-
cerned. Ibid. 309. Whole mountains of cal-
careous breccias are met with at the foot of
the Suabian Alps, in Swifferland (the Nagel
Aluhe), and Italy (Marmo Brecciato). 2 Wi-
denman, 1036. A calcareous farcilite, there
called amenla, is found in France, extending
fix miles from Montmoirac to Rouffon; it
confifts of heaps of calcareous rounded peb-
bles agglutinated by a calcareous cement,
and intermixed with fhells; it does not form
ftrata, but rather immenfe heaps; the upper
pebbles are not fo perfectly cemented as
the lower. Mem. Par. 1746, p. 723, &c.
Another of the fame kind in Carniola. 2
Phy. Arbeit. 8. (See p. 97.)
Alfo the mountain of Rigeberg is formed
of tumblers of limeſtone and hornftone and
a red argillaceous ftone cemented by a cal-
careous cement. 7 Sauff. 188, and Mon-
ferrat. (Sec Bowles.)
§ 4.
(254)
§ 4.
Siliceous.
1. Hornftone.
According to Baron Born, petrifactions:
have been found in a white hornftone near
Lehotka, in Hungary. Letter 21, p. 212.
In the peak of Derbyſhire it is ſaid to be
found in ftrata twelve feet thick, even not
always ftratified, and alfo in limeftone.
6 Phil. Tranſ. Abr. Part II, 192. Petrifac-
tions are found in it, Whitehurſt, 233, 234.
Hills, confifting of hornſtone, penetrated
with calcareous particles, and paffing into
marlite, have been obferved in Auftria. I
Phy. Arbeit. 80, 81. Another quarry of this
ftone, with petrifactions, exifts in the Dut-
chy of Luxemburg, defcribed by Nofe, I
Chy. Ann. 1789, 425. That alfo which is fo
frequently intercepted betwixt beds of com-
pact limeſtone, muſt be ſecondary; fee 6
Sauff. 82. It is itſelf often the ſubſtance of
petrifactions. Flurl Bavaria, 571.
2. Jafper.
(255)
2.
Jafper.
Madrepores are faid to have been obferv-
ed in red jaſper, in Hungary. 2 Lempe.
Mag. 76. Alſo in the red jafper of Breſcia,
Ferber Italy 33. This Bergman alſo men-
tions in his Phyf. Geo. 304, but juſtly quef-
tons it. Lafius, p. 207, tells us he found a
nautilus petrified in red jaſper, near Elbin-
gerode. Striped jafper with petrifactions,
is faid alfo to be found in Siberia. 1 Bergm.
Jour, 1791, 97.
Herman doubts it: I
ſuſpect that in all the ſuppoſed inſtances of .
fecondary jafper, the word jafper has not
been taken in the ftricteſt ſenſe.
3.
Farcilites, and Breccias.
A fort of breccia formed of iron nails
agglutinated by a filiceous cement has
been taken out of the Danube, and ano-
ther out of a canal in Hungary. 1 Phyſ.
Arbeit. 79. In Siberia whole mountains
of filiceous farcilites are found confifting of
rounded pebbles of jafper, calcedony, and
carnelian,
(256)
carnelian, ftuck in a filiceous cement. I
Bergm. Jour. 1791, 81. Some alſo of
filiceous breccias. Ibid, and in the ſequel.
I mention theſe here, as it may be doubted
whether they are primeval or not. Farcilitic
mountains are alfo common in the north
of Scotland, and the Weſtern Highlands.
2 Williams, 51.
4.
Siliceous Sandstone.
In the ports of Domich and Campara,
in the ifle of Arbe, on the coaft of Dal-
matia, Abbé Fortis found oftracites in a
filiceous fandſtone. Dalmatia 355. See alſo
in Lefke, G. 793, &c, feveral petrifac-.
tions in this fort of fandftone. The hill of
Platenberg confiſts of ſandſtone with a cal-
cedonic cement; it contains fhells convert-
ed, by expulfion of the calcareous matter,
into calcedony. Lafius, 284, 285.
5.
Semiprotolites (Rothe tod liegendes).
Theſe ſtones I call by this name, as being
partly of primeval, and partly of ſubſequent,
origin; they conſiſt of pebbles, or of frag-
ments,
( 257 )
ments, or of fand of primeval origin, com-
pacted and cemented by an argillaceous or
calcareous, or filiceous cement of pofterior
origin; hence they generally form the low-
eft ftratum that feparates primeval rocks
and fecondary ftrata. From their compofi-
tion they come under the denomination
either of farcilites, breccias, or fandftones. In
fome places this fand has been accumulated
into vaft heaps fo as to form mountains
6 or 700 feet high, and then compacted
by an adventitious cement, Of this fort
are the mountains of Hertzberg, and Kaul-
berg near Ilefeld, in which the fand is ce-
mented by a ferruginous cement, and con-
tains fragments of porphyry, and alfo veins.
of iron ſtone, and manganefe, and ftrata of
coal, with impreffions of reeds, ruſhes, and
other plants, Lafius 249, and 280. The
red colour is evidently from iron.
The femiprotolite of Wartburg near
Eifenach, contains rounded lumps of gra-
nite and ſhiftofe mica: fubftances found in
the neighbouring mountains. The femipro-
tolite of Goldlauter confifts entirely of por-
phyry, as do the primeval mountains of
that district. That of Kiffhauferberg in
S
Thuringia,
(258)
1
1
Thuringia, contains rounded argillites from
the neighbouring mountains of the Hartz.
Petrified wood is found in this laft. Voight's
Letters, 19, 20. According to Voight, the
femiprotolite found under coal has a filice-
ous cement, and contains few primitive
ftones, Lettres fur les Montagnes, 31.
Sauffure made the fame obfervation on
thofe which he found on the defcent of
Trient, which interceded between the pri-
mary and fecondary mountains. 2 Sauff.
§ 699. He even remarked long before,
that primeval and fecondary rocks were al-
moſt always ſeparated by a ſandſtone or far-
cilite, 1 Sauff. § 594. Where the ſecond-
ary ſtrata are calcareous, the femiprotolite
has a calcareous cement, See Lehm. 168.
Semiprotolite is always red, by reafon of
the ferruginous particles by which it is ce-
mented; its diffufion or expanſion is un-
equal, being frequently horizontal or even,
but fometimes depreffed, and in other in-
ſtances much elevated. Moſt of the fuper-
impoſed ftrata partake of this inequality,
and are its natural confequences. Hence
the protuberances and depreffions, other-
wife called moulds, obſerved in them. Charp.
•
Saxony,
2
( 259 )
Saxony, 371. It refts on granite. Ibid, 370,
371.
$5.
To form a clear idea of the ftructure of
polygenous fecondary mountains, I fhall
exhibit an enumeration of the ftrata dif-
covered in fome of them in various parts of
Europe, with fome, though not an accurate
defignation of their thickneſs, as abfolute
preciſion is not here neceffary.
Of the ftrata from Ilefeld to Mansfield, and
round the Hartz. Lehman, 163. Lafius,
278, and Gerhard, 109.
Enumeration of Strata.
Fathoms.
Inches.
i Vegetable earth
more or lefs
2 Swine ſtone
6
3 Gypfum
..from 4 to
30
4 An arenaceous compound of.
clay, chalk, and fand, from 12 to
5 Afh grey compact limeſtone
6 Argilliferous limeſtone
7 Induraed clay
8 Calciferous clay
9 Calciferous clay flate..
10 Black flightly cupriferous marlite
11 Ablackerditto, and poor in copper
S 2
20
2
HO
**
I
16.
6
I
12 N.
( 260 )
-1
Fathoms
12 N. 1o repeated
13 Rich bituminous marlite
14 Bituminiferous and cupriferous.
fand.
15 Calciferous and argilliferous gra-
vel ....
16 Blue clay
from
17 Red friable ferruginous ſandſtone
mixed with clay and mica ...
18 Red hard femiprotolite from...
20 to....
19 Red filiceous and ferruginous
fanditone.
20 Sandy kraggſtone.
21 Ditto...
Hja
I
Inches
4
I
2 to 8
60
16
314
I
22 Browniſh red flaty wacken
CO
8
ΙΟ
23 Liver-coloured ditto
24 Bluish black ditto
25 Clay flate.
26 Coal
27 Clay flate, with impreffions of
leaves, and reeds
•
28 Black flaty trap
29 Red femiprotolite
30 The primeval rock
a
15.
30
H H
Ha
Note 1. According to Lehman, the
ftrata after No. 18 are exceptions to a ge-
neral rule, namely, that femiprotolite
fhould be the laft ftratum; but he fays,
that in this cafe he found ftrata under it;
I believe,
(261)
1
I believe, however, that it is not an excep-
tion, but that the fucceeding ftrata were
indeed lower, but not exactly under the
18th, for it is not by boring, but by level-
ling the external extremities of the ftrata
that he judged of their fuperimpofition.
Lehm. 169.
Note 2.
The denominations were fre-
quently corrected from Lafius, and the
fpecimens Lafius referred to, and fome-
times from Gerhard.
Strata of Derbyshire.
Whitehurft's Theory, 182.
1 Coarfe fandſtone
2 Slate clay
•
3 Conchiferous lamellar limeſtone, the lami-
næ intercepting thin ftrata of flale ……….
4 Amygdaloid (toadſtone)
Yards
120
120
50
16
5 Compact limeftone, like No. 3
6 Amygdaloid.....
7 Lamellar limeftone, like No. 3
8 Amygdaloid ..
9
50
46
бо
22
Limeſtone as the former.... Not yet cut through
Note 1. In the limeftone, No. 3, ores of
zinc, pyrites, compact barofelenite, fluors,
and petrifactions are found.
S 3
2. The
(262)
t
2. The ftrata of amygdaloid are pro-
greffively more folid as they lie deeper.
3. The ftrata of limeftone and amyg-
daloid are feparated by ftrata of light blue
clay with a tinge of green (probably wack-
en) of from 1 to 6 feet thick. Theſe con-
tain nodules of fpar and pyrites, and it is
remarked that from them the hot fprings
flow. They are alfo ftrongly calciferous,
Ibid. 187.
Order of the Strata near Bouillet, from
Struvius,
2 Mem. Lauf. 52, and 2 Bergm. Jour. 1791, 246,
I Mould
2 Puddingſtone
3 Indurated marl
4 Sandſtone
5 Indurated marl
6 Limeſtone
7 Clay.
8 Gypfum
9 Grey rock (a mixture of
gypfum, clay, and ſand.)
P. 28
10 A calciferous, and fome-
what indurated clay, which
he calls Pierre de corne
11 Granite
Of Kinneculla.
29 Schwed. Abhand. 27 per Hermelin.
• Mould
1 Trap
2 Argillite, with thin lay-
ers of marlite and alu-
minous flate
3 ftratified compact
limeftone
4 Swineſtone and aluminous
flate
5 Sandflone, alſo ſtratified
6 Granite
1
CHAP
1
(263)
CHAP. III.
OF VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS.
Volcanic Mountains are generally of a
conic form, yet all conic mountains muſt
not therefore be deemed volcanic; for even
granitic mountains (as Achterman in the
Hartz. Lafius 17,) to fay nothing of porphy-
ritic mountains, often prefent that fhape.
The internal primordial ftructure of vol-
canic mountains is much more difficultly
diſcoverable than that of any other fpecies
of mountains. Theſe laft, with few ex
ceptions, have remained materially unalter-
ed for feveral centuries; the former, at
leaft fuch of them as are best known to us,
have been convulfed, and evifcerated feveral
times, even in the fame century. Thus
their ancient component ftony maffes
lie buried under their modern adventitious
ejections. Neptun mountains have been
perforated to great depths for the purpoſe
of extracting metallic ores, and their con-
tents ſtrictly examined by perfons accurately
fkilled in mineralogy; but as lavas contain
no metallic veins, and as even fome dan-
SA
ger
!
(264)
ger has been apprehended in excavating
them to great depths*, they have only
been fuperficially obferved, and often by
perfons not only deftitute of competent
mineralogical knowledge, but who have
openly profeffed either their ignorance or
their contempt of it. One of them ex-
prefsly tells us, that, "Nomenclators have
"for a long time retarded the progrefs of
"natural geography." "The mind of a
"nomenclator is conftantly warped by his
2
fpecimens, he obliges nature to conform
"to the ſyſtem of his cabinet. But the man
of genius, to whom nomenclature is no-
thing," (that is, who does not regard the
effential differences of various fubftances)
<<
66
66
compares ſubſtances in their reſpective
"fituations, ftudies their alteration, com-
"bines theſe facts with cach other, and
obliges nature to difcover what ſhe was,
by what the at prefent is, &c." The
man of genius whom here quotes was
fo ill inſtructed, as to confound pottſtone
and fhorl, and granite and lava. The con-
* Collini Lettres fur les Montagnes, p. 45.
† 4 Soulavi, 306.
'
temner
(265)
temner of nomenclature himfelf tells us
that granite often confifts of quartz fingly, and
that quartz does not refift the action of acids *.
The opinion at prefent moſt generally re-
ceived concerning the ftructure of volcanic
mountains, is, that they confift folely and
entirely of volcanic ejections: to me, how-
ever, it feems highly improbable. The
volcanoes with which we are beft acquaint-
ed are Vefuvius and Etna; of Hecla we
know but little, and ftill lefs of the Afiatic
and American volcanoes; now with reſpect
to Vefuvius we may obferve,
1º. That it is a mountain of thirty
miles in circumference, and above three
thouſand fix hundred feet in height. In
the year 79 of our Æra it was at leaſt as
high as that at prefent called Somma, which
nearly furrounds it: fince the year 79 of
our Æra, in which its moſt confiderable
eruption happened, the firft recorded in
hiſtory, there were about 29; of theſe, that
of 1631 and 1794, were the greateſt: that
of 79 confifted chiefly of fand and aſhes,
and produced over the town of Pompei an
elevation of about eighty feet; in the laft
* 1 Soulavie, 454, 455.
eruption,
:
(266
( 266 )
cruption, the lava was a mile in breadth, and
at moſt twelve feet deep, fo that the mean
height produced by each of thefe thirty
eruptions cannot certainly be deemed to
exceed twenty feet; then in 1700 years
thefe eruptions produced an elevation of
the mountain amounting only to fix hun-
dred feet. In antecedent times, or at leaſt
for 1000 years before, the eruptions, if any,
muſt have been inconfiderable, fince they
are mentioned by no hiftorian or poet.
What reafon then have we to think that
the enormous bulk and height of the whole
mountain confift of an accumulation of
eruptions ſtill more ancient, and of which
we have no account? The lava found under
the fea furniſhes certainly none, as lava has
frequently been known to flow into the ſea.
2º. Many reaſons may lead us to think
that the internal nucleus of Vefuvius is cal-
careous; though probably under the calca-
reous, vaſt maſſes of trap, hornblende, and
argillite, alfo exift, with abundance of ful-
phur pyrites, coal, and bitumen.
Ferber
remarks that the volcanic country round
Vefuvius is entirely calcareous. Gioeni af-
fures us that of the ejections are of that
nature,
+
1
(267)
•
nature, p. xxxiv. He adds, that primeval
ftones are found, not indeed near the crater,
nor on the exterior beds of lava, but on the
ftratum of mould which clothed the moun-
tain before the cone was formed, and un-
der all that appears volcanic; and though,
through prejudice, he fuppofes them ejected
by the volcano, yet he fays the date of fuch
ejections precedes that of all the lavas that
can at preſent be diftinguifhed, p. xxxvi,
and vii; nay, more, lamellar fwineſtone has
been found in horizontal ſtrata, p. 13. Pa-
dre Torre is of the fame opinion, but his
fentiments, through his ignorance of mine-
ralogy, has been treated by the more zealous
volcaniſts either with pity, or with con-
tempt; yet Ferber, one of the moſt emi-
nent mineralogifts of this century, alfo
thinks that limeſtone exifts under the vol-
canic matter, adding, that large maffes of
it with calcareous fpar have been ejected,
Letter XI, p. 165. Near Salerno he dif-
covered argillite under the limeſtone, p. 166. ·
See alfo Strange, in Phil. Tranf. 1775,
P. 28.
Of the ſtructure of Ætna I have already
treated in Effay III. I fhall only add, that
its
*
( 268 )
its height exceeding 10000 feet, and its cir-
cumference 130 miles, that circumſtance
alone renders it incredible that its whole
bulk is volcanic. Though it flamed fome
centuries before our Era, yet there is no
reafon to think it did fo before the age of
Homer: and how little it has been altered
by its numerous fubfequent eruptions, ap-
pears from the ruins of an ancient temple,
which, though the temple was built long
before our Æra, are ftill extant and uncover-
ed. As its lavas are moſtly porphyritic, there
is great reafon to fuppofe that its primitive
bafis was a porphyry, with vast beds of
coal, pyrites, and bitumen, interpofed.
The reaſon that feems principally to have
induced philofophers to believe that volca-
nic mountains owed their origin to fubter-
raneous fires, was the production of monte
nuses, a mountain of confiderable height,
thrown up by a volcano in forty-eight
hours; but it ſhould be confidered, that
this mountain differs in its ſtructure alfo
from all other volcanoes, for it confifts, not
of beds of real, or fuppofed, lava, but of in-
durated volcanic afhes, pumice, and frag-
ments of lava, intermixed with each other,
Diedrich's
:
(269)
Diedrich's note on Ferber Italy, p. 169. a
ftructure very
different from that of Ve-
fuvius, Ætna, or Hecla.
The internal heat of volcanoes feems
much lower than is commonly believed, if
we may be allowed to eſtimate it either
from the circumftances of its focus, the
weakneſs of its effects, or the low heat of
the ejected lava: this heat feems to have
originated from the decompofition of water
by pyritous maffes, particularly by that fpe-
cies of pyrites that contains iron nearly in
its metallic ftate; the fulphureous part of
the pyrites being excluded from the contact
of pure air, muſt have been fufed by this
heat, and its fufion promotes the ignition
and fufion of iron in a very moderate heat,
as Van Diemau and his affociates have
prov-
ed; thus the beds of coal were heated, and
the bituminous fulphurated maffes of ſtone
and earth gradually foftened and liquified
by the fufed fulphur and bitumen contained
in them, but all this while no flame can be
fuppofed to exiſt, for want of pure air; or
only momentary flashes unattended with
any increaſe of heat, as in Diemau's expe-
riments at laft, however, the femiliquified
mais,
(270)
1
}
mafs, after violent ftruggles and efforts, is
propelled by the elaſtic vapours to the crá-
ter of the volcano, where commonly meet-
ing leſs refiftance, it rifes, there meeting
atmoſpheric air, the fulphureous and bitu-
minous vapours are at laſt fired with dread-
ful exploſions, and immenfe volumes of
flame; the coal is incinerated, and the li-
quified matter or lava finally expelled. It
is only then at the mouth of the volcano
that the greateſt heat is produced; but
great as it may be, the mafs of inflamed
matter being incomparably fmaller than
that of the lava, the increaſe of heat re-
fulting to the whole of this muſt be very
moderate. Hence we fee, why eruptions
that happen after long intervals of reſt are
by far the moſt violent, and attended with
the greateſt heat, as the air in the crater,
and, perhaps, alfo in the interior cavities,
becomes, during fuch intervals, much purer,
and, conſequently, more capable of exciting
heat.
In treating of the origin of bafalt, I have
given many inftances of the low heat ex-
perienced by lavas. Sir William Hamilton,
in his account of the late dreadful eruption
6
of
1
(271)
1
of Vefuvius, on the 15th of June, 1794,
tells us, that the town of Torre del Greco
was fo quickly furrounded with red hot
lava, that the inhabitants thought they had
ſcarcely time to fave their lives, yet ſeveral
of them, whofe houfes were thus furrounded
while they were in them, faved themfelves
by coming out of their tops the next day.
It is evident, that if this lava had been hot
enough to melt even the moſt fufible ftones,
theſe perſons muſt have been fuffocated;
nay, though the lava continued red hot the
next, and even on the fucceeding days, yet
on the 16th many walked over it; fee Phil.
Tranf. 1795, P. 86.
With respect to ancient volcanoes now
extinct, there is fcarce any part of Europe,
or even of the globe, in which they have
not been thought to exift, for trap and ba-
falt have been found almoft in every coun-
try; and fince the year 1767, theſe have
been by many ſuppoſed indubitable teſti-
monies of an ancient volcano. In France,
Languedoc, Provence, but particularly, Ve-
varois, and Auvergne, have been fuppofed
torn up by numerous volcanoes; many,
however, have been by fubfequent lefs pre-
judiced
( 272 )
1
4
Y
}
judiced obfervers effaced off their lift*.
One of the moſt remarkable, the Coupe de
Aifa, is very accurately defcribed by Mr.
Faujas he takes the black trappofe matter
that defcends from the fummit of the
mountain to a torrent at its foot where it
forms pillars, to have been a ſtream of la-
va. To a German mineralogift who lately
examined that mountain, it appeared in a
very different light; he tells us, that the
whole mountain is formed of trap, and co-
vered by vegetable earth; that a current of
water laid bare the part which to Mr. Fau-
jas appeared a bed or ſtream of lava, but
did not effentially differ from any other
part of the mountain; fee Haiding. Ge-
birg's Arten, p. 38, in the note.
As to the trappofe mafs, called roche
rouge, mentioned by Faujas, Recherches
fur les Volcans, &c. p. 364. which he
thinks burst out of a granitic rock, and
though in fufion, inftead of fpreading and
flowing horizontally, that it raiſed itſelf
without any ſupport to the height of 100
feet; an event, which, as being contrary to
*
See 5 Sauff. 6 Sauff. 127. 25 Roz. 174.
the
"
(273)
the nature of liquids, appears to me impof-
fible; I fhould rather ſuppoſe it a prime-
val trap, contemporary with granite, and de-
pofited by the fluid that contained both;
in that ſpot the trappoſe matter was in
greater plenty, and, therefore, raiſed to a
greater height. In this manner the ex-
iftence of many trappofe elevations in Le
Forez, mentioned by Bournon in 35 Roz.
may be explained. I fhall only add, that
the celebrated Mr. Charpentier, of Frey-
burg, having examined all the fuppoſed vol-
canic products of Vivarois and Velay, judg-
ed them to be barely pfeudovolcanic. 4
Helv. Mag. 179.
In Italy the Euganean mountains have
been judged volcanic by many; yet as, ac-
cording to Strange, they confift of, what
he calls, lava and granite, few at preſent
may be diſpoſed to embrace that opinion,
unleſs fuch as judge granite itſelf to be of
igneous origin. In Germany, and particu-
larly in Heffia, Habichtswald and fome
other mountains were deemed volcanic by
the late worthy, and highly ingenious, Mr.
Rafpe, but fome months before his death
he told me, he had long given up that opi-
T
nion.
( 274 )
nion. A volcanic origin has been aſcribed
to many others, chiefly on the ground of
their containing bafaltic pillars, but the nep-
tunian origin of thoſe of Bohemia has been
demonftrated by Reufs; of many of thofe
of Fulda by Karſten; and of moſt of thoſe
near the Rhine by Nofe; and of fome of them
by Mr. Sauffure; one of them, indeed, he
feems to think volcanic. In all cafes where
doubts may be entertained, whether a hill,
or mountain, is volcanic, or neptunian, our
judgment may, in my opinion, be
by the following maxims:
governed
1º. Where trap, or baſaltic columns, ap-
pear on, or form the body of the hill or
mountain, of their ufual black, bluifh, or
greyish black, colour, there the hill or
mountain may be deemed neptunian, at
leaft fo far as concerns thefe; fuch as are
found on actual ignivomous mountains
muſt have been thrown out with other
neptunian ſtones, but in that cafe they are
never erect, and, commonly bear fome
marks of heat.
2º. Where maffes of fhiftofe porphyry
occur, of a greyish black, afh
grey, blackiſh
blue, or greenish colour, and the felfpar ap-
t
pear
(275)
¡
pear uninjured by heat, they, and the parts
they repofe on, are neptunian.
3°. Difintegrated, or decayed, porphyries,
or traps, wacken, and amygdaloids, may be
diftinguiſhed from indurated volcanic fand
and aſhes, piperino, pouzzolana, porous lava,
refpectively, by local circumſtances, and
the changes which low degrees of heat
produce in them, compared with the
changes which the fame variations of heat
occaſion in the real volcanic products that
reſemble them. Wacken containing mica
can never be ambiguous. Beds of real vol-
canic afhes, if ancient, are always inter-
rupted or interceded by beds of earth, which
fome, without any proof, would have to
be vegetable earth; and, if by this appella-
tion, they mean no more than earth fit for
vegetation, the appellation is juft; but if
they mean that fuch earth was in all in-
ftances fuch as had produced vegetables,
they are certainly miſtaken, as Dolomieu
has already noticed; this earth having been
merely washed down by rain from the cin-
ders and fragments of lava, with which it
was originally mixed; wacken preſents no
fuch appearance; the ſtate of fuch beds of
volcanic
T 2
( 276 )
volcanic fand and afhes will be eafily appre-
hended, by confidering the ftrata found in
the promontory of Catanea, as exhibited
by Count Borch in his Sicilian Mineralogy,
p. 300.
1 Porous black lava
2 Loofe earth
3 Porous, reddifh, hard, lava
4 Looſe earth
5 Porous, reddiſh, hard, lava
Feet. Inches.
10
3
8,7
412
I
•
87/2
ΓΣ
6 Looſe earth, full of afhes
31/2
7 Hard, black, lava, or indurated afhes.
10/18/20
8 Loofe earth, full of athes
3 x Z
10 Loofe earth
9 Hard lava, like No.
7
11 Hard, black, porous, lava
12 Looſe earth
13 Hard, porous, black, lava
14 Black fand
•
15 More tranfparent fand, whofe depth was
not diſcovered...
I
8-
812/2
413/2
I
91
3
I
6/3/3/2
3 31
14
I
Who does not fee that ſuch thin beds of
earth muſt have been formed in the man-
ner I mentioned, and could never have been
in a ſtate of vegetation?
4°. Volcanic ejections never prefent any
undecom-
( 277 )
undecompofed pyrites; or at leaſt thefe
muſt be of pofterior formation.
Again, whether a hill on which fire has
evidently acted, has been a volcano, or a
pfeudo volcano, can be decided only by lo-
cal circumftances, and the more or less. par-
tial effects of the fire it endured; this I
cannot better illuftrate, than by preſenting
the reader an account of the hill of Kamer-
berg in Bohemia, which Baron Born deem-
ed an ancient volcano, but which Mr. Reufs,
from local circumftances, has fhewn to have
been a pfeudo volcano; in deſcribing the
external circumftances of this hill they both
agree. It ſtands on a baſis of micaceous clay
flate (fhiftofe mica), perfectly free from all
connexion with the neighbouring hills: its
length, from E. to W. is 1420 feet; its
breadth, from N. to S. 720 feet, and it is one
of the higheſt in the circle of Egra; its ſhape
oblong conic; its ſtony maffes lie bare on the
S.W. fide, they prefent rhomboids exactly
fitted to each other; its fummit, which is
95 feet higher than the furrounding field,
difcovers a cavity of 9 feet in depth, and 30
feet in diameter, overgrown with vegeta-
tion. About 60 fathom to the fouthwards,
T 3
an
(278)
an excavation was practifed to extract ma-
terials for a road, and in this the internal
ſtructure of the hill may be feen: the ftrata
are nearly horizontal, and fo much the
loofer as they are nearer the ſurface; in de-
nominating the foffils, both authors vary;
the denominations of each referring to the
particular opinion of each, relatively to the
origin of the appearances.
BORN.
No. 1. Black compact
lava, with femitranfparent
grains of fhorl.
No. 2. Red, porous,
fpungy lava.
No. 3. Black and yellow,
porous, lava.
1
No. 4. The fame as No.
2, but in minute frag-
ments.
REUSS.
Greyish black baſalt,
with olivins of various fizes,
fracture compact, uneven,
fp. gr. 2,96, unaltered by
heat.
Reddish brown earthy
flagg, with numerous mi-
nute pores.
Brownish black earthy
flagg, with fome minute
fcarcely visible pores, and
fome large cellular, alter-
nating; it contains alfo
grains of quartz that have
loft their luftre, but give
fire with ſteel,
No. 5. Compact, but
ſomewhat
An earthy flagg, con-
taining
( )
279)
любит
279 BORN.
REUSS.
fomewhat porous lava, taining bits of half burnt
containing fragments of clay.
grey flate.
No. 6. Argillite, of This, Reufs could not
which one fide has its fur-
face inlaid with white glaſs.
No. 7. Argillite, overlaid
with black lava.
No. 8. Grey pumice.
No. 9. Unripe black
pumice.
No. 10. Red and yel-
low, unripe pouzzolana.
No. 11. Yellow and
brown clay, mixed with
pouzzolana.
No. 12. Greyish black,
fomewhat rifty, compact
lava.
find.
Neither of theſe could
be found; the higheſt of
the earthy flags had its ſpe-
cific gravity 2,038.
Fragments of earthy flags,
more or leſs difintegrated or
withered.
Trap or bafalt, fomewhat
altered by heat, being flight-
ly porous, and rifty.
To prove this hill to have been only a
pfeudo volcano, Reufs ftates, that ſtrata of.
coal lie at no great diftance from it, and,
probably, underlay it at a confiderable depth.
2. That in various parts of Bohemia, theſe
ftrata of coal have been known to have ta-
ken fire, and to have produced appearances
reſembling the foregoing. 3°. That on the
S.W. part of the hill, bafalt or trap exifts
F
T 4
in
( 280 )
1
1
in beds, perfectly unaltered. 4°. That the
alternations of earthy flags with half burned
clay, might proceed from the alternations
of marl, which is known to be eaſily fufible
with clay. 5. The fuppofed crater is much
too inconfiderable, and may proceed from
the contraction of the ftrata that had been
torrified or ignited.
1
+
属
​ESSAY
( (281
281 )
་
}
ESSAY VI.
OF THE INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT OF
MOUNTAINS.
THE materials of which mountains con-
fift, are difpofed either in irregular heaps,
or piles variouſly interſected by rifts; or in
beds or ftrata feparated from each other by
rifts, often horizontal, or varying from that
direction by an angle of from 5 to 40 de-
grees, and fometimes much more confide-
rably, approaching even to a vertical pofi-
tion. The ftrata of mountains are moſt
frequently in the direction of their declivity,
yet fometimes their courfe is directly op-
pofite, or countercurrent: the beſt manner
of determining the angle of their courſe is
by diſcovering that of their rifts, Charp.
80. it chiefly depends on the unevenneſs
of the fundamental ground that ſupports
them. Ibid. 57. According to 1 Sauff. 502,
moſt of the elevated granitic mountains in
Swifferland are formed of immenfe vertical
pyramidal
(282)
1
pyramidal laminæ, parallel to each other,
that is, piles fomewhat inclining from the
unequal diftribution of their weight, a diſpo-
fition that may well be expected from colla-
teral cryſtallizations; but this difpofition is
not univerfal, for they have been found in
Saxony horizontally ftratified, Charp. 17 and
389. and in the Pyrenees, &c. fee Eſſay V.
§ 1. much leſs can it be faid that this ver-
tical pofition is general, for the ſtrata of
gneifs (which is only a modification of gra-
nite) are generally horizontal, Charp. 80,
81 and 191. and commonly very regular,
diſcovering no traces of a violent fhock.
Ibid. 81. Mount Rofe, next to Mont Blanc,
the higheſt in Europe, confifts alfo of gneifs,
which Mr. Sauffure found horizontally
ſtratified. 37 Roz. 17. 105. 8 Sauff. 113.
Shangin, who lately (1786) travelled
over the Altaiſchan mountains, being con-
fulted by Pallas, whether he found any
vertical layers or ftrata therein, anſwered,
he had not; but that he found them per-
fectly horizontal on the banks of the river
Tſchary. 6 Nev. Nord. Beytr. 113.
Mountains of primitive limestone are fre-
quently in irregular piles, but often alſo
horizontally
( 283 )
horizontally ftratified. Charp. 48. 216.
Siliceous fhiftus is alfo often horizontally
ftratified. Charp. 22. Many argillites, par-
ticularly roof flates, are generally faid to
have nearly a vertical poſition; but Voight
has ſhewn that it is only their lamellæ that
are fo fituated, their horizontal feams, and
their walls, diſcovering their true pofition:
their verticality arifing only from the drain
of the water, and, confequently, their con-
traction in that direction; hence thofe that
are moſt filicited, as they contract lefs, dif-
cover lefs verticality: fometimes horizontal
ftrata overlap on both fides. 38 Roz. 289.
I Sauff. § 447. Sometimes they are flanked
on both fides with vertical ftrata. Ibid.
§ 339.
Much confufion prevails in the ftructure
of the Pyrenees, and of the Grizon moun-
tains, and thofe on the border of the Bai-
kal, and other great lakes, as may be ſeen in
D'Arcet Pyrenees, 63. Ferb. Briefe Min.
Inhalt. II. Patrin, &c. from the caufes
mentioned in Effay III. /
The perturbed ſtate of the ftrata often
proceeds from the decompofition of inter-
nal beds of pyrites, to which water has had
acceís;
( 284 )
accefs; this appears to be the cauſe of the
alterations obferved in the mountain of Ra-
benberg, on the frontiers of Saxony. Charp.
253. In this mountain, a double direction
of the ftrata of gneifs is obferved; between
both the ftrata are vertical, and a large
intermediate ſpace is filled with iron ore:
but this mountain contains beds of pyrites
and vaft fwallows; moft probably then the
pyrites fwoll, uplifted the whole, and the
diffolved iron flowed into the vacuity, from
which the water afterwards drained off on
the fides.
In fecondary mountains, particularly the
calcareous, the greateſt diſorder often
pre-
vails, though in general their ſtratification
is horizontal. Charp. 49. 39 Roz. 356.
The vertical pofition of the ftrata fome-
times proceeds from the fubverfion of fome
of them, but fometimes alfo from calm de-
pofition on primeval mountains, as I have
hinted in my firft Effay, and is more fully
explained by Mr. De la Metherie, in 42
Roz. from p. 30 to 306. Gruber alſo
fhews this irregular pofition to proceed
from internal cavities, to common in lime-
ftone
( 285 )
ftone mountains, occafioned moſt proba-
bly, by the erofion of the interior by water.
2 Phy. Arbeit. 4, 5.
The calcareous mountains of Savoy are
often arched like a lambda, probably from
the finking of the intermediate ftrata, the
intermediate remaining horizontal. 1 Sauff.
361. Sometimes they affume the form
of the letters Z. S. C. or of a disjointed
OC the convexities facing each other.
Ibid, § 467, 475. So alfo in the Pyrences,
they fometimes overlap, from an unequal
diſtribution in their original formation.
See Defcrip. Pyr. 42. and bend various
ways. Ibid, 72, and 102, and 162. where
they affume a ſpiral form, or that of a horfe-
fhoe placed horizontally.
According to Lehman, moft fecondary
ſtrata preſent hollows or moulds, (as they are
called,) from internal depreffion. Lehm.
flotz. 137. But fometimes alfo elevations,
from an original elevation in the funda-
'mental ftone.
In Scotland, all the fecondary ftrata in
the vicinity of primeval mountains, are
nearly vertical; but at a greater diſtance
they
1
( 286 ).
they approach more to an horizontal di-
rection. 1 Bergm. Jour. 1789, 495, per
Everfman.
66
The late ingenious Mr. Whitehurſt was
led to imagine a greater regularity in the
arrangement of ſtrata, than is really found
in them: he tells us, p. 178, "that they
invariably follow each other as if it were in
an alphabetical order, or a ſeries of num-
"bers, whatever be their denomination."
-"not that they are alike in all the dif-
"ferent regions of the earth, either in qua-
lity or in thickneſs, but that their order
"in each particular part, however they
66
66
may differ in quality, yet they follow
"each other in regular fucceffion, both as
"to thicknefs and quality, infomuch, that
56
by knowing the incumbent ftratum, toge-
"ther with the arrangement thereof in any
6 C
particular part of the earth, we may come
"to a perfect knowledge of all the inferior
(6
(6
beds, fo far as they have been previouſly
difcovered, in the adjacent country."
With respect to the ftrata that accompany
coal, he obſerves that "fome inſtances are
apparently, but not really, contradictory
to this rule." Thefe obfervations are far
from
3
(287)
1
from being univerfally true.
univerfally true. For to fay
nothing of the coal mines in the valley of
Plauen, in Saxony, where the ftrata, though
near each other, vary in thickneſs, from a
few inches, to fome feet, and that of coal,
from 2 to 32 feet; nor of that in Mount
Saleve, where the ftrata of coal, though in
a calcareous mountain, vary confiderably,
or of many others, he himſelf tells us
that the lower ftrata appear at the ſurface
at Bonfal Moor, p. 188. And Mr. Pil-
kington, a later, and very exact writer, tells
us, that in different fiuations, the arrange-
ment is not always the fame. 1 · Pilk.
Derbyſhire, 55. And even when the ar-
rangement is the fame, the ftrata differ in
thicknefs in different parts of the coun-
try, p. 56. Again, Mr. Whitehurft tells
us, that wherever the ftratum No. 1, a
coarfe filiceous breccia or ſandſtone is
found, No. 2, an indurated clay is found
under it. And, wherever this indurated
clay appears on the furface, No. 3; that is
limeftone, appears under it, p. 192. How-
ever true this may appear in Derbyshire,
though even there, this arrangement does
not hold true in the coal mines, it is far
from
:
(288)
from being fo in other countries, as is evi-
dent. See 2 Mem. Lauf. 17, 2 part, and
52. He alſo obſerved that the ftrata of
limeſtone contain fiffures filled with lead
ore, but that thefe ftrata are feparated by
beds of toadſtone above 30 feet thick, into
which, he ſays, neither the lead ore, nor
any other mineral penetrates; yet the lead
vein never fails of being found in the cor-
refponding fiffure of the inferior bed of
limeſtone, p. 191, 193. Neither is this
obfervation perfectly exact. Mr. Barker of
Bakewell informed Mr. Werner, that the
lead ore in many parts pierced through the
toadſtone. Werner Gange, 139. Mr. Pil-
kington alfo tells us, that in the middle of
it, lead veins 10 inches thick have been
found, and in other places the lead has
been found fcattered through it. And
that the vein in the inferior ftratum of
limeftone, fo far from
fo far from correfponding,
fquints 4 or five yards from the fuperior
vein; into thefe errors Mr. Whitehurst was
betrayed by his fondnefs for the eruptive
or plutonic theory. Moft of his other
general obfervations being grounded on this
imaginary theory, are found to be delufive,
or
1
(289)
or to hold good only in Derbyſhire and a
few other countries.
The true reafon why many of the ftrata
of England and Scotland appear fo dif-
ordered, is to be deduced from the fhocks
that Great Britain encountered at the pe-
riod of the general deluge. This is not a
mere hypothetical caufe, but fupported by
undeniable proofs; and it is by a combination
of the oppofite impreffions, from N. to S. and
from S. to N. with the modifications
which the obſtructions arifing from the
mountains of Scotland, and the interven-
tion of Ireland between it and the Atlantic,
that the various phenomena of its ftrata
may moft fecurely be explained; but fuch
an explanation can be attempted only after
a minute and accurate examination of the
whole iſland. Of the dykes, otherwiſe call-
ed Лlips, troubles or faults, I fhall treat in
the following effay.
The ftrata of fecondary mountains, ge-
nerally, when not perturbed, afcend to-
wards the primitive. 2 Mem. Lauf. 2 part,
25, in note, being formed upon them, or
defcending from them by difintegration.
U
ESSAY
( 290 )
ESSAY VII.
ON COAL MINES.
MINERAL, or pit coal, is a fubftance whofe
external characters are too well known to
require any ſpecification. Its weight with
reſpect to water, extends from 1,23, to
1,500. The lighteſt is the beſt.
The object of this effay is to indicate
the foils in which it is found, and the cir-
cumſtances attending them, thence to de-
duce a theory both of its origin and of the
ſtate in which it now appears, together
with the fituations in which it moſt pro-
bably exifts, and may be diſcovered.
CHAP. I.
§ I.
Of Carboniferous Soils, and their attendant
circumftances.
By carboniferous foils, I mean the various
forts of earth or ftone among or under
which coal is uſually found.
.6
Theſe
1
( 291 )
Thefe foils are either chiefly argillaceous,
or arenilitic, or both together, or of the
trap kind, or calcareous.
The circumftances of theſe and of the
coal found among them moft worthy
of notice, are the following.
1º. They commonly form diſtinct ſtrata,
or beds one over the other to a great depth.
The ftrata of coal are ufually called feams;
it is very feldom found in irregular heaps,
or in veins.
2°. Thefe feams are ſcarce ever found
fingle, but thofe whofe thickneſs does not
exceed 14 or 15 inches, are rarely worked.
At Whitehaven 5 were lately worked, at
Newcaſtle 3, at Liege 20. The higheſt
and next the ſurface are generally the worſt,
but the deepeſt are not always the beſt.
3°. The thickneſs of different beds of coal
is variable, from half an inch or leſs to 5 or
6 feet; but not unfrequently it amounts to
25 or 30 feet, and in fome rare inftances,
to 80 feet or more. No fuch feam as this
laft has occurred in Great Britain.
T
4°. Seams of coal generally occupy a con-
fiderable extent both in length and breadth,
and whatever the thickneſs of each may
be, it is commonly conftant for a confider-
U 2
able
}
(292)
1.
able ſpace, as a mile, or two miles; inftances
of a contrary kind ſeldom occur, unleſs the
ſeam be diſturbed by fome obftruction, or
at the extremities of a coal foil, or in an
extent exceeding two miles*.
5. In the fame ftratum, if exceeding 3
or 4 feet in thicknefs, the coal is feldom
exactly of the fame quality.
6º. Different ſeams of coal are ſeparated
from each other, by at leaſt one, but gene-
rally by feveral ftrata of earth or ſtone, as
will be fhewn in the fucceeding fections 1;5
theſe, in a confiderable extent, preſerve alſo
an uniform thickneſs.
7°. The uppermoft feam of coal is com-
monly ſoft and dufty, it is vulgarly called
fimut.
8º. Seams of coal, and alfo their con-
comitant ftrata, are generally parallel to
each other, unlefs an uncommonly thick
ftratum of earth, 150 or 200 feet thick, in-
tervenes †. Their number and order are
alfo fimilar, to a confiderable extent, yet
variable in the fame diftrict and foil.
9. In many of the concomitant ftrata,
I
* 1 Wms. 62, &c. 6 Lempe, 50. 2 Gerh. Betyr.
+ Morand Arts and Metiers, Voly. 63. 1 Jars,
zgo. 6 Lempe, 50.
;
particularly
( 293 )
particularly of fhale, bituminous fhale, in-
durated clay, and fandſtone, particles of
coal are found interſperſed.
10º. The ftrata that immediately cover
coal, and thence called its roof, are ſhale,
bituminous fhale, or fandftone; rarely any
other. But they are often alfo found at
a great diſtance above it.
11°. The ftrata on which coal repofes,
and thence called its floor, fole, or pave-
ment, are alfo fandſtone, fhale, indurated
clay, or femiprotolite*. This laſt would,
I believe, in moft cafes, be found in its
floor, if the mines were funk deep enough
to reach it. Granite has alſo been found in
its floor in a few inftances. In trap foils,
trap or bafalt is faid to form fometimes.
the roof, and fometimes the fole of a feam
of coal, but in ftrictnefs, I believe, fhale
moſtly intervenes.
12°. Impreffions of plants, particularly of
the cryptogamia and culmiferous kind, are
moft frequently found on the fhale and bi-
tuminous fhale that accompany coal, or
which are found in coal mines, fometimes
on ſandſtone, but very rarely on the coal it-
* 8 Buff. in 8vo, 232, 233. Semiprotolite is a red-
diſh ſandſtone, or breccia, already mentioned.
U 3
felf.
( 294 )
(294
felf. Roots alſo frequently appear in the in-
durated clay. Trees carbonated, or bitumi-
nated fometimes repofe on coal, or are found
under it. Fluviatile fhells, muſcles, and land
fnails, often occur; fea fhells feldom.
13°. Argillaceous iron ore is fometimes
met with among the carboniferous ftrata.
of an argillaceous foil; and martial pyrites ei-
ther found or much oftener oxygenated, and
mixed with the fubftance of the coal.
14°. The Stretch or courfe of feams of
coal, and of their attendant ftrata, is com-
monly between E. and W. or N.E. and
S.W. There are however a few excep-
tions to this rule.
15°. The dip of coal is exceeding varia-
ble, fometimes nearly horizontal, fome-
times from 25 to 45 degrees, fometimes
75°, rarely approaching ftill more to the
perpendicular.
16° The uniform courſe of ſeams of coal,
and of the ftrata that accompany them, is
frequently interrupted by obftructions call-
ed flips, dykes, troubles, faults, &c. Theſe
never fail to elevate, or depreſs, the ſtrata
beyond them; or rather, the ſtrata on each
fide of them are found at different heights.
This obfervation is general, being found to
hold
( 295 )
hold good in every part of Britain, as well
as on the Continent. The inequality of
the height amounts from a few inches to
120 feet, but fo great an inequality is rare,
and has been found only in Derbyſhire. In
Germany it feldom exceeds, and ſcarcely
amounts to 50 feet.
17°. It has been obferved in Britain that.
if the flip overhangs on one fide, and con-
ſequently forms an acute angle with the
feam of coal which it cuts, the continua-
tion of the ftratum will be found lower on
the other fide of the flip, and confequently
vice verfa if it recedes from or forms an
obtufe angle with the feam of coal on the
one fide, the continuation of the feam will
be found higher on the
C
Ža
other, as in the figure,
where a and b denote the
interrupted feam of coal,
and c the obſtruction or flip*.
18° Theſe flips fometimes confift of
indurated clay, fometimes of fandſtone,
both different from fuch as form the ftrata,
but more frequently of ſome ſpecies of
* 5 Ir. Acad. 275.
1
U 4
ftone
(296)
1
ſtone that never compofe the ftrata of coal
mines, except, perhaps, rocks of the trap
fpecies; their thickneſs or extent amounts
in various mines, from a few inches to fe-
veral yards. Nodules of coal are fometimes
found among them, and water is frequently
lodged in them. They often deſcend from
the furface to the greateſt known depths.
19° The difpofition of the ſtrata below
the ſurface ſeldom conforms to the figure
of the turface. The former is often regu-
lar, when the latter is broken and uneven,
and vice verfa, very frequently the ftrata dip
into a hill againſt the rife of the ſurface, or
croſs it in a right or diagonal line*.
20° The deepeſt mines known, are thoſe
of the county of Namur, fome of which
are ſaid to defcend 2400 feet.
21° The feams of coal where in contact
with their roof, floor, or flip, have a
ſmooth poliſhed gliftening furface, Morand
and 8 Buffon Mineralogy, 275, which
ſhews they were originally foft.
*Wms. 114 Genfanne hift. Langued. 36, 37. 8
Buff. Mineralog. 8vo. 230, 231.
§ 2.
( 297)
§ 2.
!
Of Argillaceous Soils.
Theſe confiſt chiefly of indurated clay,
which the miners commonly call clunch,
and when much mixed with calx of iron,
bind; or of fhale, or bituminous fhale; which
miners, if I miſtake not, call bat; or of a
decaying porphyry, which the miners call
rotten ftone; the argillaceous ftone men-
tioned by Whitehurft is, I believe, the
fame porphyry in a firmer ftate; fragments of
ftone they call ratchill. If among feveral ſtrata
of thefe, only one or two of fandſtone oc-
cur, I ftill call the foil argillaceous, and
'not arenilitic.
The foils about Whitehaven, and New-
caftle, are of this fort. At Newcastle the
firſt ſtratum is a fandy clay about 4 fathom
in depth, fucceeded by a brown ferruginous
clay mixed with mica, as this is by a white
micaceous fandſtone, under which lies a
bituminated clay mixed with mica, par-
ticles of coal, and pyrites, with calcareous
incruftation in the rifts, and under that
lies the first feam of coal 6 inches thick,
repofing
(298)
repofing on a thick ftratum of indurated
clay, the fucceeding beds refemble the fore-
going. At Whitehaven, under a bed of
common clay of 7 or 8 fathom, and II
fathom of fandy clay, a bed of natural
clayey carbon or culm of 3 fathom is found,
and under fome beds of indurated, and fome
of micaceous clay, one of iron ore, one of
fandſtone, feams of good coal occur. 2
Ir. Acad. 163.
163. At Alfreton Common,
after a ftratum of clay 7 feet thick, and
another of ſtony fragments called rachill
9 feet thick, we meet with feveral beds of
clay, more or leſs indurated, to the depth
of 118 feet, and then find only fmut.
The bed of true coal is 40 feet lower.
Whitehurst's Theory, 211. here ſandſtone
does not occur. At Weft Hallam, the
ſtrata are much the fame, fmut, the firſt in-
dication of coal, is met with, but at the depth
of about 56 feet, and under it clunch, with
argillaceous globular iron ore, and roots
running through the clunch. Pilkington,
81. and a bed of foft coal occurs about 53
feet lower. The beft feam is found only
at the depth of 214 feet. Whitehurſt, 212.
To theſe I may add the coal mines at He-
truria,
( 299 )
truria, in Staffordſhire, as under the Rat-
chill, though a limestone bed. only I foot
thick occurs, the fucceeding beds are ſand,
and two beds of indurated clay, (then pro-
bably fhale) and coal.
At Lichfield, to a bed of black clay 4 feet
thick, and a bed of what is called rotten-
ſtone 6 feet thick, there fucceeds a bed of
indurated clay, 18 feet thick (there called
marl), and to this a bed of coal of 4 feet;
under this lie other beds of indurated clay,
one of which is white, of various thickneſs,
and laft, at the depth of 85 feet a bed of
coal appears of the thicknefs of 30 feet.
2 Ir. Acad. 166.
At Colebrook Dale, the ftrata are re-
markable; after 3 feet of brick clay and
15 of potter's clay, a feam of mut, I foot
thick occurs; under this what is there call-
ed blue bat, 3 feet; then 7 feet of fand-
ftone; then a feam of coal 4 feet; under
this white flip, that is, potter's clay; under
which is another bed of coal, fucceeded by
other beds of clay and coal, of various thick-
nefs. Ibid.
At Baldo, near Falkirk, in Scotland, af-
ter 7 feet of clay, and 33 of flate (proba-
bly
( 300 )
bly fhale), there occurs alfo a bed of lime-
Stone 3 feet thick, but it is fucceeded by a
bed of earth and fhale 6 feet, which covers
a bed of coal of from 2 to 6 feet. 6 Phil.
Tranf. abridg. Part II. p. 223. In the
Princefs's fhaft, at Dolau, in Germany, the
ftrata are, grey calciferous clay, a fatter,
not effervefcent, a whitish micaceous flate,
bluish flate, bluifh fandftone, fhale, a
feam of coal, 2,5 feet thick, repoſing on
bluifh fandftone; with feveral alternations
of the above with feams of coal; and, at
laft, femiprotolite. 2 Ger. Gefch. 156.
At Drim Glofs, in Ireland, under 48 feet
of clay and rubbleſtone, we meet a ſoft ar-
gillaceous ftone 30 feet thick; then 35
feet of indurated clay, and 15 of fhale co-
vering 4,5 of coal. Whitehurst, 246. Some-
times, but very rarely, coal is covered only
by one ftratum: thus at Ozegow, in Up-
per Silefia, a feam of coal is found immedi-
ately under 18 or 24 feet of clay; the fame
circumftance occurs in fome mines in the
county of La Mark, only with the inter-
pofition of fhale. Georgi alfo obſerved an
inftance of this fort in Dauria, near the ri-
ver Argun and Schilca. 2 Gerh. Beytr. 159.
The
( 301 )
The ftrata that occurred in finking a
ſhaft at Ilkeſton, in Derbyshire, are very
numerous; and the thickneſs of thoſe of
the fame denomination, various; after 6
feet of foil and clay, there occurred 4 of
fhale; 18 inches of argillaceous iron ore;
a feam of coal 15 inches thick; then clunch,
grey ftone, blue ftone, black fhale, iron
ftone, fhale, blue bind, bituminous fhale,
blue clunch, blue bind, coal, 18 inches;
black clunch, 4 inches; then a fort of can-
nel coal, 9 inches thick; blue clunch, bind,
light coloured ftone 4 feet thick, a greyish
blue ftone as hard as flint, 6 feet, a very
light coloured ſtone, 14 feet, bind, grey
ſtone, blue bind, foft coal, 2,5 feet; bind,
6 feet, foft coal, 13 inches; black clunch,
light coloured clunch, bind, 11 feet; coal,
not an inch thick; black clunch 3 feet;
clunch and bind, 25 feet; hard coal, 6 feet;
clunch, 3 feet. Pilkington, 82.
At Pinxton church (near Alfreton, as ap-
pears by the map) the ftrata are, 6 feet of
foil and clay, black fhale, with coal fhreds;
bind, ftone, a crumbly ſtone, bind, hard
fhale, intermixed with ftone, clunch with
iron ore, bind, with ftripes of coal, grey
fhale,
(302)
fhale, with fhreds of black ftone; yellow
fandſtone, fandy fhale, a filiceous ftone,
grey ſtone, with coal ftripes, bind, 3 feet
of fmut; and 5 feet 10 inches of hard coal;
the whole depth 77 feet. Pilkington, 86.
At Newhall, in Derbyshire, the ſtrata
are 12 feet of blue earth; 48 of black earth,
then 3 feet of coal; then 3 feet of blue
bind, covering 6 of hard coal; under this
lie 3 feet of blue bind, covering 7 of a fofter
coal. Pilkington, 91.
In the valley of Plauen, in Saxony, feve-
ral coal mines are found, whofe ftrata are
thus deſcribed by Charp. 54. Under the
mould, there occur clays of various colours,
white, grey, reddish, or greenish; in fome
places 3 or 4 feet, in others 50 or 60 feet
deep and there vulgarly called marl; 2°. then
an arenaceous ftratum, from a few inches
to one foot thick, and of various colours.
3. Grey, or bluish indurated clay, whofe
thickneſs is as variable as that of the firft
ftratum. 4. Another arenaceous ftratum,
as No. 2. 5°. A ftill harder clay, of variable
thickneſs, like No. 1. 6'. Shale, from I
to 3 feet thick; and, laftly, coal of differ-
ent goodness, from 2 to 32 feet thick this
coal
(303)
coal contains vitriolic acid, and in the ftrata,
vegetable impreffions, and fome of muſcles;
bituminated wood has alfo been found in
it, p. 58.
At Nicderherfmdorf, in the fame valley,
coal has been found under a ftony conglo-
meration of argillaceous porphyry, and ar-
gillite, 12 feet thick, but inmediately co-
vered by 36 feet of greeniſh and variegated
fhale; this coal abounds in pyrites. 2 Berg.
Jour. 1792, 136, &c.
At Pottſchapel the ftrata are, mould of
various thickneſs, from 16 to 20 feet; then
dark yellow, and greenish grey indurated
clay, with impreffions of plants, particularly
of reeds, fulphur pyrites, and fragments of
galena, of variable thickneſs, from 40 to
120 feet, under which coal is found; fome-
times with the intervention of a ftratum
of bituminous fhale 2 or 3 feet thick:
the feam of coal is from 18 to 40 feet thick,
6 Lempe, 43, &c. It repofes on indurated
clay, as this does on a porphyritic rock.
Ibid. 52.
In the coal mines near Bilin, in Bohemia,
the ftrata are, greyish mould, 2 feet; whit-
ith
grey clay, 5 feet; reddish brown fand,
20 feet;
( 304 )
20 feet; bluish grey clay, 10 feet; fhale
with pyrites and vegetable impreffions, 18
feet; coal, 48 feet thick. Reufs Mittel
Geb. 42. The direction of the coal is from
S.W. to N.E. Ibid. 45, its dip is contrary
to the declivity of the hill.
At the foot of the mountain of Gangel-
hof, which is partly porphyraceous and
partly trappofe, there is a coal mine, the
firft ftratum of which is mould, about 2.
feet thick; the fecond, fand mixed with
mica, 6,5 feet; the third, clay, 6,5 feet;
the fourth, fhale; the fifth, coal, repoſing
on trap. Reufs Mittel Gebirg. 92. In the
coal mines of Rive de Gier, the ftrata are,
1º. mould, 8 or 10 feet deep; then a far-
cilite with mica, 5 feet; another minuter
grained; a coarfe fanditone, in fome places
covered with thale bearing vegetable im-
preffions; a micaceous fandftone; bitumi-
nous fhale; a feam of coal, 6 inches thick;
fanditone, 10 fect; ditto flightly bitumi-
nated: ditto, bituminous thale; thale, bi-
tuminous fhale, coal, 18 fect.
180.
13 Roz.
§ 3.
(305)
§ 3.
Of Arenilitic, or Sandſtone Soils.
At Bagelt, in North Wales, after 45 feet
of gravel and fand, we meet with a bed of
ſhale 9 feet thick; then argillaceous ſand-
ſtone; and another bed of fhale, under
which a bed of coal is found; beneath
theſe, indurated clay, fandſtone, and coal,
alternate with each other to a confiderable
depth; the ſandſtone in fome ſtrata is 44,
and in one 90 feet thick; in one inftance
a bed of fhale, with fhells of fiſh, covers the
coal. Whitehurſt, 242.
The next mine of this fort I fhali men-
tion, is that of Blakelow, near Macclesfield,
which I owe to Mr. Mills; as he is well
fkilled in mineralogy, his defcription is
much more accurate than any of the fore-
going, therefore I fhall give it more at
large.
The firſt ftratum confifts of clay and gra-
vel, 15 feet thick; this is followed by a bed
of ſhale of the enormous depth of 102 feet;
after which a thin feam of mut appears;
under this a filiceous fandſtone mixed with
X
mica,
(306)
mica, 25 feet; then a foft
grey lamellar
fandſtone mixed alfo with mica, about 2
feet, this is here called grey beds; then
ſhale alternating with the grey beds to the
depth of about 4 feet; under the last bed
of fhale another feam of coal is found, 14
inches thick, and under it a grey indurated
clay; this is fucceeded by a compact, fili-
ceous, and fomewhat micaceous ſandſtone,
36 feet thick; under which, after three al-
ternations of grey beds and fhale, a ftratum
of nodular iron ftone occurs, 4 feet thick;
then a bed of fhale, covering another of
coal, which repoſes on grey clay; this bed
of coal increaſes in .tlicknējs as it rifes in the
hill. The grey clay is fucceeded by a con-
glomeration of fhale and fandſtone, 30 feet
thick, under which lies a feam of coal fo
mixed with pyrites as not to be worked;
the dip of this coal is to the N.E. nearly
26°. Here we may obferve, that ſhale con-
ftantly covers coal, and that iron ftone is
found, and mica, and the beds as elſewhere,
vary in thickneſs. 3 Ir. Acad. 50. In the
ſhaft of St. Sophia, at Wettin, after 1 foot
of mould, there occur 5 fathom of a brown
ſtone, and 6 of bituminous fhale, which is
fucceeded
6
2
!
( 307 )
fucceeded by reddiſh blue fomewhat mi-
caceous, ſandſtone flate, as this is by a cal-
careous breccia filled with flints and whofe
cement is filiceous; this repofes on a grey
micaceous fandftone, which is followed by
a blue limeſtone, under which lies a coarſe
micaceous fhale; then common fhale co-
vering a bed of coal, 2,5 feet thick, but
mixed with pyrites; after this fhale and
coal alternate, until all terminate in red
femiprotolite. 2 Gerh. Beytr. 152.
In the ſhaft of Dorothea at Lobegin, we
meet the following ftrata, mould, a pale yel-
low calciferous clay, yellow iron ſhot fand,
6 fathom of greyish black flate (fhale, as I
fuppofe) fomewhat micaceous, a grey brec-
cia, with a filiceous cement formed of ftea-
tites, quartz and flints, 4,5 fathom thick,
then fhale covering a feam of coal about 4
feet thick, then a fine grained fomewhat
fparry fandſtone, another ftratum of the
above breccia, fhale, coal, and fandftone. 2
Gerh. Beytr. 154.
At Ibenburen, in the county of Tuklen-
burg, after 3 or 4 feet of clay, we meet 6
feet of flaty micaceous fandftone, and un-
der it a thin bed of coal, then a bed of ſhale,
X 2
one
(308)
In
one of coal, and three of fandſtone; laſtly
a bed of fhale covering another of good
coal, 8 feet thick. 2 Gerh. Geſch. 157.
the coal mine of Boferup, in Scania, the
firſt ſtratum is mould fomewhat clayey and
fandy 12 feet, a grey argillaceous ſandſtone
with iron ore, 20 feet, fucceeds; then a bed
of coal only I foot, repofing on indurated
martial clay, then a yellowish fandftone, 7
feet, a fandy fhale 3 fect, covering a py-
ritous coal 2 feet thick. Schwed. Abhand.
1773. The mine at Helfingham is fome-
what fingular; below a bed of fandftone
36 feet thick, appears a feam of coal, 2 feet,
then fhale 12 feet, fandftone 6 feet, and,
laftly, coal I foot. Ibid.
In the coal pits of Shubley, in the pariſh
of Dronfield, in Derbyshire, under 90 feet
of fanditone there are 33 of blue bind, and
21 of black ſhale, covering 3 of coal, under
which is a bad fort, called dirt, and again,
2 feet of coal. Pilkington, 87. In the coal
pits of Morileben, and Wefenſleben, in the
principality of Halberstadt, the following
ftrata occur, mould, of variable thickneſs,
a ferruginous fandy clay, 6 feet, grey clay,
from 18 to 24 feet, brown ferruginous fand-
ſtone,
( 309 )
ſtone, whitiſh grey fandftone, bluiſh fand-
ſtone, a bluish flaty and fandy argillocalcite,
indurated flaty clay, a bluish flaty argillo-
calcite, coal, from 10 to 18 inches thick
(Gerhard, 105), fhale, 6 or 8 feet, black
flaty, indurated, clay, grey argillaceous fand-
ſtone, from 24 to 30 feet thick, flaty indu-
rated clay, grey fandy argillocalcite, with
pyrites intermixed. Lehm. 184. At Al-
thal in the foreft of Thuringia, a feam of
coal repoſes on white ſandſtone, but ſome-
times immediately on granite. 2 Berg.
Jour. 1790, 322.
At Themmin in Bo-
hemia, the ftrata are, mould, turfy earth,
ferruginous fandftone, marl, coarfe fand-
ſtone, ſhale, coal, repofing on fandſtone, 2
Berg. Jour. 1791, 57.
Near Mannebach, coal is found in a rift
of a porphyritic mountain covered with
fhale, and floored with fandftone, in feveral
fucceffive ftrata. Voight, 9, 10. In the
neighbourhood of Liege there are upwards
of 40 feams of coal one above the other;
they are feparated from each other by coarſe,
or fine grained, fandſtone, frequently mica-
ceous, and fometimes by black reddiſh ſhale.
1 Jars. 288. 292. the uppermoft feams are
X' 3
often
(310)
often the beft; in the fame ftratum the
coal is often of different qualities in differ-
ent diſtricts. At Aix la Chapelle, the coal
alfo lies between ftrata of fandftone, and
fhale or indurated clay. It is moſtly na-
tural carbon. 1 Jars. 306.
Of Trappofe, or bafaltic Soils.
At Bally Caſtle, 60 feet of trap or whin,
cover 24 of ſhale; under which a yellow
fandſtone 42 feet, covers 21 of coal; this
refts on go feet of grey fandſtone, which
cover another feam of coal 5 feet thick.
Whitehurft. At Borrowftounneſs in Scot-
land, a ftratum of trap or whin is the im-
mediate roof of a feam of coal; and at
Hillhouſe near Lithlingow, a thin feam of
coal is found below a ftratum of columnar
bafalt. At Bathgate hills, ftrata of coal
and bafalt alternate with each other. 1 Wil-
liams, 70.
Carbonated wood is frequently found
under trap, whin, or bafalt.
At Stackhouſe, in Weſterwald, after 6
feet of mould, we meet 6 of whin or wac-
ken; then fome ſtrata of brown or grey
clay; under which the firft ftratum of car-
bonated
(311)
bonated wood appears; fometimes the firſt
ftratum is black, being mixed with whin
or wacken; the 2d a grey clay; the 3d a
yellow clay; and then a bed of whin or
wacken; but the coal is always covered by
blue or grey clay, its depth from 11 to 14
fathom. 1 Berl. Beob. 52. 56. Neither
petrifactions nor vegetable impreffions are
found in it, 58. but cryſtals of ſelenite and
pyrites abound. The thickness of the ſtra-
tum continually decreaſes in receding from
Stackhaufen, 106. 108. Wood coal and
bituminous ſtone coal frequently accompany
each other; fometimes, as at Meifen, the
ftone coal is uppermoft, and the wood coal
under it; but at Toplitz, in Bohemia, the
wood coal is uppermoft. 110.
At Meifen in Heffia, galleries have been
puſhed upwards into the fide of the hill,
900 feet under its fummit. 1°. Into fand-
ſtone, then into clay, and, laftly, into a bed
of coal from 6 to 90 feet thick, over this
lies a maſs of trap or bafalt, 600 feet high:
the courſe of the coal is horizontal, and the
bafalt in fome places penetrates down to
the clay; where the coal is fome fathom
thick it forms ftrata, that next the baſalt
X 4
is
( 312 )
is the beſt and moſt bituminous. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1792, 379. Under that is a flighter
kind repofing upon wood coal; under which
is a ftratum, ill defcribed, but which I take
to be a mixture of difintegrated coal and
clay. 1 Berg. Jour. 1789, 275. 280. Be-
tween Mezin and Velay, natural carbon is
found under trap or bafalt, and repofing
on granite. 2 Soulavie, 235. 237. yet Fau-
jas 8 Buff. Mineral. in 8vo. tells us, he .
always obferved a bed of femiprotolite
interceding between the coal and the gra-
nite; Faujas alfo obferved bafaltic pillars
repoſing on a ſeam of coal, and not pierc-
ing through it; yet there interceded be-
tween them a thin bed of grey clay; the
ftratum of coal was 3 inches thick, it refted
on another of grey clay, under which was
another thick feam of coal. Faujas Re-
cherches fur les Volcans Eteints, 388. The
beds of clay, he obferved, proceeded with-
out interruption into the mountain, which
fhews they did not proceed from the de-
compofition of the bafalt. Ibid. 339.
Of
( 313 )
Of calcareous Soils.
ī
Near Milhant and St. George, coal is
found in a fecondary calcareous mountain,
but covered by bituminous and pyritiferous
clay. 11 Ann. Chy. 272. Near Kratigen
in Swifferland, a thick bed of coal is found
in the midst of limeftone. Ferber Briefe
Mineralog. Inhalt. 24.
At Multhorp in Sweden, a coal reſem-
bling cannel coal is found inclofed in ftrata
of aluminous fhale, over which 2 ftrata of
limeſtone repoſe. Mem. Stock. 1767, 35.
At Alais, the coal is fo mixed with lime-
ftone as to afford lime after combuftion. 8
Buff. Mineral. 8vo. 189.
Between the calcareous ftrata of Mount
Saleve in Swifferland, there are thin feams
of coal, roofed and floored with grey or
brown calciferous fhale. 1 Sauff. § 246.
This coal feems to be of the nature of can-
nel coal. Ibid. At Lobegin near Wettin,
the ftrata are, 1. Mould of various thick-
nefs, then loam 6 feet thick, red fand,
feet, flaty argillaceous ftone, 10 feet, grey
fwineſtone, 10 feet, grey limeſtone, alter-
nating with an iron fhotſtone, both con-
7
taining,
(. 314 )
taining, the first white, the other red baro-
felenite, from 12 to 18 feet, a grey argillo-
calcite of variable thicknefs, fhale with
fhreds of coal, black indurated clay with
neſts of calcareous earth and fulphur py-
rites, coal, felenitic fpar (barofelenite),
coal, 3,5 feet, under which lies a bad kind,
grey limeſtone 3 or 4 feet, black fhale,
and limeftone, more or lefs argillaceous.
Lehm. 180.
I
Strata of limeftone, of various thicknefs,
colour, and quality, are very common in
the coal fields of Scotland; at Blackburn,
in Weft Lothian, a ftratum of limeftone, 6
or 7 feet thick, is the immediate cover of
a feam of caking coal 5 or 6 feet thick. At
Carlops a ftratum of coal is found beneath
a limestone quarry. 1 Williams, 73. 1 Berg.
Jour. 1789, 495. The limeſtone of Coal
fields contains a variety of fhells, coral, and
other marine productions, blended in the
heart and compofition of the ftone. 2 Wil-
liams, 26. At Anzin, near Valenciennes,
there is a tract in which horizontal beds of
limeſtone, marlite, and chalk, alternate,
under theſe are ſandſtone and fhale, between
which coals lie. 11 Ann. Chy. 273. In
fome
!
( 315 )
fome of the pits at Liege the ſtrata are,
1. mould, 2. clay, 3. a fandy martial clay,
4. a calciferous fand, 5. chalk with flints,
from 42 to 72 feet thick, under this va-
rious beds of ſandſtone and fhale. Morand
Arts and Metiers, &c.
In the coal pits of Pirken, in Bavaria, ten
ſeams of coal very near each other, alter-
nate with fhale, marl, and fwineftone; the
fwineſtone abounds in marine fhells of all
forts, and the marl ftill more; theſe ſtrata
form an angle with the horizon, of from 74
to 76 degrees. Flurl Bavaria, 103, 104.
CHAP. II.
FEW problems occur in the natural hiſ-
tory of minerals of more difficult folution
than that of the origin and formation of
mineral coal and its mines muſt have
been, before Lavoifier had diſcovered that
it was a conſtituent part of fixed air; but
this degree of knowledge being gained, we
muft, of courſe, allow that carbonic fub-
ſtance is of equal antiquity with fixed air,
and this air being a component part of
many
(316)
many of the folid fubftances which form
the great mafs of the globe, it is equally evi-
dent that it muſt be coeval with thoſe
ſubſtances, and, confequently, muſt have
preceded the exiſtence of animals and vege-
tables, as I have ftated in my firft Effay.
Before this important diſcovery, three
folutions of this problem were propofed,
two of which have ftill fome footing, and
the third being almoſt generally received,
I muſt previouſly fhew the infufficiency of
all of them, as an apology for introducing
my own.
According to the firft opinion, which is
that of Mr. Genfanne and fome other mi-
neralogiſts, pit coal is nothing elſe than an
earth or ſtone, chiefly of the argillaceous
genus, penetrated and impregnated with
petrol or afphalt. Kilkenny coal or natu-
ral carbon demonftrates the infufficiency
of this folution, for this coal contains nei-
ther petrol nor other bitumen; beſides, the
quantity of earthy or ftony matter in the
moſt bituminous coal, bears no proportion
to the weight of that coal; bituminous
coal is capable of being charred, and then
it is a fubftance almoft entirely reſembling
vegetable
( 317 )
I
30
vegetable charcoal, which, on combuſtion,
fcarcely leaves of its weight of argil or
ftony matter: neither can any be faid to
be a bitumen, for when charred, its volume
is diminiſhed at moft, whereas bitumen,
even the moſt compact, either leaves no
coaly matter, or at moft, only an incon-
fiderable quantity.
The next, and ftill the moſt prevailing
opinion is, that all mineral coal is of
vege-
table origin, that it ariſes from the immenſe
forefts with which the earth was originally
covered, which by various fubfequent re-
volutions were buried under thoſe vaſt ſtrata
of earth which at prefent cover mineral
coal; theſe woods, it is faid, were mineral-
ized by fome unknown procefs, but of
which the vitriolic acid was the principal
agent; by means of this acid the oils of
the different fpecies of wood were con-
verted into bitumen, and a coaly fubftance.
was formed, as in the procefs for making
æther; in fupport of this opinion it is al-
ledged, 1. that in many of the various ſtrata
that cover coal mines, and particularly in
the fhale or indurated clay,
diately cover feams of coal,
which imme-
vegetable im
preffions
( 318 )
preffions are found. 2. That wood, actually
converted into coal, is frequently obferved
among ftrata of mineral coal, and, in fome,
whole trees are found, fome parts of which
are in their original vegetable ſtate, and the
remainder converted into coal.
I fhall first obviate the confequence de-
duced from thefe obfervations, and then
ſtate the principal objections to this ſyſtem.
That vegetable impreffions are often
found in the ftrata that cover coal, or on
thofe on which it repofes, is a certain fact,
but this fact may be better accounted for in
the theory I fhall preſently propofe; the
impreffions obferved are thoſe of herbaceous
plants, as ferns, &c. and theſe, of all others,
contain leaft oil; their exiftence has, there-
fore, no connexion with the converſion
of vegetables into coal; the impreffions
of refiniferous plants, which alone are capa-
ble of furniſhing moſt oil, have never been
diſcovered on the ftrata that accompany
coal, and the trees found are commonly
birch or oak. As to the agency of the vi-
triolic acid, it is very different from that
which has been ſtated, no vegetable oil has
ever been converted by it into petrol, nor
has
(319)
has it ever been known to have contributed
to the formation of any real bitumen; its
agency however, in converting fome ípe-
cies of wood into coal, when bitumen is
otherwiſe ſupplied, is not denied; it acts
upon, decompofes, and is decompofed, by
the refinous part of the wood, or its oil,
and leaves the carbonaceous part untouched;
but this carbonaceous part would never be
bituminated and converted into coal if real
bitumen were not prefent, as appears
the obſervation of Arduino, who found the
timber employed in fupporting ancient
mines, and which had ftood many centu-
ries in the midſt of pyrites and vitriolic
waters, blackened indeed, but not in the
leaſt bituminated; whereas wood anciently'
depoſited in the muddy bed of the Lagune,
about Venice, was in fome degree bitumi-
nated, having received bitumen from the
fea water. Fraboni del Antracite, 11. In
this cafe the wood was firft decompoſed by
putrefaction, and afterwards fomewhat bi-
tuminated. Hence it is allowed that fome
fragments of wood may have its texture, in
great meaſure deftroyed by the vitriolic
acid, and be afterwards bituminated; yet
its
I
(320)
its texture is never totally deſtroyed, but
may be diſcerned by the help of the nitrous
acid, as Mr. Fraboni has fhewn *.
Thus that fpecies of coal called wood
coal is formed, in which vitriolic acid is
always found, but it is eafily diftinguished
from true mineral coal, as it burns more
weakly, with a difagreeable fmell, and
abounds in vitriolic acid; whereas true
mineral coal contains this acid only acci-
dentally, emitting moft frequently no acid
in diftillation, but only volalkali, as Mr.
Lavoifier has fhewn. Mem. Par. 1778,
436. The afhes of wood coal afford fome
traces of fixed alkali †, whereas true mi-
neral coal contains none, at leaft Model
found none in that of Newcaftle. 1 Model,
456. This fhews that mineral coal does.
not originate from wood depofited in or
out of the fea :-Yet as it may be replied,
that nature probably poffeffes means of
mineralizing vegetables, with which we
are unacquainted, perhaps the following ob-
See my Mineralogy, vol. 2, p. 61.
+2 Gerh. Beytr. 271. Fabroni, 58. Venel. fur la
Houille,
3
fervations
(321)
fervations may be deemed the moſt con-
clufive.
1º. Coals are commonly found in ftra-
tified mountains, and form ftrata, of which,
however, they may differ one from the other
in thickneſs, each preferves its own for a
confiderable ſpace, as half a mile, a mile, or
two miles; but in mines of wood coal no fuch
uniformity takes place; on the contrary, in
the moſt confiderable of theſe an uniform
decreaſe of thickneſs from the place in
which the wood was first heaped, is ob-
ferved; thus in the famous mine of wood
coal, in the Wefterwalds in the territory
of Orange Naffau, the thickness of the
ftratum is obferved continually to decreaſe
as it extends from Stockhaufen. 1 Berl.
Beob. 106. 108. and Morand, in Defcrip-
tion des Arts and Metiers, p. 10, folio.
2°. Seams of real mineral coal, and thofe
of earth or ftone that accompany them, are
obferved, while uninterrupted by flips or
dykes, to lie parallel to each other to a
great extent, and even after fuch interrup-
tion, whether elevated or depreffed, ftill to
maintain their parallelifm. But in mines
of wood coal, notwithſtanding the contrary
affertion
Y
(322)
affertion of Morand, Ibid. p. 8, 9. late ob-
fervations have afcertained that no fuch
paralleliſm, nor even any diftinct number of
ftrata prevail, but the whole appears to be
one ftratum irregularly divided by maffes of
clay or ſtone; this has been proved in the
Wefterwalds (the very place in which Mo-
rand, mifled by fuperficial obfervers, had
afferted a regular ſtratification to have taken
place,) after an accurate examination by Mr.
Becker fecretary to the Mining Board of
that country, 1 Berl. Beob. 101. 103. and
by Fabri in his account of the mine of wood
coal at Bruchliz. 1 Lempe Mag. 142.
3°. Mines of wood coal prefent fudden
elevations or depreffions in the fame ftra-
tum; mines of real mineral coal never. I
Berl. Beob. 58.
4°. There are no flips or dykes in wood
coal mines, i Berl. Beob. 58. thofe of ge-
nuine coal abound in them.
5. Wood coal is frequently covered with
round fragments of quartz, 1 Lempe. Mag.
143. genuine coal never.
6º. There is at preſent in the Muſeum of
Florence, a cellular fandftone, the cells of
which are filled with genuine mineral coal.
Fabroni
6
(323)
Fabroni Dal Antracite, 10. Could this have
been originally wood?
7°. According to Voight Prack. Geb. 80,
81. genuine coal is feldom found in plains,
but wood coal frequently is. Ibid.
Reflecting on theſe facts, it appears to
me highly probable, that real mineral coal
does not originate from vegetable ſubſtances
of any fort; the reſemblance obferved be-
tween bituminated carbonated wood and
mineral coal, arifes from the fimilarity of
their compofition, both being formed of car-
bon and bitumen, but by no means evinces
the filiation of the latter from the former.
The third opinion relative to the origin
of pit coal is, that of the celebrated Arduino ;
he thinks it entirely of marine formation,
originating from the fat and unctuofity of
the numerous tribes of animals that inha-
bit the ocean. Fabroni, 12. 14. This opi-
nion refts fimply on the obfervation, that
fea fhells, or their impreffions, are fre-
quently found in coal, in Italy, or at leaſt
in, or on, the ftrata that accompany them,
but it is fully contradicted by the much
more general obfervation, that the traces of
land and not of marine vegetables are found
Y 2
on
(324)
1
on the ftrata that cover feams of coal in all
countries, or on thoſe on which theſe ſeams
reft, or on both: that fea fhells are fcarce
ever found among them in other countries,
and much leſs the bones of fiſh: that, on
1
the contrary, reeds or ruſhes, and fluviatile
fhells, have been found in the ftrata that
cover coal. Morand, 8. That common falt
is never found in coal mines, except when
in the neighbourhood of falt ſprings, 2 Gerh.
Geſch. 144. but, on the contrary, alum and
vitriol, which are never found in the ſea.
3 Mem. Lauf. 321. That in the deferts
near the Cafpian, on which the fea is
known to have refted for perhaps many cen-
turies, no coal mines are found: that the
unctuofity of marine animals fhould rather
float than fink in the fea;-that there is no
known inftance of its having been ever con-
verted into a bitumen.
The opinion which I now propofe, is
grounded on the following facts:
1º. Granite has been known fometimes to
contain fmall veins of coal. 30 Roz. 378.
per Bournon, and Lavoifier in Mem. Par.
∙1778, 440.
2. Plombago, which is natural carbon
combined
(325)
combined with a certain proportion of iron,
has alſo been found in granite, 2 Berg.
Jour. 1790, 532. and in ſhiftofe mica. 2
Sauff. 450, 451.
3°. Hornblende, a ſtone which enters into
the compofition of many rocks of the gra-
nitic order, as fienite, and grunftein, and of
many granitines, and of moft traps, and of
many bafalts, has lately been found to con-
tain carbon. Lampadius, 184. Hornblende
is alfo often found in gneifs, and ſtill oftener
in porphyry; carbon has alſo been diſco-
vered in filiceous ſhiftus by Wiegleb, 1 Chy.
Ann. 1788, p. 50 and 140. and in bafanite
by Lampadius and Humbolt. 2 Chy. Ann.
1795, 114 and 3.
Again, bitumen alfo is found in various
ftones, and flows from various mountains;
in Mount Caucafus there is a fountain of
it that flows into the fea, and finks to the
bottom. 3 Defcouvertes Ruffes, 83, 84.
Mr. Mills diſcovered a bitumen whoſe ſpe-
cific gravity was 1,284, immediately under
a trap (he calls it lava). Phil. Tranf. 1790,
83. 87. It has been found in quartz, 1
Berg. Jour. 1791, 91. in the cavities of
trap in Derbyſhire, 1 Pilk. 178. and in
Y 3
black
i
(326)
black marble. Ibid. 178. Fortis alfo ob-
ferved it in black marble in the Ifle of Bua,
on the coaſt of Dalmatia, tranfuding in the
heat of the day, and congealed into drops
at night*. Williams made the fame ob-
fervation in Scotland, 1 Williams, 235.
and Triewald in Sweden. Swenfk. Hand-
ling. 1740, 203. Its exiſtence in bitumi-
nous mailite, and bituminous fhale, is well
known. Pallas difcovered bitumen in the
limeſtone on the banks of the Volga; I
Defcouv. Ruffes, 462. and in Bavaria there
are fountains of it in mountains conſiſting
of fandftone and limeftone, that alternate
with each other. Flurl, 89.
A whole lake of afphalt is faid to exift in
the Ifle of Trinidad, in South America,
which is liquid in fummer, and folid in
winter. Phil. Tranf. 1789, 65. And feveral
in Siberia, 1 Defcouv. Ruffes, 384, &c. and
Perfia.
Fountains of bitumen have been found
in coal mines. Mem. Par. 1747, 1031, in
8vo.
Hence it evidently follows, that carbonic
* Travels to Dalmatia, Eng. Edit, in 4to. p. 177.
ſubſtance,
(327)
fubftance, and petrol entered into the ori-
ginal compofition of the ftones already
enumerated, and therefore are derived from
the primordial chaotic fluid, in whoſe bo-
fom moſt ſtones were formed.
I must farther obferve, that it is ad-
mitted that moſt mountains were originally
much higher than at prefent, having been
fucceffively degraded and lowered by vari-
ous fubfequent accidents; particularly by
difintegration and decompofition. That
many of the granitic and porphyritic order,
particularly thoſe in which hornblende is
found, and thofe of the trappofe order, and
filiceous fhiftus, are moſt ſubject to this
degradation and decompofition, and thofe
of the calcareous and argilitic genera, are
leaſt ſubject to it. It is alſo known, that
the higheſt mountains, from the greater
viciffitudes of heat and cold, and the im-
petuous fhocks of the atmosphere, to which
(every thing elſe being equal) they are moſt
expoſed, are moſt ſubject to this deſtructive
operation,
That feveral mountains have been entire-
ly deſtroyed by decompofition.
That the higheſt mountains condenſe moſt
Y 4
water,
(328)
water, which gradually trickling down their
fides, carries off moſt of their difintegrated
parts.
From theſe facts it may justly be inferred,
1º. That natural carbon was originally
contained in many mountains of the gra-
nitic and porphyritic order; and alſo in
filiceous fhiftus, and might, by difintegra-
tion and decompofition, be feparated from
the ftony particles.
2º. That both petrol and carbon are often
contained in trap, fince hornblende very
frequently enters into its compofition.
My opinion, therefore, is, that coal
mines or ftrata of coal, as well as the
mountains or hills in which they are found,
owe their origin to the difintegration and
decompofition of primeval mountains, ei-
ther now totally deſtroyed, or whoſe height
and bulk, in confequence of ſuch diſinte-
gration, are now confiderably leffened.
And that theſe rocks anciently deſtroyed,
contained moſt probably, a far larger pro-
portion of carbon and petrol, than thoſe of
the fame denomination now contain, fince
their difintegration took place at ſo early a
period.
On
(329)
1
On this fuppofition, I think the forma-
tion of coal mines, and moft of the cir-
cumſtances attending them, may naturally
be accounted for.
And firft, as to the feams of coals.them-
felves and their attendant ftrata, they
muſt have refulted from the equable diffu-
fion of the difintegrated particles of the
primitive mountains, fucceffively carried
down by the gentle trickling of the nu-
merous rills that flowed from thofe moun-
tains, and, in many cafes, more widely
diffuſed by more copious ftreams. By this
decompofition the felfpar and hornblende
were converted into clay, the bituminous
particles thus fet free, reunited and were
abforbed partly by the argil, but chiefly
by the carbonaceous matter with which
they have evidently the greateſt affinity,
fince they are feparable by boiling water
from the former, and fcarcely by the
ſtrongeſt heat in clofe veffels from the lat-
ter, and even in an open fire, only by a heat
much fuperior to that of boiling water.
The carbonic and bituminous particles thus
united, being difficultly mifcible with wa-
ter, and ſpecifically heavier, funk through
the
}
(330)
the moiſt, pulpy, incoherent, argillaceous
maffes, and formed the loweft ftratum, un-
lefs in cafes where their proportion to the
argillaceous particles was fo fmall, that the
latter had fubfided and coalefced before the
former could have been reunited, in that
cafe the clayey particles formed the lower
ftratum of indurated clay. But if the pe-
trol were in the greateſt proportion, it fre-
qnently funk firſt in the form of a foft bi-
tumen, carrying with it the clay and forming
beds of fhale, or bituminous fhale, ac-
cording to its proportion. By oxygenation
it becomes fpecifically heavier than water.
In ſome caſes, femiprotolite* formed the
lower ftratum. This happened when fer-
ruginous particles were moft abundant and
feparated before the difintegration, or at
leaft, the decompofition of the ftony par-
ticles could be effected.
In other obvious cafes, porphyry feems to
form the lower ftratum, namely, where
primitive porphyry formed the ſubſtance of
the plains over which the difintegrated
particles were diffuſed; and this feems, fre-
* See 1 Effay, p. 44.
L
quently
(331)
I
quently the café in Saxony and England.
It is only at ſtated periods of fucceffive years
that the difintegrated particles thus dif-
fuſed, formed maffes fufficiently confiderable
to allow the liberation of a fufficient quan-
tity of carbonaceous and bituminous par-
ticles to form diftin&t ftrata of coal and
earthy matter; from the regularity of theſe
periods, the regularity of the fimilar com-
pofition of the diffufed particles, and the
uniformity of their diffufion, the regular
thickneſs and parallelifin of the ſtrata na-
turally originated.
As theſe ſtrata were formed, not under
the ſea, but long after the emerſion of their
parent mountains from its boſom, hence it
it is that marine fhells, or the impreffion
of marine vegetables, are fcarce ever found
in them, Mem. Par. 1747, 1073. not even
in thoſe of Whitehaven, which dip and are
worked under it; but, on the contrary,
trees and fluviatile fhells are frequently
found among the ftrata; thofe of White-
haven ſtretch under the fea, becauſe the
fea covers what before the infular ſtate of
Britain was land; but in Italy, and other
parts contiguous to the Mediterranean and
Adriatic,
( 332 )
}
Adriatic, marine remains more frequently
occur, from the cauſes mentioned in Effay
III. The herbs whofe impreffions very
generally occur on the fhale that immedi-
ately covers coal are, as Morand obferves,
thoſe that grow on low and moift grounds*,
as fome fpecies of the cryptogamia. It is
true that Juffieu, Mem. Par. 1718, and 42
Roz. 450, thought theſe herbs to be pecu-
liar to the Eaft and Weft Indies; but Mr.
Blumenbach, in this more advanced ſtage
of the botanic ſcience, judges them to be
perfectly unknown †, as indeed fhould be
expected; fuch foils fo compofed and fo
fituated being ſcarcely to be met with, and
if they were, that fpecies may at this time
be eaſily fuppreffed by other more numerous
tribes: fomc, however, much reſemble the
ferns that now exiſt in the adjacent coun-
try. Mem. Par. 1747, 1033. The im-
preffions of theſe herbs is eaſily accounted
for from the foft oleaginous ftate of the
ſhales on which they are found, which rea-
dily received their print, and retained it
* Morand Art du Charbonier, in Defcript. des Arts,
&c. p. 170.
+ Hanbuch der Natur. Gefch. 703.
long
1
( 333 )
:
long after the originals had decayed. This
circumftance fully proves the foft original
ftate of theſe ftones, and that the ftrata had
experienced no violent concuffion ever fince
their formation, which dates from the re-
moteft antiquity, as the flighteſt friction
would irretrievably efface thefe impreffions,
and, confequently, that the numerous re-
volutions, and eruptions of lavas from fub-
terraneous fires, which many theorists fup-
pofe to have taken place, are purely vifion-
Nevertheleſs, that fome derangement
of the ftrata, but gentle and gradual, has
taken place fince their formation, is evident
from their diflocation on different fides of,
what is called, a flip, dyke, or trouble. The
effect of this obftruction we have already
mentioned; when it leans on one fide, for
inſtance to the caft, and, confequently,
overhangs the ftrata of coal placed to the
eaſtwards, the continuation of the ſtrata of
coal, and their concomitants, will often be
found lower on the western fide.
ary.
To underſtand the reaſon of this pheno-
menon we must remember that where it
takes place with the circumſtances juſt men-
tioned, the flip is always a ſubſtance more
or lefs different from any that form the
ftrata
( 334 )
ftrata in the coal mine, and when a ftone,
that it is a ftony mafs that refifts decom-
pofition, whilft the maffes that formed
the ftrata underwent that operation.
2º. That no traces of fracture or com-
preffion of the ftrata are found at con-
fiderable diſtances from it, and, conſequently,
that it did not roll down from the difinte-
grated mountain from which theſe ftrata
originate, at any time after the formation
of the ftrata, otherwife, from its great weight,
fome traces of oppreffion would be ob-
ſerved; conſequently, it exiſted in the ſpot
where it ftands, before the ftrata were form-
ed, and as its height is ſo conſiderable as to
reach through all the ftrata, it muſt have
obftructed their extenfion for a confiderable
time, though at laft the ftreaming waters.
muſt have conveyed the difintegrated par-
ticles beyond it; the preffure therefore on
the fide on which the ftrata were firft form-
ed, muſt have been much more confiderable
than on the fide on which the ftrata of
later formation repofe, and muft have puſh-
ed the upper and moſt moveable extremity
of the flip, gradually towards the fide on
which there was leaft preffure and refift-
ance; on that fide it must therefore over-
hang;
(335)
i
hang: this preffure being of earlier date
than that on the oppofite fide, muſt have
had a more confiderable effect in depreffing
each particular ftratum, by fqueezing out
the watry particles entangled in them, and
forcing their integrant particles into clofer
contact than could have been produced (the
times being unequal) in thofe of later for-
mation, and, confequently, the ftrata muſt
be lower. This explanation, I own, I am
not perfectly fatisfied with, and only ac-
quiefce in, until a fuller account of the cir-
cumſtances of theſe flips is obtained. Where
fuch a connexion between the inclination of
the flip, and the elevation or depreffion of
the ftrata has not been obferved, and I do
not find that it has in France, Flanders, or
Germany*, yet the unequal pofition of the
ftrata on each ſide of it conftantly has, and
is attributed by Mr. Charpentier, with great
ſhew of reaſon, partly to the unequal eleva-
tion of the bafis on different fides of the
flip, and, in fome cafes, to the fliding away
of fome of the lower ftrata. Saxony, 373.
In Vol. VI. of the Phil. Tranf. abridg. Part II.
* Charp. 373, Morand Defcription des Arts et Me-
tiers, in folio, Charbonier, 58. 1 Jars. 291.
p. 185.
(336)
p. 185. the fituation of metallic ftrata
diflocated by fuch obftructions is
repre-
fented as the very reverfe of that which
takes place in coal mines, and its explana-
tion is much more natural.
That the cauſes affigned by Charpentier,
muſt have operated in fome cafes, is evident
from this, that a fimilar diflocation of the
ftrata has been obferved where the inter-
vening flip was only a few inches thick, as
at Zwickhaw. 6 Lempe, 55. and no dif-
location at all, or fcarce any, where the flip
was of confiderable extenfion. Ibid. In
the firſt cafe, therefore, the rift occupied
by the flip muft have been occafioned by
the rupture of the ftrata, and afterwards
filled up from above, by the fubftance of
the flip in the latter cafe, the ufual con-
fequence of the flip must have been coun-
teracted by the inequality of the foil. In
both the cafes obferved, the fubftance of
the flip was a grey indurated clay, with
fome fuperficial traces of lead ore and ful-
phur pyrites, and fome calcareous fpar. It is
in vain, therefore, that volcanifts, or rather
plutoniſts, afcribe thefe flips, and the difor-
ders that accompany them, to fubterraneous
eruptions.
(337)
eruptions. Muſt a mere indurated clay be
deemed a fubterraneous eruption? Can a
mafs of it a few inches thick occafion a
great disturbance, while one much more
confiderable, either occafions none at all,
or a much ſmaller? Would not a conic
elevation of both the fides of a difrupted
ftratum be the natural refult of fuch an
impreffion from below? A pofition, how-
ever, which the difrupted carbonaceous
ſtrata never preſent.
The courſe or direction of the ftrata has
been obferved to be moft generally towards
fome point between E. and W. or N.E.
and S.W. becauſe the winds from theſe
points are moſt frequent, in Europe at leaſt;
and by theſe and the viciffitudes of heat and
cold, moiſture and drynefs, that feverally
accompany them, difintegration and de-
compofition are moſt promoted.
The varieties of the dip arife from the
inequalities of the bafis to which the
ftrata always conform. Morand, 62. When
the dip forms what is called a horſe-ſhoe,
defcending from one mountain or hill, and
afcending on the oppofite, it is becauſe the
difintegrated particles defcended from both,
Ꮓ
and
( 338 )
;
and the waters found the fame level. Laft-
ly, coal is fcarcely ever found between cal-
careous ftrata, becaufe carbon feldom ex-
ifts in limeftones, except that which forms
a conſtituent part of fixed air; and calca-
reous mountains are leſs ſubject to diſinte-
gration than thofe of granite, porphyry, and
trap. The origin of coal mines from dif-
integration and decompofition, which I
have hitherto explained, is by far the moſt
general, but in fome particular cafes, coal
ſeems alſo to have orginated, and ſtill to ori-
ginate from tranfudation through fubftances
imperfectly decompofed or recompofed after
difintegration. Of the firft we have an in-
ſtance in the argillaceous mountain of
St. Georges near Milhant. II An. Chy.
272. at of the height of this mountain
there is a ftratum of coal which cuts the
mountain in two; this muſt have been
formed by tranfudation from the upper
part before it had hardened; fo alfo in the
valley, between the mountains Juffon and
Chaminelle, in Dauphiné, there are feve-
ral ftrata of farcilite, compacted by a calca-
reous cement, and between them fome in-
confiderable feams of coal are found, which
5
feem
( 339 )
1
feem to have flowed from the contiguous
calcareous mountains, for the ftony maffes
of which theſe mountains confift, preſent
at intervals black fpots, which ſmell like
fwineſtone. 11 An. Chy. 271. Moſt of
the coal found in or under confiderable
maffes of limeftone, feems to have been
formed in this manner. Near Kratigen, in
Swifferland, a thick bed of coal is found in
the midſt of limeſtone; but in the vicinity,
petrol and foft bitumens are found in the
limeſtone. Ferber Briefe Min. Inhalt. 24.
We have, according to Mr. Genneté, a ftill
more evident inftance of this mode of
pro-
duction of coal, from a fubftance fubfe-
quently recompofed in the coal mines of
Liege; there a fpecies of fandftone is found,
called by the country miners agaz, in which
there are veins through which a bitumen,
or rather a bitumen impregnated with car-
bon, tranfudes, which forms feams of coal
at prefent, and in 40 years fill up the parts
already worked. The mafs of this fand-
ſtone in the territory of Liege is, he ſays, to
that of coal as 25 to 1; nay, Mr. Buffon,
from whom I extract this paffage, affures
us, he faw himſelf fome coal which had
Z 2
Ꮓ
newly
1
(340)
newly tranfuded in this manner.
2 Buff
Mineral. in 8vo. p. 204, 206. In all theſe
cafes it is plain, the fand originally formed
by difintegration, had again by the opera-
tion of petrefcent juices, coalefced into a
ftony ſubſtance, before the carbonaceous
ingredient had been fevered from it. It
alſo not unfrequently happens that the pro-
portion of petrol is not fufficient to carry
off the difengaged carbon, and in theſe
cafes the coal muſt remain diſperſed in the
cavities of the fandftone; hence the fhreds
of coal often obferved in fandftone, but of a
bad kind, not being fufficiently impreg-
nated with petrol. Charp. 7, and 46.
Hence alſo in many parts of Swifferland
there is fcarce a fandhill without nefts of
coal. 4 Helv. Mag. 119.
The connexion obferved between trap,
bafalt, and coal mines, feems to indicate
that theſe ftony fubftances contain fome
proportion of carbon, and orginally a much
greater. That hornblende does contain it
has been already mentioned, as alſo that
trap contains petrol. Bafalt, if it contains
any carbon, contains leaft, but as trap
abounds in hornblende is cafily decom-
i
pofible,
!
( 341 )
pofible, and generally accompanies bafalt,
it is to its decompofition that I think the
ftrata of coal found under it may be afcrib-
ed; fome have thought that the coal next
under it, is always of that kind that difficult-
ly burns, which the vulcanifts afcribe to its
having been charred by the melted lava (fo
they call trap and baſalt) that flowed over
it; but they are evidently deceived, for the
coal next to the trap is frequently the moſt
inflammable and bituminous, as at Meiffen.
1 Berg. Jour. 1792, 379. The coal found
under trap, is chiefly of vegetable origin, but
above it true mineral coal which originated
from the trap itſelf frequently occurs, as at
Meiffen, &c. This vegetable coal is formed
of trees proftrated by the deluge, accidently
covered with trap, at its laſt period, as al-
ready fhewn, and bituminated by the petrol
flowing from the trap; hence at Meiffen,
its loweſt ftrata, to which a fufficient quan
tity of petrol could not reach, is the worst.
1 Berg. Jour. 1792, 378. Carbonated
wood is often found in various coal mines,
not becauſe the coal derived its origin from
wood, but becauſe the carbonic part of the
wood was preferved, and as it were em-
balmed
Z 3
(342)
balmed by the petrol of the original coal
mine, whereas in other places the wood
decayed as ufual.
To confirm this theory, I fhall now pro-
cced to fhew its conformity to actual ap-
pearances, by proving the identity of the
materials that form the ftrata, with thoſe
of the mountains, from whofe difintegration
and decompofition I have afferted the ftra-
ta to have originated.
1º. The coal mines in the valley of
Plauen, are fkirted with mountains of ar-
gillaceous porphyry, and fienite, which fre-
quently alternate with each other. Charp.
51. the fienite confifts of hornblende and
fleſh red felfpar, and very little quartz;
the porphyry alſo contains red and bluiſh
felfpar, quartz minutely divided, and indu-
rated clay, blue, red, and greeniſh. Charp.
50. 2 Berg. Jour. 1792, 153. accordingly
the coal ftrata confift entirely of clay and
fand of the fame variety of colours. Some
bivalved muſcles, as well as vegetable im-
preffions are found in fome of theſe ſtrata;
the muſcles are probably fluviatile, as the
impreffions are of freſh water plants; but I
fhould not be ſurpriſed if marine fhells
fhould
(343)
fhould alfo be found among them, as the
porphyritic and fienitic hills are furmount-
ed with limeftones, in which thefe fhells
are plentifully found. Charp. Ibid. and fome
of theſe might undoubtedly crumble down
with the difintegrated ſtones on which they
repofed; the wood probably grew on the
mountains at the time of their decom-
pofition.
2º. The hills about Potchapel coal mines
are entirely of argillaceous porphyry, con-
taining only minute grains of quartz, and of
which the felfpar is frequently converted
into clay, hence the coal ftrata here con-
fift entirely of clay. 6 Lempe, 41.
3°. From
From porphyraceous mountains,
not very diftant, the ftrata of the coal
mines in the valley of Planitz, placed be-
tween them, and of thoſe of Zwickau,
Bockwa, and Reinfdorf, are evidently de-
rived; the porphyry is argillaceous, and
abounds in quartz, the quartz often contains
mica, and is then called there a fandſtone,
its colour is often red, green, blue, or white,
alternates with layers of clay, and red, ſoft,
ferruginous, ſandſtone, and foon withers
when expoſed to the air. Charp. 294.
Accordingly
24
( 344 )
Accordingly in the coal mines under the
mould, we firſt meet grey and reddiſh clay,
then a ftratum of quartzy fand 13 feet,
then a fine grained fandſtone, with organ-
ic impreffions, and balls of agate or calce-
dony; under this, indurated clay, and ſhale,
paffing into the bituminous fort; under this
the coal lies. Ibid. 300, 301.
4°. The coal mines of Wilkiſchen near
Kladrau, in Bohemia, are bordered by, and
fituated on the declivity of mountains of
granite, and micaceous argillite; in the fields.
where they are found, blocks of granite
repofe on the ſurface. The ftrata that cover
the feams of coal confiſt of a greyiſh white
clay, micaceous fand and fhale, with vege-
table impreffions, which ftrata, as Ferber
juſtly obſerves, were formed by the difinte-
gration and decompofition of the adjacent
mountains. Bohemia, 300, 303*. 2 Berg.
Jour. 1791, 56. all the ſtrata finally repoſe
on granite, as he obſerved: the depth of
theſe mines is only 36 feet.
5°. The chain of mountains adjacent to
*See the English tranflation at the end of Born's
Letters from Hungary.
3
Rive
(345)
1
2
Rive de Gier confift of granite and gneifs;
the valley betwixt thefe and the river Gier,
prefents fandftones and breccias proceeding
from their difintegration, 11 Ann. Chy.
270. and accordingly the coal mines are
formed of ftrata of fandftone, but chiefly
of fhale, more or lefs bituminated, as we
have already obferved.
6º. The chain of mountains in Langue-
doc, that extends from Andufe to Villefort,
confift of primitive fandſtone, and abounds
in iron mines; it is accompanied by a foil
that originated from difintegration, and in
this, coal covered with bituminous fhale is
found in heaps between the arenilitic rocks.
Mem. Par. 1747, 1028. 1033. Mr. Ton-
fon found the coal mine of Oedinburg in
Hungary, covered with fandftone, but the
neighbouring rocks were fhiftofe mica.
Hungary, 40.
7°. On the fide of a granitic mountain,
near St. Hypolite, Lavoifier found the fol-
lowing ſtrata, red clay, black fandy earth,
gravel mixed with felfpar, gravel indurated
into true granite, the fame in a looſe form,
both theſe alternating with each other;
fhale, bituminous fhale, with vegetablé im-
preffions,
( 346 )
preffions, with thin veins of coal, and at
laft, granite. Mem. Par. 1778, 440. Here
we evidently ſee the origin of coal from the
mere detritus, or difintegration of granite.
Elſewhere alfo coal covered with fandſtone
repoſes immediately on granite, 2 Berg.
Jour. 1790, 322. the fandftone then moft
probably proceeded from the granite. One
of the mountainous ridges of Languedoc,
called Servas, confifts of limestone richly
impregnated with Petrol; now in one of
the ravines of this mountain, beds of fand,
and of a highly bituminated coal, alternate
with each other. Mem. Par. 1746, 1081,
in 8vo. Is it not then certain that this
mountain was degraded by difintegration?
That the bituminated coal feparated, and
formed a diſtinct ftratum, leaving the ftony
part in the form of fand? And, that from
fucceffive difintegrations the multiplied ſtra-
ta arofe? Some fhells are found over the
coal, partly marine (viz. turbinites) and
partly thoſe of land fnails, Ibid. 1082. the
former from the limeftone, the latter muſt
have been produced long after the moun-
tain had emerged from the fea: an exact
confirmation of the prefent theory.
82. Near
F
( 347 )
8°. Near the river Angara, in Siberia,
there are different ftrata of coal, 3 or 4
inches thick, ſeparated from each other by
argillaceous and arenaceous ftrata, but with-
out any organic remains. 38 Roz. 226.
This river is furrounded by primitive moun-
tains, from whofe difintegration theſe ftrata
evidently proceed; a difintegration that
pro-
bably preceded the production of organic
fubftances.
9°. The dip of the feams of coal at
Whitehaven is from E. to W. and of thoſe
of Newcaſtle from W. to E. which fhews
that both proceeded from the interior in-
termediate mountains.
The practical inferences from this theory
are,
1º. That coal is never to be expected in
primeval mountains, as granite, gneifs, &c.
but that on the fides of thefe, particularly
if very high, or in the hanging level that
flopes from them to fome river or valley, it
may be fought.
2º. That there is ſtill a greater probability
of finding it in the neighbourhood of moun-
tains of argillaceous porphyry, as thofe are
ſtill more fubject to diſintegration.
3º. That
( 348 )
3°. That it may be fought with probabi-
lity of fuccefs in fandftone mountains, if
ſandſtone and clay alternate, or ſandſtone,
clay, and argillaceous iron ore.
4. That in any elevated land in which
ſandſtone and ſhale, with vegetable impref-
fions, or indurated clay and fhale, or bitu-
minous fhale, form diſtinct ftrata, or clay,
iron ore, and fhale, with or without ftrata
of fand, coal may well be expected.
5°. That if fandſtone be found under
limeſtone, or if they alternate with each
other, and, particularly, if indurated clay
and fhale form any of the ftrata, they afford
a probable indication of coal; otherwife coal
is very rarely found in, or under, limeftone.
6º. That coal is very feldom found with
argillite, and fuch as has been is of the un-
inflammable kind.
7°. That where trap, or whin and clay,
alternate, and more eſpecially trap and fand-
ftone, coal may be expected; it is often,
but not regularly, found under baſalt:-
Wood coal is fometimes found under both.
Laftly, that coal frequently burfts out on
the furface, or on the fides of hills, in a
withered
(349)
withered ſtate, which diffufes itſelf to a
diſtance from its origin, and requires an
experienced miner to trace it truly to the
ſeam to which it belongs.
1
1
1
1
1
ESSAY
¿
( 350 )
ESSAY VIII.
OF COMMON SALT AND ITS MINES.
Common falt is found either in a liquid
or in a folid form, and in greater plenty
than any other falt whatſoever.
In the liquid form it is found in the fea,
in falt lakes, and in falt fprings; as both
theſe laſt, however, proceed from maffes of
falt contained in the earth, in a folid form,
I fhall poftpone their confideration to that
of falt in a folid form.
$1.
I.
Of the Sea.
The fea, comprehending under that name
the different oceans, the Mediterranean,
Euxine, and Baltic, is undoubtedly the
moſt conſiderable mine of any fort exifting
in any known part of the globe, fince judg-
ing from indifcriminate experiments
of its whole weight nearly, is faline mat-
रु ष्ठ
ter;
(351)
ter; the extremes are
32
and, or 3
per cent. or 4 per cent. nearly. Phipps
found the weight of its faline contents at
the back of Yarmouth fands nearly, Lat.
53°. and Bergman found that taken
up in
the latitude of the Canaries to contain about
Ι
24
of its weight of faline matter; but theſe
quantities, even in the fame latitude, are
variable, there being lefs in rainy than in
dry, and greater in ſtormy than in calm
weather (if the degrees of heat be not very
different), as ftorms powerfully promote
evaporation. Near land alfo, and particu-
larly near the mouth of great rivers, it is
evident the proportion of faline matter
muſt be ſmaller than at a confiderable dif-
tance from them. It has been generally
imagined that at great depths the fea water
is more falt, though lefs naufeous, than at
the furface, but Mr. Bladh has completely
proved, that to the depth at leaſt of 50
fathom, there is no difference. 35 Mem.
Stock. Neither does the mere
mere differ-
ence of latitude caufe any conſiderable
difference in the proportion of faline mat-
ter contained in fea water, as appears by
the experiments of Phipps, Baumé, and I
Pages;
}
(352)
Ι
Pages; and hence it is evident that the fea
does not derive its faltnefs from any moun-
tains of falt contained in it, as fome have
thought, for in that cafe more would be daily
diffolved in the hot than in the cold climates.
Phipps in latitude 80° N. 60 fathom under
ice, found the water to contain of faline
matter that is, 3,54 per cent. and
Pages in latitude 81°, found 4 per cent.
or, the temperature I do not mention,
as it could make no difference where fuch
minute quantities are concerned. In lat.
74° nearly, or 3,6 per cent. Phipps;
4,75 per cent. by Pages; but I fancy this
muſt be a miſtake. In lat. 60° Phipps found
T
I
28
I
TT
28,29
, and Pages, or 3,5 per cent. in lat.
59° in the German Sea; in lat. 53° Phipps
found on the back of Yarmouth fands,
but I ſuſpect.fome fault in this experiment,
as the ſpecific gravity afcribed to the water
that contained it, does not at all agree
with fo finall a proportion of faline matter.
Lavoifier fcarcely got 2 per cent. from
fea water taken up, as he was informed, 4
leagues from Dieppe, and Monnet ſtill leſs.
See Mem. Par. 1772, p. 349. in 8vo. and
Monnet Nouvell. Hydrolog. 209. Either
the
}
( 353 )
the water was not taken up at that diſtance
from the ſhore, or they evaporated it too
much, and too ftrongly, by which means
the marine acid, and even the falt itfelf,
was, in great meaſure, volatilized.
up
Pages tells us, that from ſea water taken
in latitude 45° and 39 N. in the ocean,
he obtained 4 per cent. of faline matter;
and Beaumé analyfed fome taken up by
Pages in lat. 34° and 14°, and found each
to contain about 4 per cent. and in lat. 25°
N. Pages found fea water to contain 3,75
per cent. and in latitude 10° 3,66; yet in
lat. 4 it contained but 3,5 per cent. which
agrees with Bladh's obfervations which I
ſhall preſently mention.
In the fouthern latitudes Pages found
the proportion of faline matter fomewhat
greater.
Lat.....49° 50' he found the fea 4,1666 per cent. of
water to contain
46°
00'.
40º 30'...
25° 54'..
20° co...
But in l. 1° 16'....
faline matter.
• 4,5
·4
.4
· 3,9
• 3,5
* See the Table prefixed to Vol. III. of Pages' Voy.
A a
In
( (354
354 )
:
In the Mediterranean, the proportion of
faline matter is faid to be much greater,
namely,, a quantity almoft incredible;
Dr. Hales is faid to have found it, this
proportion, however, feems too fmall if the
water was taken at a diftance from the
mouth of the great rivers *.
According to 2 Tournefort Voy. 410,
the Euxine and Cafpian feas are lefs ſalt
than the ocean, and fo alfo is the Baltic, as
we ſhall preſently fee.
The fpecific gravity of fea water taken
up at different latitudes, has alſo been ex-
amined with great accuracy by Mr. Bladh,
of whofe obfervations I fhall here give an
extract; he reduced his experiments to the
fpecific gravity the water would have at
20° of the Swed. Thermometer, that is,
68° of Fahr. and I have reduced them to
that it would have at 62° of Fahr. fup-
pofing the dilatability of the falt water to
be the fame as that of diftilled water, and
in effect, Lambert found that even a fatu-
rate folution of common falt expanded be-.
tween the temperatures of ice and boiling
**
1 Monro Min. Waters, 105.
water
፡
( 355 )
7
water only more than pure water,
1000
and the marine folutions being very weak
muſt expand much lefs. The formula I
followed is laid down in the firſt Volume
of my Mineralogy. Bladh counts his lon-
gitude from Teneriffe.
Lat.
Long.
Sp. Gr. at 68°
Sp. Gr.at 520
N.
E.
59°
39'.
8°
48′.
1,0266..
1,0272
57°
18'.
18°
48'.
1,0263...... 1,0269
W.
57°
I'...
1° 22′....
1,02669..... 1,0272
54° 02'.
4°
4.5'.
1,0265
1,0271
44° 32..... 2°
04'..
1,0270 ...1.0276
E.
44° 07'..
1° 00'...
00'......1,02705.
1,02705..... 1,0276
40
41'...
0° 30.
1,0270
1,0276
•
34° 40'.
29° 50′..
24° 00'...
W.
oo'..
2° 32'..
3° 24.
1°
18'.
•
1,0274
•
1,0280
1,0275
1,0281
1,0278 .....1,0284
13° 28'.
·
1,0275
1,0281
16° 36'.
3° 37..
1,0271
1,0277
14° 56'
3° 46'.
1,0269
I,C275
10° 30'.
30'...
20'..
5° 50'... 3° 28'.
༡༠
1°
S.
25'... 3°
3° 49'.
1,0266
1,0272
1,0268
1,0274
3° 26'.
•
1.0265
1,0271
30′......1,0267
1,0273
००
3°
40'...
1,0271
•
1,0277
5°
10°
10..
oo'..
6° 00'..
1,0271
•
1.0277
6° oso
•
1,0279
1,0285
14° 40′.
co´..
1,0278
►
1,0284
20° 06'..
5°
30.
1,0279
.. 1,0285
25° 45'...... 2°
22'..
1,0275
1,0281
E.
30°
37°
37
25'………... 7°
...68°
12'...
. 1,0273
•
13'..
.... 1,0? 70
1,0279
1,0276
A a 2
As
22
( 356 )
As the higher ſpecific gravity denotes the
greater proportion of faline matter, hence
he justly infers that in the Atlantic and
Ethiopic oceans, the fea is charged with
moſt falt near the tropics, and becomes lefs
impregnated near the line from the quan
tity of rain that ufually prevails there: we
alfo fee that the fouthern ocean is more
falt than the northern, the reafon of which
probably is, that it is the original ocean in
which all falt was at firſt contained, and by
communication with which, the northern
feas were falted, as fhewn in Effay II.
By Wilke's experiments it appears, that
the Baltic is much lefs falt than the ocean,
and that it is falter under a weſterly than
under an eaſterly wind; and ſtill falter
when a N.W. wind prevails. His expe-
riments were made at 9° of the Swedish
thermometer, or 48° Fahr. I have reduced
them to the temperature of 62°.
At 48° 1,0047
1,0075
1,0126
1,0105
At 62° 1,0039 Wind at E.
1,0067 Ditto at W.
1,0118 Storm at W.
1,0098 Wind at N.W.
33 Schwed. Abhand. 67.
Hence
( 357 )
Hence we clearly fee, that the faltneſs of
the Baltic proceeds from the weſtern ocean,
and alſo perceive the influence of ſtorms.
The correſpondence betwixt the ſpecific
gravity of the fea water and its proportion
of faline matter cannot be made out with
much preciſion, as it contains two or three
fpecies of falts whofe proportion to each
other is variable, and Dr. Watſon's table,
the beſt ſtandard for determining the pro-
portion of falt, was formed only on folu-
tions of common falt; yet as common falt
is by far the moſt copious ingredient in fea
water, and as the Doctor owns that his falt
was not perfectly pure, it will be found to
determine the proportion of faline matter ve-
ry nearly in all the cafes to which it reaches.
It was formed at temperatures from 46°
to 55°, hence I have fuppofed it at the me-
dium of 50°, and calculated what the pro-
portions relative to the preſent object ſhould
be at the temperature of 62° in the fol-
lowing table.
!
A a 3
Salt
( 358 )
Salt Specific Gravity 1,0283
24
I
23
1,0275
I
26
1,0270
Σ
27
I
1,0267
28
1,0250
1785
उठ
I
1,0233
उद्र
1,0185
I
• 144
1,0033
13 /
8
1,0105
...T88
ठ
1,004
1,0023
What degree of confidence we may re-
poſe in the indications concluded from Dr.
Watſon's experiments, may be difcerned in
the following inftances.
Briffon diffolved 2 oz. of the pureſt com-
mon falt in 16 oz. of diftilled water, and
found the ſpecific gravity of the folution
1,0790 in the temperature of 14° of Reau-
mur, that is, 63°,5 of Fahr. this folution
then contained of its weight of falt; now
by Doctor Watfon's table, a folution con-
taining of falt has its ſpecific gravity
1,074, and this being reduced to that which
it would have at 62° is 1,0732; here then
the difference is T, which I attribute to
the fuperior gravity of pure falt. Again,
Bergman found the ſpecific gravity of ſea
9
6
water
( 359 )
water taken up in lat. 28° N. near the Ca-
naries, 1,0289 in the temperature of 15°
on the Swediſh fcale, equal 60° of Fahr.
and he found the faline contents, and
this ſpecific gravity being reduced to the
temperature of 62°, is 1,0286, and by the
laft table we ſee that Doctor Watfon gives
it 1,0283 at 62° of Fahr. as the common
falt was here mixed with other falts, we fee
the agreement is nearer.
It is true Lord Mulgrave found the fpe-
cific gravity of fea water taken up at the
back of Yarmouth fands, to be 1,0280 in
the temperature of 53° Fahr. or 1,0273 at
the temperature of 62°, and yet he found
the faline contents only, nearly, whereas
by Doctor Watfon's table, either the fpe-
cific gravity fhould be 1,023, or if this
were rightly taken, which I believe it to
have been, the faline contents fhould exceed
This difference I attribute to a fault in
the conduct of the experiment, the evapo-
ration having been either too quick, or too
far puſhed, or both together; either way
much of the falt, and of the acid of the
earthy falts, muft have been loft. As to
the fpecies of falts found in fea water, they
27
A a 4
may
(360)
may
be reduced according to the moſt ex-
act experiments hitherto made, only to
three, viz. common falt, muriated magneſia,
and felenite, now and then a very ſmall
proportion of Epfom falt, and of aerated
lime has been difcovered. Bergman in the
ſea water he examined and above mention-
ed, found 3,29 per cent. of common falt,
0,869 per cent. of muriated magnefia, and
about,001 of felenite, and the quantity of
ſea water he examined was about 5,52 Eng-
liſh pints, wine meaſure. Monnet in fea
water, taken up near Nantz, found 3,4 per
cent. of common falt, nearly 1 per cent. of
muriated magneſia, and about 0,0008 of
felenite. In three other experiments made
on fea water, taken up near Dunkirk,
Dieppe, and Granville, he found the fame
falts, and alſo a minute proportion of Ep-
fom. Baumé *, who examined the fea
waters taken up by Pages in lat. 34° and
14°, found each to contain 4 per cent. of
common falt, 0,12 per cent. of felenite, and
a ſmall proportion of a falt, which he calls
magneſia of common falt, and yet pretends
* Mem. Par. 1787, 547.
that
(361)
that its bafis burns to lime. This falt he
did not weigh, but decompofed it by an
alkali, and found its bafis dried at 212°, to
amount to about 0,4 per cent. but the
quantity of neutral falt formed by its acid he
does not notice. He alfo found 0,12 per
cent. of felenite, and afferts, that the fea
water contained alfo Glauber, but in fo
minute a proportion that he could difcover
none, not recollecting that his calcareous
falt would decompofe it if there had been
any; it is poffible, however, that fuch mi-
nute proportions might coexiſt without
meeting each other. Neither Lavoifier's
nor Monnet's experiments on the fea water
near Dieppe, are much to be depended
upon, as neither of them appear to have
operated on genuine fea water, for, as al-
ready faid, that water fcarcely contained,
or at leaſt they extracted from it, ſcarcely
2 per cent. of faline matter, of which far
the greater part was common falt, and the
next moſt copious part was muriated mag-
nefia, and next to that felenite. Both found
an exceeding minute proportion of Epſom,
and Lavoifier fays he found o,o8 per cent.
of Glauber; but Monnet, though he ope-
rated
(362)
rated on the fame quantity of water, viz.
20 pints, or 40 pounds, found no Glauber.
On examining theſe analyſes, it is evident,
that none of them, except Bergman's, were
properly conducted.
I
I
2 5
I omit the experiments made by perfons
unacquainted with the nature of magneſia,
and am convinced that the experiments of
all thoſe who attribute lefs than 3,8 per
cent. of faline matter, or, to genuine fea
water taken up in the northern ocean, un-
leſs in particular circumſtances, are faulty:
the mean quantity feems to be 4 per cent.
or, the extremes and; the fpecific
gravity of fea water containing is 1,0275
in the temperature of 62°; Briffon, it is
true, found the ſpecific gravity of ſea water
up i
in the bay of St. Brieux in Brit-
tanny, to be only 1,0263 in the tempera-
ture of 63°,5 Fahr. which would be 1,0264
at the temperature of 62°. But as two
fmall rivers empty themſelves in that bay,
and the water might have been taken up
during the ebb, I look on this water to con-
tain a mixture of freſh. Glauber's falt is
faid to have been found in the water of
the Mediterranean. Mem, Par. 1763, p.
326,
taken
(363)
A
326, in 8vo. The Epfom, extracted from
the ſea water at Harwich, Newcaſtle, Ly-
mington, &c. is as to its acid part, artifi-
cial; the mother. liquor of pyrites being
added after the feparation of the common
falt. That the fea was originally much
more falt than at prefent, will be fhewn in
the fequel.
What was, or is, the primary caufe of
the faltneſs of the ſea, has been the ſubject
of much difcuffion, and yet not only that
cauſe, but even the reafon why the parti-
cular falts already mentioned, and no other,
exiſt in it, and alſo that, of the proportion
to each other in which they are found,
ſeem to me not difficult to explain, but in
order to do ſo we muſt recur to the prin-
ciples laid down in Effay I.
1º. That all ſubſtances incapable of far-
ther analyfis, muſt be deemed fimple until
future experiments teach us otherwife.
2º. All fimple fubftances muſt have been
coeval with the creation, and have exifted
in the chaotic fluid, and, originally at leaſt,
in an uncombined ftate, the component parts
of water alone excepted.
Now both the acid, and alfo natron or
foda,
•
(364)
foda, the baſis of common falt, are fimple
fubftances in this fenfe, as we know of no
proceſs, either of art or of nature, by which
either of them can either be decompofed
or formed. That foda is not the product
of vegetation appears by the experiments.
of Mr. Du Hamel. Mem. Par. 1767, as
he found the quantity of foda in kali to
decreaſe progreffively in fucceffive annual
growths of the plant fown in lands diſtant
from the fea. Both the acid and bafis
must therefore have originally exifted,
though in an uncombined ftate, in the
chaotic fluid. Again, of all mineral acids,
the moſt abundant are the marine and vi-
triolic; and of all baſes to which they may
unite, calcareous earth, natron, and mag-
nefia, are thofe which are found in the
greatest plenty iron, it is true, is found
perhaps as plentifully as any of them, but
then its combinations with either of thoſe
acids would immediately be decompofed
by any of the above-mentioned fubftances.
Farther, it cannot be pretended that the
vitriolic acid is an original fubftance; it is
evidently formed of fulphur and
pure air,
and this air owed its extrication to volca-
nic
( 365 )
nic heat, as fhewn in Effay I. therefore it
could not have obtained as early a poffeffion
of the above-mentioned baſes as the marine.
This point is important, and may be proved
in another manner: If the vitriolic and
marine acids were coetaneous, they muſt
have obtained a fimultaneous poffeffion of
the bafes to which they both have the
ftrongeſt affinity, viz. natron and calcare-
ous earth, and, as after poffeffing the na-
tron, there was ſtill a fufficiency of calca-
reous earth to faturate the refidue of both
of them, there fhould neither at firft nor at
preſent be any fuch thing in the fea as mu-
riated magnefia, of which, however, it con-
tains, as we have feen, nearly 1 per cent.
but the fea would at firft contain Glauber,
common falt, and muriated and vitriolated
lime, and foon after (as Glauber's falt and
muriated lime decompofe each other,) it
would contain common falt and gypfum,
and at laft, as gypfum is decompofed by
aerated magneſia, we ſhould have in the fea
at this day, common falt and Epfom falt
only, or at moſt only common falt, Epfom
and felenite, it being poffible that there
might not be enough of magneſia to de-
compofe
(366)
compofe all the felenite at firft formed;
but ftill we fhould find no muriated
mag-
neſia, and Epſom falt fhould be much more
abundant than we find it, as it is ftill more
foluble than common falt. Since, there-
fore, the fea does not contain thefe falts in
the proportions juft mentioned, but does
exhibit a falt in a large proportion, which
in the hypothefis of the coetaneity of
the marine and vitriolic acids it could not
contain, that hypothefis is plainly falfe*:
On the contrary, if the marine acid be
ſuppoſed to be more ancient than the vi-
triolic, (a fuppofition the truth of which
has been proved,) then we fhall find the
faline contents of the fea to be juſt fuch,
and in the fame proportion, as experiments
prove them to exift in it at prefent; for if
marine acid was more ancient than the vi-
triolic, then it poffeffed the natron and cal-
careous earth previouſly to the exiſtence of
the vitriolic; and as muriated lime is de-
compoſed by aerated magneſia, we ſhould
* Perhaps the foda originally contained in the chaotic
fluid helped the folution of filiceous fubftances, or, ra-
ther, maintained it for fome time.
have
(367)
have common falt and muriated magneſia,
and alfo muriated lime, as the aerated mag-
nefia cannot be ſuppoſed to have been ſuffi-
ciently abundant to precipitate all the mu-
riated lime after the exiftence of the vitriolic
acid: as this acid was a firft fulphureous,
could not decompofe the common Tail
but as there was a fufficiency, and even a
fuperabundance of lime, or aerated lime, it
is to this it would moft. eafily unite, or if
any of it were fufficiently oxygenated to de-
compofe the common falt, the vitriolated
natron and Glauber's falt, thus formed,
would immediately be decompoſed by the
muriated lime, and thus the fea would at
laft, after the interval of fome years, poffefs
what it now exhibits, common falt, muri-
ated magnefia, and felenite; the common
falt in the greateſt proportion, as it is the
bafis to which the marine acid has the
greateſt affinity; the muriated magneſia
fhould be the next moft abundant, as it was
formed by the decompofition of the muri-
ated lime; calcareous earth being the fub-
ftance to which the marine acid unites
moſt willingly after alkalies, and, confe-
quently, originally muriated lime exifted in
3
great
(368
great abundance*: befides, muriated mag-
neſia is exceeding foluble: Selenite would,
indeed, if we confider the quantity of it
originally formed, be more abundant were
it not for its fparing folubility, for 500 or
600 parts of water are required to diffolve
πηρ ༣༥
ne part of it, confequently it cannot be as
abundant in fea water as the more foluble
falts. Hence alfo we fee why no traces of
alum were ever difcovered in the fea,
though it is much more foluble than fele-
nite, as acids unite to argil lefs willingly
than to calcareous earth or magnefia, and,
therefore, none was originally formed in
the chaotic fluid.
§ 2.
Of Common Salt in a folid Form, or
Rock Salt.
Rock falt is found in immenfe maffes in
each of the four great divifions of the globe.
In Europe it is found in England, Spain,
Auftria, Stiria, Hungary, Tranfylvania, Po-
land, Swifferland, &c.
The principal obfervations concerning
it are,
* Hence, perhaps, the fuperior fize of the moſt an-
cient fhell fifh.
1º. That
1
(369)
#
1. That it is found moſtly in ftrata, but
fometimes, though rarely, in veins, as near
the banks of the Ebro, Bowles, 374. and
at Friedenberg in the Dutchy of Salfburgh.
3 Mem. Lauf. 388. and fometimes it con-
ftitutes whole mountains.
2º. The ſtrata are parallel to each other,
horizontal or undulating, commonly inter-
lined with thin ftrata of clay, or gypfum;
thus they are found in Hungary, Born Hun-
gary, 140. 144. And in Auſtria and Tran-
fylvania. 1 Gerh. 144. In Permia and Si-
beria. Maquart, 67. In Swifferland. 2
Mem. Lauf. and Wild's Tracts, and in fome
parts of Spain. Bowles, 376. The loweſt
ftrata are the thickeft, the upper gradually
thinner. Mem. Par. 1762, 1055, in 8vo.
But fometimes theſe heterogeneities, inſtead
of lying between the ftrata, are diſperſed in
the falt, as at Wilickfa, and in England.
Maquart, 59.
2
3. That it is frequently mixed with bi-
tuminous clay, and fometimes with that
and pyrites, as in the county of Salfburgh,
Bavaria, Stiria, &c. 3 Mem. Lauf. and II
Ann. Chy. 66.
1
4º. That it generally repofes on a bed of
indurated
B b
( 370 )
indurated clay. Born. 3 Decouv. Ruffes,
134.
5°. That it is almoft always accompanied
with gypfum, either mixed with the ſtrata
that cover the falt, or forming one of thoſe
ftrata, or at leaſt conftituting hills or hil-
locks in the vicinity of falt mines; this has
been obferved in Upper Auftria, Hungary,
and Tranfylvania, by Born. Hungary, 144.
or mixed with it. Ibid. 165. And in Spain
by Bowles, 164. By Count Razomuſki in
Salfburgh. 3 Mem. Lauf. 388, &c. By
Guettard in the mine of Wilickfa in Poland.
Mem. Par. 1762, p. 1055, in 8vo. By Pal-
las in that of Illetzki in Siberia. 3 Defcou-
vertes Ruffes, p. 419.
6º. Gypfum is alſo conftantly found under
the indurated clay on which ſalt rock re-
pofes. 2 Mem. Lauf. Part II. 7.
+
7. It is generally found among fecondary
ftrata, either in valleys, plains, or moun-
tains, on the defcent, or at the foot of, or
furrounded by, primary mountains of gra-
nite, gneifs, primitive limeſtone, &c. At
Arzew near Algiers, the falt pits are fur-
rounded by mountains, in winter they are a
lake, in fummer folid. Shaw's Travels,
6.
229.
•
→
(371)
229. The falt mines of Wilickfa are in an
elevated valley at the foot of the Carpathian
mountains, and thofe of Salfburgh, Bavaria,
Calabria, and Spain, are at the foot of
mountains. Mem. Par. 1762, p. 1069, in
8vo.
But it alſo exiſts in primeval mountains
in Siberia, as falt lakes are found in them,
per Pallas, 1 Born, Phy. Arbeit, 21, and in
the defert primitive plain of Cobea. 1 Act.
Petrop. 38. formed at the earlieſt period of
the exiſtence of the globe, when the ſea was
abundantly more falt than at preſent.
8'. It is alfo found, though very rarely,
at great heights, though never at the fum-
mit of a hill: it is faid that the falt mine of
Arbonne in Savoy, is nearly in the ſnowy
region; more commonly at confiderable
depths. The mine of Torda in Hungary, lies
at the depth of 36 feet, Born, 141. that of
Wilick fa at the depth of 500. Mem. Par.
1762, 8vo. p. 1055. that of Durenberg at
the depth of 1320 feet. 3 Mem. Lauf. 290.
Some others in Siberia are within a few feet
of the furface. At Norwich at the depth
of 120 feet. 3 Jats. 332. In fome parts
only 100. 2 Phil. Tranſ. abr. 523.
9°. The ftrata that cover rock ſalt are
mould
Bb 2
( 372 )
mould, marl, clay more or leſs indurated,
frequently coloured and bituminous, fand
often micaceous, limeftone, gypfum, fand-
ftone with an argillaceous cement.
cement. At
Pefackna in Hungary, the ftrata are mould,
black ſpotted clay mixed with mica, mica-
ccous fand, black ſtrong ſmelling clay, under
which the falt repoſes. 1 Gerh. Geſch. xiii.
So alfo the foil that furrounds and covers
the mine of Illetfki in Siberia is fandy. I
Herman, 38, 39, &c. 3 Defcouv. Ruffes,
134. Near Mingranilla in the province of
Valentia in Spain, there are hillocks of falt.
covered with gypfum. Bowles from ſeve-
ral adjacent circumſtances concludes, with
great probability, that the gypfum was ori-
ginally covered with limeſtone to the height
of Soo feet, which was waſhed off by an-
cient inundations. The whole is on a de-
fcent, for you defcend to arrive at the hil-
locks. Spain, 164. 166. At Wilickfa the
trata are fand, clay or marl flate, lime-
ftone: even when limeſtone does not form
one of the ftrata, it is at leaſt found in the
neighbourhood, or furrounding the falt
mines. At Norwich the ftrata that cover
the falt are fand and indurated (perhaps
bituminated) clay or fhale. 3
Jars. 332.
At
(373)
At Torda, in Hungary, the upper ftratum
is alfo indurated clay; at Mingranilla,
gypfum.
10°. Marine remains have frequently been
detected in the ftrata that cover rock falt;
thus at Wilickfa, fea fhells are found in the
clay that forms one of the ftrata that cover
it. Mem. Par. 1762, p. 1055, in 8vo. and
the bones of land animals. 8 Lempe Mag.
47. nay madrepores and bivalves are found
in the falt. Maquart 51. 16 Roz. 463.
the concomitant limeſtone alfo contains
marine petrifactions.
11°. Many mountains entirely confifting
of falt have been difcovered. The falt
mountain of Cordona in Valentia, is from
4 to 500 feet high, and about three miles
in circumference. Bowles 406. Fortis men-
tions feveral in Calabria, attended with fome
of gypfum, ſeveral in the ſtates of Algiers
and Tunis are mentioned by Shaw, p. 229.
and another in the province of Aftrachan,
3 Buff. Min. 8vo. p. 371. the falt in this,
however, contains a mixture of foreign in-
gredients, the nature of which has not
been accurately determined. The falt of
the mountain Jibbel Hadiffa is of a pur-
Bb 3.
plish
1
(374)
!
pliſh colour and bitter, but whether the
bitterness proceeds from glauber, or muri-
ated lime, or magnefia, or fome two of them,
is not known, but that it proceeds from
one or other of them is certain, as this bit-
terneſs is eafily mashed out.
In the pro-
vince of Yakoutz, in Siberia, near the river
Kaptindei there is a mountain of falt 180
feet high, and 120 in length, but at of its
height it is covered with a ſtratum of red
clay, which reaches to its fummit.
Gmelin Voy. 342, cited by Maquart, 82.
उ
I
Patrin fufpects that many granitic moun-
tains contain falt, which, he thinks, has
been the cauſe of the deftruction of many
of them, and at this day promotes the de-
compofition of many that ſtill exift; hence
he derives the falineferous, fandy plains of
Siberia. 4 Nev. Nord. Betyr, 167, 174.
but it more commonly, at leaſt, proceeds
from falt fprings beneath the fand.
See I
Herman Uber die Uralifch. Erze Gebirge,
36.
12. Rock falt is of various colours;
white, red, orange, purple, blue, and green;
the white contains argil, and muriated
magneſia, rarely gypfum and muriated lime;
the
( 375 )
the red and orange contain gypfum and
glauber; the blue manganeſe, and the green
copper, per Haffenfraz, 11 An. Chy. 74.
theſe colours are, however, fometimes op-
tical illufions.
13°. The quantity or maſs of ſalt already
diſcovered in many mines is enormous.
The mine of Torda is from 30 to 40 fa-
thom thick, its form, where worked, cir-
cular, and its diameter 14 fathoms; that of
Colofer has its thickneſs 60 fathoms, and
its diameter 50. Born. Hungary, 140, 143.
to fay nothing of the parts not yet worked.
The mine of Karaulnaia Gora, in Siberia, is
60 fathom long, 9 or 10 broad, its depth,
as yet unknown, it having been worked
only to the depth of 3 feet. 3 Defcouv.
Ruffes, 145. The famous mine of Wilickfa,
in Poland, is, according to Mr. Coxe, 6691
feet long, 1115 broad, and 743 deep, as far
as its extent is known. 1 Coxe, 197. The
ftratum of rock falt at Norwich, in Che-
fhire, is 50 feet thick. Dundonald on the
Salt Manufacture, p. 2. Add to this, the
falt mountains I have juſt mentioned, and
the vast quantities of falt yearly extracted
in different parts of the world from falt
fprings,
Bb 4
( 376 )
*
fprings, and falt lakes, almoſt all of which
flow from maffes of rock falt.
On weighing the various circumſtances
juſt mentioned, it muſt appear very evident
that rock falt derives its origin from the
fea, and that the ſpaces which it now oc-
cupies were originally vaft hollows fuc-
ceffively filled with fea water at diftant in-
tervals during the period of the diminution
of the level of the ſea, to nearly its preſent
height, that is, antecedently to the general
deluge. Its divifion into ſtrata; the paral-
lelifm of theſe ftrata; their horizontality,
where the level of the bafis would allow of
it; the undulations obferved on its furface;
the marine fhells found, not only in the
ftrata that cover it, but even between thofe
of the falt itſelf; the thin beds of argil,
and particularly thofe of gypfum, inter-
cepted very frequently between its ftrata;
all beſpeak a marine origin, and its inland
fituation, and the great heights at which
it is ſometimes found, prove its depoſition
to have happened during the retreat of the
fea.
To form a juſt idea of the mode of its
formation, we muft obferve, that the fea
originally
(377)
ད
T
I
36
originally contained much more faline mat-
ter than at preſent, for it is now deprived
of thoſe vaſt faline maffes that exist in every
quarter of the globe, as fhewn in the 12th ob-
fervation, which originally had exifted in the
chaotic fluid; it is therefore not a harsh con-
clufion, that it originally contained twice
more faline matter, than it at prefent does,
and fince at preſent, it contains about of
its weight at a medium, that originally it
contained part of its weight of falt.
This being premiſed, we may ſuppoſe the
hollows that form its prefent mines, to
have been originally filled by the fea, and
afterwards abandoned for fome time after
its retreat. In this interval the aqueous
part would naturally evaporate, and form a
bed of faline matter, but at the return of
a fpring tide thefe hollows would again be
filled; the clayey particles would fubfide
before this fecond portion of water could
be evaporated; and the gypfum would alfo
be depofited long before the cryftallization
of the falt; and thus the beds of clay and
gypfum intercepted between the ſtrata, ac-
cording to the fecond obfervation, would
be formed. Hence it would neceffarily
follow,
( 378 )
I
follow, that the loweft ftratum of falt
ſhould be the thickeft, for in proportion as
the cavity was filled with depofited falt, in
the fame proportion its capacity for con-
taining fea water was diminiſhed, and con-
fequently the fucceeding ftrata were pro-
greffively thinner. It may be aſked, why
all hollows and cavities did not equally be-
come falt mines, fince the ſea water during
its retreat muſt have equally filled all of
them? The anſwer is eafy: thofe cavities
could only become falt mines, whoſe bot-
tom and fides contained fufficiently denſe
ſtrata of clay, particularly bituminated clay,
thefe alone could detain the fea water, and
prevent its percolation; hence as ſtrata
of argil are very rare in primitive moun-
tains, the hollows of primitive mountains,
except in a few rare inftances, contain
none. Hence alfo gypſeous mountains, hills,
or hillocks, are frequently found without
falt; the falt is never found without gyp-
fum, unleſs the gypſum were waſhed off by
fubfequent inundations, for as gypfum re-
quires a large portion of water for its folu-
tion, it would be depofited long before the
water could either evaporate or run off, and
therefore
( 379 )
therefore did not require that the fea fhould
be reſtrained by clay, or bituminated clay;
both the time and the evaporation requifite
to its depofition is 100 times fmaller than
requifite for the depofition of common falt.
The various ftrata that at prefent cover the
mines of rock falt, proceed from the difin-
tegration and decompofition of the pri-
mitive mountains, at whofe feet they lie,
after the retreat of the fea; hence, not only
fea fhells, but the bones of land animals,
are fometimes found in them, according to
the 10th obfervation. With respect to the
mountains of falt mentioned in the 11th
obſervation, there is great reaſon to think
that they were alſo originally formed in
vaft cavities, but that the earthy and ftony
ſubſtances that formed thefe cavities were
carried off by fubfequent inundations; it
deferves to be remarked, that theſe moun-
tains have been obferved only in countries
bordering on the Mediterranean and Caf-
pian, namely in the province of Valentia,
in Spain; near Algiers, in Africa; in Cala-
bria; aud in the province of Aftrachan..
Now it is well known, that both theſe feas
had once ravaged all the neighbouring coun-
tries
(380)
tries with irreſiſtible violence, and probably
diminiſhed, though not deftroyed, the faline
mountains. Hence no hillock of gypfum,
or any trace of it, is found near the falt
mountain of Cordona, and Bowles exprefsly
tells us that the falt mine of Mingranilla
was once covered with earth and ftone to
the height of 800 feet, though at preſent it
is only covered with a flight ftratum of
gypfum, all the fuperior earthy and ftony
matter having been fwept away by floods.
Spain 164, 166. The great and cautious geo-
logiſt Sauffure obferved in various inftances,
indications of the deftruction of mountains
by inundations. 2 Sauff. 127. 5 Sauff.
441. 6 Sauff. 91, 154, 244. that near
the Kaptindei, in Siberia had evidently its
fides torn off by an ancient inundation.
Some may perhaps imagine, that if falt
mines were formed before the univerfal de-
luge, their falt fhould be diffolved in that
immenfe mafs of waters; to thefe I would
obferve, that the falt mountain of Cordona
has been expoſed to rain ever fince the de-
luge, and even waſhed by a river, and yet
it ftill fubfifts; the other faline mountains
above mentioned muſt alſo have withſtood
innumerable
1
"
(381)
innumerable floods of rain, fuch as gene-
rally fall in hot countries, for falt, though
when pulverifed and agitated it be ſoluble
in three times its weight of water, and in
a fhort time, yet when in large maffes and
at reft, requires a very confiderable ſpace of
time to diffolve it, even in ten times its
weight of water; thus Bergman found
falt kept in agitation, foluble in 10 times
its weight of water in one minute, but
when at reft the fame quantity of falt
(only 4 drams) required 34 hours for its fo-
lution. 5 Berg. 114. In Tranſylvania a
rivulet of freſh water flows over a ftratum
of falt without any contamination of falt,
being preferved from it by a ftratum of
earth which it depofits. Wild, fur les
Salines de Bex, 120. See alfo 2 Defcouv.
Ruffes, 34.
In many inftances, bitumen
flowing from the neighbouring mountains,
muſt have entered into thefe cavities when
filled with fea water, and during its evapo-
ration; this mixing with the clay already
contained in the water, or that accom-
panied the bitumen, muſt have enveloped
the falt, and prevented its regular cryſtal-
lization, and after the bitumen had flowed
out,
}
( 382 )
J
out, the infpiffated faline mafs muft, by fu-
perincumbent preffure, have been forced
into the veins through which the bitumen
had flowed, and thus the falt veins in the
mountains of Salfburgh, Bavaria, &c. may
have originated.
Among the many fanciful hypotheſes of
Mr. Buffon to explain the origin of mine-
rals, no inftance occurs in which the pow-
ers of his imagination have proved fo evi-
dently infufficient to impofe even upon
himſelf, as in his attempt to explain the
origin of fea falt. This we muſt infer from
the glaring contradictions into which he
falls.
In the firft volume of the fupplement to
his Natural Hiſtory*, he tells us, that acids
and alkalies fhould rather be confidered as
products of art, than as natural fubftances,
but in the third volume of his Mineralogy
(a fubfequent work) he tells us, the fea was
originally acidulous, and acquired its alkali
only from the deftruction of organized fub-
ftances. Before we advance further, let us
examine this pofition; thefe organiſed ſub-
*Page 66, 8vo edition.
† Page 347:
ftances
(383)
ftances muſt be either of the animal or
vegetable tribe. Now no marine animals
could live in the fea before it became falt
no more than they now can in freſh water,
and ſtill lefs in acidulous water; it was not
therefore from any alkali refulting from the
deftruction of theſe, that it became falt,
nor, indeed, are fiſh known to contain any;
neither could it derive its falt from the de-
ſtruction of vegetables, for the kali and
other vegetables that contain the baſis of
fea falt, acquire it from the fea, and con-
tain none when at a diſtance from it; but
his embarraffment does not end here. Ac-
cording to him, 1 Epoques, p. 132. Anno
Mundi, 30 or 35000, the globe was fuffi-
ciently cooled to permit the condenſation of
the watery vapours that furrounded it; the
fea was thus formed, it covered the earth
to the height of 13000 feet, and nothing
but the fummit of fome few mountains
furpaffed it. Yet at this period, he ſays,
the fea began to be peopled with ſhell and
other fiſh, with which no fpecies at preſent
known exactly correfponds, as cornua am-
monis, &c. of a prodigious fize, and theſe
ſubſiſted from anno mundi 30 or 35000 to
✔
anno
( 384 )
anno mundi 40 or 45000, when the fea,
which at firft was too hot for our prefent
race of fish, became too cold for thoſe an-
cient fpecies. Here he feems to have for-
gotten the origin of falt; for if theſe fiſh
exiſted when the fea covered the whole.
earth to the height of 13000 feet, where
could the vegetables have
grown from whoſe
deftruction the acidulous fea, he ſays, ac-
quired the baſis of common falt? He has
even deprived himſelf of the refource of
deriving this bafis from kali, or any known
vegetable, for he tells us, that the earth was
at this period too hot to bear any known
fpecies of vegetables He even afferts
that fish and vegetables originated at the
fame time. How then could the fea have
acquired the falt neceffary for the exiſtence
of fish? even if the Andes, Mont Blanc,
the Tartarian mountains, and a few others
rifing above 13000 feet, did bear kali or
fome other imaginary alkaliferous vegeta-
bles, How could the fea acquire this alkali,
fince, according to him, it never covered
them? and if it had, How many millions,
*
1 Epoques, p. 140, 141.
(385)
of years would be requifite for the produc-
tion of ſo much as enters into the compo-
fition of all the falt now in the fea, and in
the earth? The vaft fize of the moft an-
cient fpecies of fish he afcribes to the great
heat which he gratuitouſly ſuppoſes the fea
to have originally poffeffed, whereas it may,
with greater probability, be attributed to
the greater quantity of falt and calcareous
matter, as felenite, originally contained in
it; in this reſpect, at leaſt, it is certain that
the ancient fea differed from the preſent.
No other geologift has attempted to ac-
count for the origin of the alkaline part of
fea falt; none, except Mr. De Luc, has
felt the importance of fearching into the
origin of the faline mafs at prefent con-
tained in the fea*; Dr. Halley imagined
* Il eſt indubitable pour tout geologue attentif et
éclairé, que la mer actuel eſt le refidue d'un liquide
dans le quel fe font formés tant nos ſubſtances minerales
que notre atmoſphere, il n'eft donc pas indifferent davoir
preſent à l'efprit que ce refidue contient encore la mag-
nefie, la terre calcaire, l'acide vitriolique, et probablement
d'autres fubftances tenues que nous ne connoiffons pas
encore, et dont la connoiffance pourrait nous conduire
à des defcouvertes fur les aperations paffées, &c. 40
Roz. 362
that
Сс
( 386 )
that the faltneſs of the fea proceeds from
the quantities daily carried into it by rivers,
and, confequently, that it conftantly in-
creaſes, but if they anciently conveyed into
it no more than they do at preſent, an in-
numerable ſeries of ages would have been
requifite to render it as falt as it now is.
Surely no river can convey into it as much
as the river Cardonero, which washes a
mountain of falt, and yet at the diſtance
of nine miles from the mountain not a par-
ticle of falt can be diſcovered in its water,
and Bowles, who remarks this peculiarity,
affirms he made a number of experiments
on the water of rivers at their mouths, and
never could diſcover any, though fome-
times he had elfewhere detected To part
of falt. Spain, 407. 409. we muft, there-
fore, fuppoſe, as he was not ignorant of
chymistry, that he ufed the great teſt of
marine acid, the ſolution of nitrated filver ;
this difcovers I grain of falt in 43000 grains
1
of falt does not carry off
I
4300
4 3 0 0 O
I
Toʊo
of water, and if a river waſhing a mountain
part in fo
warm a climate as that of Spain, How little
can other rivers contain not placed in fuch
favourable circumftances? How few pafs
6
i
through
!
( 387 )
through any ſtrata of the earth containing
falt? How few, therefore, can we fuppofe
to contain it in any proportion ever fo mi-
nute? Dr. Rotheram found that Thames
water, taken up at Billingſgate, impreg-
nated, as it may be fuppofed to be, with
fea falt from the quantity ufed in London,
and waſhed into it by various drains, does
part of falt. 2 Watſon's
I
not contain
Eſſays, p. 99, 100.
Of Salt Springs and Lakes.
Geologiſts, in general, have paid-but little
attention to falt fprings and lakes; they
have ſuppoſed their contents to be the ſame
as thoſe of the ſea, though in fact they are
very different either with refpect to the
fpecies of falt they contain, or their propor-
tion, or both; this will appear from the
few inftances I fhall adduce out of many;
for falt fprings, in particular, are much
more numerous than the known mines of
rock falt: there are many in England, as
in Cheshire, Worceſterſhire, Staffordſhire,
Hampshire, &c. Several in France, Swif
ferland, Stiria, Siberia, &c. Germany alone
Cc 2
is
( 388 )
is faid to afford upwards of three hun-
dred *. Hungary and Siberia abound in
falt lakes.
The circumſtances accompanying falt
ſprings are much the fame as thofe attend-
ant on rock falt; thefe fprings are found
iffuing chiefly from fecondary ftrata, and
the hills they proceed from are frequently
gypfeous, or at leaſt contain that ſubſtance;
they are often furrounded by limestone
ſtrata, and theſe generally cover indurated
clay. Sometimes they iffue from gypſum,
as at Frankenberg. Charp. Saxony, 377.
Sometimes from indurated clay; fome-
times from limeſtone or marl, rarely from
fandſtone. 2 Mem. Lauf. Part II. 8. De-
fcript. Pyrenées, 25. Sometimes they lie
very deep, and are covered with various
ftrata; thus at Altkofen, they lie at the
depth of 575 feet; the uppermoft ftratum
is clay 5 Saxon fathom thick; the next
bluish grey ftone-marl 24 fathom, under
this is a browiſh red looſe marl 10 fathom,
in which are fome thin widely feparated
ftrata of gypfum; this is fucceeded by 41
2 Mem. Lauf. Part II. p. 5.
fathom
(389)
4
fathom of lamellar gypfum, with a few
interrupted ftrata of clay, and, laſtly, 2,5
fathom of pure lamellar gypfum, under
which the falt water is found. Charp. 377.
Sometimes they burſt forth from very ele-
vated fituations, as thofe of Spain. Defcript.
Pyren. 25. At Shoncbach, falt fprings
were diſcovered at the depth of 240 feet;
at Dorrenberg, at the depth of 729, I
Gerh. Gefch. 134. The faliniferous hill
Konigſhorn in Weftphalia, conſiſts of marly
limeſtone repofing on femiprotolite; in the
adjacent plains there are feveral falt fprings.
1 Klaproth, 356. The falt ſpring of Pyr-
mont iffues from a reddiſh iron fhot mica-
ceous fandftone; it lies deep, and is raifed
by a pump. 1 Weftr. Abhandl. 281. Some
have faid that falt fprings are never found
above rock falt, but always lower. 2 Mem.
Lauf. Part II. p. 11. the contrary, how-
ever, has been obferved in England, for
falt fprings were diſcovered both above and
below the level of the Norwich bed of rock
falt, the upper being impregnated by reſting
on the bed of falt, and the lower by run-
ning from it. 2 Watſon, 39.
Moſt of the falt fprings in Germany,
Salfburgh,
mode.
Cc 3
(390)
Salfburgh, Stiria, and Swifferland, particu-
larly the famous fprings of Aigle in the
Canton of Berne, are thought to proceed
from falt difperfed through, or involved in
bituminous indurated clay or gypſum.
Salt fprings are frequently diſcovered by
the vegetables that grow near them, and
which are peculiar to faline foils, as Tri-
glochin Maritimum, Salicornia, Salfolakali,
Aftertripolium, Glaux Maritima, &c.
In Siberia falt fprings have been found
in valleys betwixt hills of jafper, 3 Deſcou-
vertes Ruffes, 161, and thofe of Navarre
iffue from primitive limeſtone. Defcript.
Pyren. 25, 26. hence they are not ftran-
gers to primitive mountains.
Klaproth analyfed feveral of the falt
fprings of Konigfhorn in Weftphalia, he
found them all to contain, befides com-
mon falt, from 1 to 5 of muriated
375
725
lime, a fmaller proportion of felenite, but
only of muriated magneſia, the pro-
ग् व ड ठ ठ
I
18
portion of common falt was only at
moft; though thefe fprings flow through
marl, yet as aerated lime does not decom-
1 Klaproth, 355, &c,
poſe
(391)
*
pofe muriated magnefia, the almoft en-
tire abfence of this falt cannot be derived
from that caufe; the rock falt therefore,
from whence this fpring flows, muſt have
been depofited before the muriated calx
originally contained in the fea had been
decompoſed by aerated magnefia.
Weftrumb analyfed the falt fprings of
Pyrmont, and found them to contain, be-
fides common falt, alfo muriated magnefia,
and a very minute proportion of Glauber,
and felenite; but in the old fpring of Lune-
burgh, he found a much larger proportion
of theſe falts; for 100 parts of this brine,
by his analyfis, contained 25 of common
falt, 0,2 nearly of muriated magnefia, and
fomewhat lefs of Glauber and felenite.
Hellot analyfed the falt fprings of Mont-
morot in the year 1760, a period at which
the nature of magneſia was not known in
France; befides common falt he found in
them both Glauber, felenite, and muriated
(magneſia) deliquefcent falts, with fome
particles. of bitumen. Mem. Par. 1762,
546, in 8vo.
The quantity of falt yearly extracted
from falt fprings is aftonishing, as the few
inftances
Cc 4
( 392 )
inftances I fhall now mention abundantly
fhew; a fingle pit at Norwich yields at an
average, 4000 ton, or 80000000 pounds.
2 Watſon, 41. the fprings at Koningſhorn,
in Weftphalia, 11850511 pounds. 1 Kla-
proth, 359. the old falt fpring of Luneburg
yields 75600 gallons of brine in 24 hours,
and computing the gallon to weigh 81b,
(and it muſt be more) it yields 604800 lb.
of brine, of which is faline matter, almoſt
entirely common falt, equal 151200lb. or
above 55 million yearly. 1 Weftr. Abhandl.
295. What then muſt be the yield of all
the other known fprings in different parts
of the world, and how immenfe the quan
tity of common falt?
Of Salt Lakes.
1
Salt lakes are evidently the refult of the
accumulation of the ftreams of falt fprings;
they are found principally in Siberia and
the Crimea, fome alfo in Ruffia, and many
in Africa, often on the fummit of moun-
tains. *
* As on Bogdo. 2 Defcouv. Ruffes, 30. and in the
Crimea. 1 Bergb. 301, 302.
I
On
( 393 )
On the mountain of Tfchernayer, one of
thoſe that form the chain of Inderfki, there
is a falt lake environed by hillocks of
дур-
fum, and its bottom is clay; the falt fre-
quently cryſtallizes in the fhallow parts in-
to a folid cake by reafon of the evaporation
during the fummer, for it is fupplied by
fubterraneous falt fprings. Pallas 3 Defcouv.
Ruffes, 419, 430. that of Bufskunzatzkoi
on the banks of the Volga is about 30 miles
in circumference. 2 Defcouv. Ruffes, 34.
Gmelin mentions another called Jamicha,
whofe water is faturated with falt. Voy.
p. 100. all have gypfum in their vicinity.
Maquart 84. 2 Defcouv. Ruffes, 31. Near
Schafkojam, in Ruffia, there are three falt
lakes fupplied by falt fprings. 1 Defcouv.
Ruſſes, 45, 46. In the neighbourhood of
Aftrachan there are feveral falt marshes.
3 Deſcouy. Ruffes, 85. the Cafpian itſelf
may be regarded as a vaft falt lake, receiv-
ing its falt from the neighbouring fprings,
3 Defcouv. Ruffes, 80. it contains rather
more of glauber than of common falt. Ibid,
85. The lake Afphalt, otherwife called the
dead fea, contains more faline matter than
any other known lake or water; Lavoifier
found it to contain 44 per cent, that is 6 of
common
(394)
common falt and 38 of a mixture of mu-
riated magneſia and muriated lime; he
found its ſpecific gravity 1,24061, but in
what temperature he does not tell, probably
at 10° of Ream. Mem. Par. 1778, p. 69,
71. Briffon at the temperature of 63,5 of
Fahr. found it 1,2403. Gravités Specif.
399.
No exact analyſis has been given of the
waters of any other lake; but from the ex-
iftence of Glauber's falt, and muriated lime
in feveral of them, it is plain that their
compoſition is very different from that of
the ocean.
The Glauber found in the
Mediterranean, and in the waters of Peccais
that communicate with it, is eafily ac-
counted for, it being the product of the nu-
merous volcanoes that actually exiſt in its
iflands, or vicinity. 3 Bergm. 268. but in
the neighbourhood of feveral falt fprings
and falt lakes the exiſtence of volcanos has
not even been fufpected, its origin muft,
therefore, be deduced from other caufes.
With refpect to the Cafpian, theſe are not
difficultly traced; this fea waſhes the feet of
feveral mountains containing pyrites and
* Mem. Par. 1763 p. 326, in 8vo.
1
other
(395)
other fulphurated ores*; thefe in a ſtate of
oxygenation either fall or are washed into
and thus, much of the common falt
muſt in a courſe of ages have been decom-
pofed; the traces of fuch accidents ítill
exift, as vitriols have been difcovered buried
in the ancient fandy bed of that feat. In
other cafes the Glauber might have arifen
from a mixture of native fulphur, or py-
rites and common falt; that pyrites fre-
quently penetrate or ſhoot through various
ſtones of all the genera, is well known; by
long expoſure to the air and moiſture they
are at laft vitriolized, and their acid preys
on any baſis to which it has an affinity.
Thus Werner in an old mine at Scharfen-
berg found felenitic cryftals in the rifts of
a heap of granite dug out of a mine 200
years before, and in that part only of the
granite which had withered by expofure to
the air, and, confequently, the cryſtals were
of recent formation: the matrix of the
mine was a calcareous fpar, and pyrites
ftill exift in it, hence the origin of the vi-
triolic acid is evident. 2 Biblioth. du Nord,
73.77.
3
Defcouv. Ruffes, 83.
+ Ibid. 93.
Again,
J
( 396 )
1
Again, in a cavern near Hildesheim, one
fide of which is formed of red argillite, and
the other of bituminous marlite, with which
it is alfo vaulted, and the whole covered
limeſtone, Glauber is found cryftallized in
the argillite; as there are falt mines near
Hildesheim, it is probable that fome ex-
ifted in the argillite; the marlite alfo fre-
quently contains native fulphur, and thus
the exiſtence of the vitriolic acid cannot be
ambiguous. per Hofmeifter, 1 Chy. Ann.
1790, 46. The Glauber thus formed is
itfelf frequently decompofed, and the na-
tron which formed its bafis fet free, or at
leaſt left in a hepatic ſtate; this decompo-
fition arifes from a mixture of petrol or bi-
tumen, which, in a long courſe of time,
gradually deoxygenates the vitriolic acid,
and leaves it in the ſtate of fulphur. Thus
in the territory of Debrezin near the lake
Bogod in Hungary, natron is found in a
ftate of effloreſcence, but mixed with a
greaſy ſubſtance, and fome proportion of
Glauber, Mem. Berl. 1770, 13. 16, 17, and
in the neighbouring lakes of Derctfke and
Soboflo nothing but Glauber is found. 2
Chy. Ann. 1795, 126. In the neighbour-
hood
( 397 )
hood of the lakes, Glauber is found mixed
with petrol, and frequently in the ſtate of
a hepar, fee Pazmand's Treatife in Vol. I.
of Wafferberg's Differtations, p. 417. On
the coaſt of the fea of Azof there are falt
marſhes, but the falt is mixed with fulphur,
and hence the falt is often in an hepatic
ftate. 1 Bergbau, 301. From theſe hepars
the fulphur may gradually be chafed by
fixed air, and thus the alkali fet free from
it. Patrin alfo found liver of fulphur in
fome falt lakes of Siberia. 4 Nev. Nord.
Beytr. 196. In other places, however, the
decompofition of common falt cannot be
attributed to vitriolic acid: thus natron is
found in vaſt quantities in India, in pits by
the fea fide, mixed with a confiderable pro-
portion of brown ferruginous earth. Tranf.
of the Society of Arts and Manufactures
for 1788, Vol. VI. Mr. Keir examined
fome parts of this natron which had been
refined, and found it to contain 58,8 per
cent. of mild alkali, 17,2 of common falt,
and only 24 of water, the unrefined con-
tained 1 per cent. of the earth, which paffes
through the filter, impedes the cryftalliza-
tion, and alters the fhape of the cryftal,
(in
( 398 )
(in this refpect it reſembles the imperfect
alkali mentioned by 3 Bergm. 268). Here,
as no trace of the vitriolic acid is found, I
attribute the decompofition of the common
falt to the ferruginous clay, which in a hot
climate may in à long courfe of time de-
compoſe it, for in a ſtrong heat clay is known
to poffefs this power, particularly if ferru-
ginous, and what a firong heat may effect in
a fhort time, a weaker heat may effect in a
long time; hence, as Mr. Bergman obferves,
the natron found in the earth, both in In-
dia and Africa, is free from common ſalt at
the furface, but becomes contaminated by
it fo much the more, as it defcends
deeper *
* 3 Berg. 267.
ESSAY
( 399 )
ESSAY IX.
ON METALLIC MINES.
To treat this fubject as amply as even the
preſent ſtate of our knowledge concerning
them would admit, is not my intention;
ſuch a treatiſe would require an entire vo-
lume: my purpoſe is fingly to give a general
idea of their formation in the different
ſtates in which they are known to exift;
and of the fort of mineral foil, if I may fo
call it, or country in which particular kinds
of them are moſt generally fituated.
Moſt metals (under which name I here
comprehend alfo femimetals) are found in
four ſtates, native, fulphurated, calciform,
or faliniform.
со
§ r.
Of Native Metals.
The metallic fubftances moft commonly
found in a native ftate, are gold, filver, pla-
tina,
( 400 )
tina, mercury, copper, biſmuth, nickel, and
arfenic, more rarely iron, antimony, tin,
and lead.
Originally, it is probable, all metals exiſt-
ed in the chaotic fluid perfect and unconta-
minated, as alfo in a minuter ſtate of divifion
than any earthy ſubſtance, and all (except
iron) in a much ſmaller quantity; this mi-
nuter ftate of divifion I infer from their
greater divifibility at this day, for a minuter
quantity of a metallic fubftance diffolved in
any menftruum may be detected by appro-
priated precipitants than of any earth their
high ſpecific gravity feems to proceed from
a cloſer union, and, confequently, a minuter
divifion of their integrant particles; their
diſtance from cach other, (arifing from the
fmallnefs of their quantity,) prevented them
from uniting with each other as readily as
the earths; the minutenefs of their divifion
kept them long fufpended, and with the
earths none of them could combine for
want of affinity, while in their metallic
ftate; this ſtate, however, after the extri-
cation of the oxygen, could not long con-
tinue.
The cryftallized ftate in which they are
often
1
I
(401)
often found, is alſo a full proof of their mi-
nute diviſion and of their ancient folubility
in water; if it were by any acid their fo-
lution was effected, as fome have imagined,
that acid would ftill be found in thofe
cryſtals. The various ramifications which
they exhibit when diffuſed through ftony
fubftances proceed from thé diftribution of
the rifts which they fill up.
Native Gold.
Of all metals gold is most frequently
found native. According to Bergman, it is
more univerſally diffuſed than any other
metal, except iron; this may be a confe
quence of its great divifibility and want of
affinity to other ſubſtances, as oxygen, ful-
phur, &c. hence at the emerſion of prime-
val mountains, it remained entangled or
diſperſed through the ftony maffes of many
of them wherever thefe were permeable to
water; the golden particles were, however,
in a courfe of ages, waſhed and carried
down in minute rills into the neighbouring
plains until arrefted by fome obſtacle
long enough to fuffer the gold to depofit;
Dd
thefe
(402)
theſe minute particles being thus brought
into contact in the minuteſt ſtate of divi-
fion, united with each other by virtue of
their integrant affinity, fometimes involv-
ing fandy particles, and thus formed thoſe
fhapeleſs maffes, of various fizes, which are
ſometimes met with in various countries,
and lately in the county of Wicklow; that
theſe lumps were never in fufion is evident
from their low ſpecific gravity, and the
grains of fand found in the midſt of them.
I found the ſpecific gravity of a lump found
in the county of Wicklow, of the ſize of a
nutmeg, to be only 12,800, whereas after
fuſion it was 18,700, and minute grains of
fand appeared on its furface. Hence many
rivers were anciently auriferous, which now
ceaſe to be fo; as the Tagus, Po, Pactolus.
Heber. Pliny lib. xxxiii, cap. 4. and
though in France fome are still aurife-
rous, yet it appears, by the teſtimony of
Diodorus, that they were much more.
abundantly fo in former ages. Hence alfo
native gold is feldom alloyed with any
metal, except filver or copper, to which it
* Lib. v. cap. 19.
1
has
( 403 )
has the greateſt affinity, and which are alfo
leaſt liable to a combination with fulphur
or acids.
It is oftener found in iron ores than
in any other, becauſe theſe are far more
univerſal and abundant than any other,
particularly in a more or lefs indurated and
brittle, brown or reddish brown iron ſtone;
though originally it was depofited in pri-
meval mountains, yet from them by fub-
ſequent operations of nature it has fre-
quently been depoſited in fecondary maffes,
yet ftill it is most frequently found in
quartz, felſpar, &c. fometimes in gypſum,
barofelenite, &c*.
Native Silver.
Silver, in proportion to the quantity of it
that exifts, is much more feldom found na-
tive than gold, by reaſon of its affinity to
fulphur; it was depoſited in the fame man-
Teas
e as gold, and its cryftallization proves it
was once in a diffolved ftate. The metals
it i moft commonly alloyed with, and to
h it has the greateſt affinity, are cop-
W
* Werner Gange, 150.
Dd 2
per,
(404)
per, and antimony, in the abſence of
lead, mercury, tin, and bifmuth. The
ſtony ſubſtances it affects moſt are quartz,
barofelenite, calcareous fpar, fluors, fidero-
calcite, more rarely hornftone, flints, agates,
aſbeſtus, ſteatites, and phoſphorite. It is
rarely and only in minute quantities in fe-
condary mountains. Lehm. flotz. Geſch.
210.
Native Copper.
In proportion to the quantity of copper
in other ſtates, native copper is ſtill rarer
than native filver, though there is ſcarce
any mine in which fome quantity of it has
not been detected; it is more frequent in
Siberia than elſewhere. It is feldom ab-
folutely free from fulphur. The ftony fub-
ſtances it affects moft are quartz, baro-
felenite, fometimes zeolyte, fluors, and
gncifs. It is frequently accompanied with
red iron ochre, red copper ore and mala-
chite. Its affinity to fulphur, fufficiently
accounts for its fcarcity. It is fometimes
found in fecondary mountains.
flotz, 210.
L
m.
Native
( 405 )
405)
Native Iron..
This is ſtill ſcarcer than the foregoing, as
it is eafily oxygenated and fulphurated.
The vaft maffes found in Siberia and Pery
ſeem to have originally been agglutinate
by petrol, and left bare, when the furroad-
g earthy or ftony maffes either withered
r were waſhed off.
Native Bifmuth.
Generally found with ores of grey or
bright white cobalt ores.
Native Arfenic (See poft Arfenic Pyrites).
Found only in the veins of primeval
mountains (Emmerling) Lehm. flotz, 126.
fo alfo Mifpickel. Lehm. Ibid. accompa-
nied by red filver ore, or galena, orpiment,
fulphurated cobalt, fulphurated nickel,
fparry iron ore, grey copper ore, fulphur
and copper pyrites.
Native Mercury.
In clay in fecondary mountains. Lehm.
flotz, 214.
D d 3
§ 2.
( 406 )
!
со
§ 2.
Of Sulphurated Ores.
The formation of fulphurated ores was
formerly confidered as fcarcely expli-
cable, fulphur being fuppofed infoluble in
water; hence many imagined, that depofit
ed at Aix la Chapelle, and other ho
fprings, not to have exifted in the waters,
but to have been formed out of them;
Bergman, however, removed this diffi-
culty, and has fhewn that hepatic air is
really contained in fuch fprings; my own
experiments have fhewn that diſtilled water
takes up of its bulk of this air, and con-
fequently that a cubic foot of water may
well contain 1152 cubic inches of this air,
which are equal to 374 grains of fulphur;
now water takes up fulphur when in
an aerial ſtate, for no other reaſon, ſurely,
but becauſe when in that ftate it is moſt
minutely divided; therefore originally,
when fulphur was in the minuteſt ſtate of
divifion it was equally foluble in water, and
ftill continues to be fo when in the fame
circumſtances. Hahneman found that 1000
2
उ
7
grs.
(407)
grs. of cold water would take up 2,3 of
fulphur when this was in the ſtate of hepa-
tic air. § 67 in note. Again, metallic
fubftances are foluble in water various ways;
thus calx of lead is foluble in alkali, and
lime, and precipitable therefrom by hepatic
air. 1 An. Chy. 53. and is more attract-
ed by lime than by other earths. Ibid. and
hence lead mines are often found in lime-
ftone; fo alfo mercurial calces are foluble
in lime water. Ibid, 61. Even the perfect
metals when fufficiently divided are foluble
in water; thus Cronstedt has fhewn that
filver is taken up by water, and depofited
on the ſurface of rifts in Chriſtiana Pit, in
Norway. 17 Mem. Stock. 272. Mercury
is alſo in fome degree foluble in water, for
water that has long boiled over it gains an
anthelmintic power; fo alfo is regulus of
arfenic, for water takes up part of it,
as Hahneman has fhewn. Uber die Arfen.
Vergift. § 28. and the folubility or fufpendi-
bility, (as fome may chooſe to call it,) in
mere water may be affirmed of all other
ſubſtances when fufficiently divided, for
they differ only in degree; when therefore
water impregnated with fulphur meets
with
Dd 4
I
1 OO
( 408 )
with that charged with any metal, it pre-
cipitates with and unites to that (gold and
platina excepted;) the fulphurated metal
thus precipitated in the ſtate of the mi-
nuteſt diviſion, is itſelf ſoluble in water, as
may be proved in many inftances. Baron
Trebra found pieces of wood that had been
left 200 years in an old mine covered with
calcareous fpar, black or vitreous filver ore
and red filver ore, both of which are fulphu-
rated. 1 Chy. An. 1786, 77. Brinkman
found copper pyrites newly formed in a
heap of the refufe of copper pyrites which
had anciently been roaſted, and out of which
the copper had been extracted. I An. Chy.
1785, 264. Three circumftances have
contributed to deceive thofe mineralogiſts
and geologiſts that have denied the folu-
bility of fulphur, metals and fulphurated,
ores; the firft is that after boiling perhaps a
few grains of thoſe ſubſtances in perhaps
1000 times their weight of water, they
could not after long boiling, find any per-
ceptible lofs of weight in them, not con-
fidering that their ſcales could not diſcover
a lofs of part of a grain, which per-
haps was all that 1000 parts water could
I
O O
diffolve.
(409)
diffolve. The fecond is, that having pul-
verifed them as minutely as could be ef-
fected by art, they thought them fufficiently
ſo, whereas they ſhould perhaps be divided
into parts equal to the millionth part of a
grain.. The third, that they did not con-
fider that recent precipitates are much
more foluble than thoſe whoſe conſtituent
or integrant parts have been united for a
confiderable time. Thus Hahneman found
that common orpiment requires 5000 times
its weight of water to diffolve it; but that
recently formed by precipitation with he-
patic air, required only 1000 times its
weight of water, though it contained a
much larger proportion of fulphur than
common orpiment. Uber Vergift. § 34.
Arfenico fulphurated waters have been de-
tected in Cornwall. 6 Phil. Tranf. abr.
Part II. p. 186, 187. and antimony has
been found in a ftate of ſolution in the
mine of Santa Cruz de Mudela in Spain.
Bowles, 26. Beauman alfo found the walls
of an old mine at Munfterappel ſmeared
with native cinnabar that had tranfuded.
Berolding, 174. 179.
Mountains, as fhewn in Effay I. were
formed
(410)
formed by a more or lefs perfect cryſtalliza-
tion; thoſe leaſt perfectly cryftalliſed thus
far reſembled thofe formed by mere depo-
ſition, that after a certain degree of defic-
cation their maffes were capable of a much
clofer approach to each other, or of what
builders commonly call fettlement. From
fuch fettlement cracks and rifts muſt have
enfued, many alſo may have proceeded
from earthquakes, fee Advers. N. 162,
Theſe rifts originating from the formation
of the ſtrata themfelves, and not from the
relation or poſition of the ftrata with re-
fpect to each other, muft have pervaded
and croffed them in various directions, fuch
rifts are called veins. To thefe as to a
lower point the waters ftill remaining in
the minute interftices of the ftony maffes
muſt have faced, flowly conveying all the
particles which remained uncombined with
the ftony maffes, as being fuperfluous to
their formation, or for want of affinity, and
yet fufficiently comminuted to be foluble
in water. Of thefe, the moſt foluble were
firſt carried off, namely, the earthy, and be-
ing depofited on the furfaces of the rift,
formed, what are called, the veinftones.
Subfequent
(411)
Subſequent infiltrations gradually carried in-
to them the leſs foluble particles, namely,
the metallic; in fome cafes, however, the
metallic particles feem to have been firft
depofited, probably becauſe the earthy were
far more diſtant. With reſpect to fulphu-
rated metals in particular, whether they
were conveyed in their fulphurated ſtate, or
whether thefe rifts were at firft ftored with
hepatized water, by which the metallic fo-
lutions were gradually precipitated as foon
as they arrived; or whether, on the contra-
ry, the rifts were first filled with metallic
folutions, and the metals gradually precipi-
tated by the accefs of hepatized water, I ſhall
not pretend to decide; probably each cafe
might have taken place according to the va-
rious circumſtances that might have occur-
ed; fulphurated ſtreams are even now found
in the mines of Cornwall, 6 Phil. Tranf. abr.
Part II. 185, and fraught with earthy matter,
and that fulphur and vitriolic acid may be
found in granite, ſee 2 Sauff. 300.
The cryſtallization obfervable in theſe
veins both of ftony and metallic, or fulphura-
ted metallic fubftances, was the confequence
in the one caſe of the diminution of the watery
menftruum,
(412)
menftruum, and in the other of flow pre-
cipitation. The waters were flowly dimi-
niſhed, partly by evaporation, which Baron
Trebra has fhewn to take place in the inte-
rior of mountains *, and partly by flow
dribbling through the minuter rifts of the
bottom of the veins. Where fuch rifts do
not occur, the waters depofited their con-
tents between the ftrata of which the moun-
tains confift. Hence we fee why metallic
veins feldom occur in granitic mountains,
or thoſe of jaſper and the harder ſtones, as
their texture is too cloſe to permit the
percolation of water, at leaſt in fufficient
plenty, and becauſe their rifts were previ-
oufly occupied and filled with ftony maffes,
as being more foluble, and therefore foon-
eſt conveyed into them; thus filex fuffi-
ciently comminuted, is foluble in about
1000 times its weight of water, or even
lefs; whereas metallic fubftances require
much more; but if the granitic ftones are
* See his firft Letter, Vom. Innern der Gebirge.
+ Thus Stucke found that 20 oz of water, or 9600
grains, contained 14 grains of filex. Chy. Unterfuch.
119. It was accompanied with aerated magneſia and
argil.
in
( 413 )
in a ſtate of decompofition, as in the lower
mountains they often are in Cornwall, &c.
there they may be metalliferous. On the
other hand, gneifs, and fhiſtofe mica, ar-
gillaceous porphyry, and argillites, being
much fofter, are the principal abodes of
metallic ores.
In Saxony tin ore is found between the
layers of granite. 1 Lempe Mag. 103. 106.
For a farther account of veins, I must re-
fer to Werner's and Gerhard's celebrated
Treatifes, as they are not the direct object
of this Effay.
The formation of entire ftrata of fulphur-
ated ores feems more difficult to explain
on the principles here ftated, as they oc-
cupy ſpaces not previouſly empty, but filled
with another fubftance. This difficulty
will, however, vanifh when it is confidered,
1º. That the matter which at firſt poſ-
feffed the ſpace now occupied by the ful-
phurated metallic fubftances, was, at the
time of its exclufion, 'in a looſe or flightly
coherent ſtate.
2º. That the fulphurated ores are more
or lefs perfectly cryſtallized.
3°. That cryſtallizing fubftances exert a
force
霉
​(414)
force indefinitely ſtrong in removing all ob-
ftacles. Thus water on the point of cryf-
tallizing into ice, burfts even metallic vef-
fels; and thus alum cryftallizing by infen-
fible evaporation, in the midst of a turbid
folution of clay, repels the clayey particles
from the ſpace occupied by its cryſtals.
4°. That the fulphurated ores thus found
in ftrata, are never fo free from heteroge-
neous mixtures as thofe found in veins *.
Sulphurated Silver Ores.
Theſe moſt commonly accompany each
other; thus the vitreous filver ore is accom-
panied often by the red, alfo by galena, or
blendes, or mixed with fulphur pyrites, or
iron ochre, or fiderocalcite, or hepatic py-
rites, fee 2 Pabft's Catal. and Lefke's. The
red filver ore is often accompanied by the
brittle antimoniated, or mixed with iron py-
rites, or blende, or fiderocalcite, or bright
white cobaltic ore, or a finall portion of
galena, or copper pyrites, the light red often
with native arfenic or orpiment.
* Lafius, 423. Monnet Mineralog. 265, 266.
The
!
1
( 415 )
The ores generally mixed with each other
are thoſe, 1º. That have the fame mineral-
izer, and fame degree of folubility. 2°. Thoſe
which are ſoluble in different degrees, but
which in point of local fituation are near-
eft each other. Thefe ores are always in
veins, and never found forming ſtrata, and
yet ſcarce ever in granitic mountains. Wer-
ner Gange, 165. Gerh. Mineralog. 222.
Sulphurated Copper Ores.
1
Copper pyrites is frequently accompanied
with grey copper ore, or mixed with ar-
fenical pyrites or galena, or black or brown
blende, or fulphur pyrites.
It is found both in veins and ftrata.
Wideman. But chiefly in veins. Gerh.
Min. 231.
The grey copper ore, befides antimony,
which it always, and lead and filver, which
it often, contains, is moftly accompanied
by copper pyrites, or galena, fparry iron
ore, fulphur pyrites, brown and yellow
blende. It is found in fecondary, as alfo
in primary, mountains, but chiefly in theſe
laft. 2 Emmerling, 244. per Lehman, that
which
(416)
1
which contains filver is never found in fe-
condary mountains. Lehm. Flotz. Geſch,
125.
·Black copper ore is found with copper py-
rites, grey copper ore, malachite or green
calx of copper alfo with the purple copper
ore, or iron ochre.
Sulphurated Iron.
It occurs in ftrata in bellies and in veins;
the ftriated frequently accompanies galena;
it is itſelf accompanied by fiderocalcite, or
the fparry iron ore, or ochre, or galena,
rarely (as at Menidot near St. Lo in Nor-
mandy) by cinnabar. Monnet Vitrioliz, 15,
16. That in veins has been found accom-
panied with cobalt and filver ores. Charp.
211.
Sulphurated Tin.
Is accompanied by copper pyrites, it is
very rare, and found only in primary
or derivative mountains.
Sulphurated Lead.
It is frequently accompanied with brown,
or yellow, or black blende, copper or ful-
5
phur
(417)
phur pyrites, arfenical pyrites, or ſparry
iron ore; fometimes with red filver ore, or
calamine, cobalt or native arfenic. It is
found in primary and fecondary mountains,
but oftener in primary. Gerh. Mineral. 247.
Sulphurated Zinc.
The blendes are generally accompanied
with galena, grey copper ore, fulphur pyrites;
the black, often with the above, or arfenical
pyrites, or copper pyrites; more rarely with
the white iron ore, or magnetic iron ftone.
Found only in primary mountains, Lehm.
Flotz. 126.
Sulphurated Mercury.
Accompanied with iron ftone, fulphur
pyrites, and arſenical pyrites, ochre, native
mercury, galena, green, blue, or grey, cop-
per ore. Berolding, 209, &c. In Idria it
forms ftrata. Lehm. 220. In the Palatinate
and Idria it is found in fecondary moun-
is, but that of Almaden is found in veins
andſtone, which appears to be primi-
. Bowles, 40, &c.
E.e
Sulphurated
:
(418)
Sulphurated Antimony.
With fulphur pyrites and iron ochre;
chiefly, if not folely, found in primary
mountains. Lehm. Flotz. 126. 220. There
are very few mines of it known.
Sulphurated Cobalt.
With fulphurated nickel, native ochre,
red calx of cobalt, native biſmuth, fulphur-
ated filver ores, copper and arfenical pyrites,
and fulphur pyrites, vitreous copper ore,
galena, blende, fparry iron ore. Found
both in primary and fecondary mountains,
particularly in the troubles of theſe laît.
Lehm. 220.
Sulphurated Bifmuth.
With native bifmuth, fparry iron ore,
tinſtone, arfenical or copper pyrites.
Sulphurated Nickel.
With fulphurated cobalt, and fulphurated
filver ores.
Arfenical Pyrites.
Found only in primeval mountains, of-
tener in layers than in veins. Emmerl. Lehm.
126.
1
1
( 419 )
126. Accompanied by tinftone, galena,
black blende, fparry iron ore, fulphur and
copper pyrites.
Orpiment.
Found principally in fecondary moun-
tains; yet, per Lehm. Flotz. 126, only in
primary; but he contradicts this in p. 214.
Is not accompanied by any other ore but
realgar.
Realgar.
Principally in primary mountains, ac-
companied by native arfenic, galena, red
filver ore, fometimes by cobalt, fulphur py-
rites, grey copper ore, brown blende, grey
and red manganeſe.
Sulphurated Uranite.
Accompanied by galena, copper pyrites,
iron ochre, fometimes by bright cobalt ore,
red calx of cobalt, or vitreous filver ore.
Of Calciform Ores.
Calciform ores are formed by infiltration.
10 Buff. 197.
#
Ee 2
Calciform
(420)
#
Calciform Copper Ores.
Accompanied by each other, alfo by cop-
per pyrites, vitreous copper ore, and brown
iron ſtone, and iron ochre.
Calciform Iron Ores.
Magnetic iron ftone frequently forms layers
in primitive mountains, as in gneifs and
fhiftofe mica, nay, it forms entire moun-
tains; fometimes it is alfo found in fecond-
ary mountains.-Accompanied by fulphur,
or magnetic pyrites, or copper or arfenical
pyrites.
Specular iron ore found partly in veins,
partly in layers, and, perhaps always, only
in primitive mountains. Emerling. Ac-
companied by compact red iron ftone, mag-
netic iron ſtone, fulphur pyrites, rarely with
copper pyrites, or arfenical pyrites, or ga-
lena, or tinftone.-Compact red iron stone
found in veins and layers accompanied by
red hematites.
1
Red hematites found in veins, but princi-
pally forming confiderable layers.
Compact brown iron ftone found in veins,
and vaft ftrata in fecondary mountains.
Voight
}
(421)
Voight Pract. 113. Accompanied with
fparry iron ore, or brown hematites, rarely
with fulphur pyrites, or copper ores.
Sparry iron ore found in primary moun-
tains, but only in veins, or veinftones; alfo in
fecondary mountains. Accompanied by
brown iron ſtone, or fiderocalcite, and very
rarely filver ore. Defcrip. Pyren. 13.
Upland argillaceous iron ftone found in
fecondary mountains only. Accompanied
by calamine, or galena, fometimes with
fulphur pyrites.
Emeril, in Spain it is found in ferrugi-
nous fandſtone, or in iron ſtone.
Calciform
Ores.
The white accompanied by each other,
and galena, iron ochre, fulphur and copper
pyrites, calciform copper ores, fometimes
by brown iron ftone, or brown blende,
Calciform Tin Ores.
Found in veins, or layers, only in prime-
val mountains, as granite, gneifs, fhiftofe
mica, and ſcattered in the difintegrated
maffes of theſe mountains, but never in
calcareous.
Ee 3
(422)
calcareous. Werner Gange, 165. Lehm.
125.
Accompanied with fulphur, copper, or
arſenical pyrites, wolfrom, molybdena, iron
ochre, black, and rarely with brown blende.
Seldom or never with filver ores, lead ores,
or cobalt ores, or with barofelenite, calca-
reous fpar, or gypfum.
Native Turpeth.
Found with galena in Morsfeld. Berold-
ing, 219.
Calciform Zinc Ores.
econdary moun-
Found only
tains, Emerling, never in granitic, gneiffy,
or fhiſto micaceous. Werner Gange, 165.
Accompanied with iron ochre, galena,
white lead ore, compact brown iron ſtone.
Calciform Cobalt.
Found principally in fecondary moun-
tains, but alſo in primary. Accompanied
by other cobalt ores, iron ochre, native fil-
ver, many copper ores, fulphur pyrites, the
red accompanying many other ores.
Calciform
(423)
Calciform Manganefe.
The grey, or bluish, or brownish black, is
frequently accompanied with red or brown
compact iron ſtone, or fparry iron ore.
The red is found with the gold ores of
Nagaya, brown blende, galena, grey copper
ore, copper pyrites, realgar.
Tungflenite.
Found only in primitive mountains.
Uranitic Ores.
Miccompanied by compact red
and brown ron ftone, iron ochre, fome-
times with olive copper ore, or black or
yellow cobalt ores.
Some veins were originally open, as ap-
pears from the rounded ftones and petrifac-
tions found in them; thus in the granitic
mountain of Pangel in Silefia, there is a vein
whofe inclination is 70°. filled with glo-
bular bafalt. 2 Berl. Beob. 197. So alfo
the veins of wacken, called butzen wac-
ken in Joachimftahl in Bohemia, in which
trees and their branches, &c. are found.
1 Chy.
Ee 4
}
(424)
1 Chy. Ann. 1789, 131. See alfo Werner
Gange, § 44, &c. But that all veins were
originally open to day and filled from above,
feems to me improbable. 1°. Becauſe ful-
phurated ores could not thus be formed,
as the waters containing them would im-
mediately be precipitated by contact with
the atmoſphere, and nothing but a flow, gra-
dual, and fucceffive, precipitation, ſkreened
from the atmoſphere, can account for their
cryſtallizing in perfect cryftals of confider-
able fize. 2°. Becauſe inundations con-
veying only metallic particles, without any
mud yet flowing from the furface of the
earth, is highly improbab yet they
muſt have been fuch, elfe all veins would
be filled with depofited mud. 3°. Regulus
of arfenic, which is found in many veins,
could not thus be conveyed, as it would be
immediately oxygenated by expoſure to the
atmoſphere. 4. Becauſe the quantity of
fulphurated metals that could be conveyed
in a ſtate of ſolution, as it muſt have been
to cryſtallize if held in pure water, would
be too ſmall, even in the greateſt veins, to
afford any confiderable crystallization, fo
that numberlefs fucceffive inondations one
knows
(425)
knows not whence, and fucceffive evapo-
rations must be fuppofed. 5°. In fome
veins the ore is found adhering chiefly to
the roof, as in that of Philip Ludwig át
Gablau in Silefia. 1 Gerh. Geſch.. 251.
Muſt not that have been formed by per-
colation? 6°. Becauſe we are led to fuch
fuppofition by no proof alogy, whereas
the theory of fucceffive percolation is ground-
ed on the obſervation of metallic fubftances
being thus conveyed at this day, as already
fhewn. Some mines are found at great
heights, as that of Crumhubell in Silefia,
which contain galena and filver ore. Mem.
Berl. 1771. Whence could the inunda-
tion proceed that could overflow and fill
them? And how often muſt it have been re-
newed for a ferics of years before any con-
fiderable quantity of metal could have been
depoſited?
The objections to the theory of percola-
tion do not feem to me of any weight:
The first objection, namely, that veinſtones
of different fpecies croſs each other in the
fame mountin, only fhews that particles
of ftone of ifferent fpecics were diſperſed
in different parts of the fame mountain, and
3
were
(426)
were affembled by water flowing in differ-
ent paffages and at different Æras. The
ſecond objection, that veinſtones, if firſt
formed, would obftruct the paſſage of me-
tallic particles into the vein, is juſt the
fame that Charpentier and Gerhard made
to the theory of petrifactions; for the cal-
cedonic parte for inftance, that form
the interior of many fhells muſt have tra-
verfed the calcareous, 6 Sauff. 83. and in
ſome inſtances even filiceous; yet this ob-
jection is, in this inftance, justly difregard-
ed. Befides, how many veinſtones are ſtill
penetrated with metallic particles? Are
not cryftals of calcareous fpar found in the
midſt of balls of agate? Lafius, 264. Sce
1 Berl. Beob. 372. and in quartz, 7 Sauff.
84. The third objection, namely, that wa-
ters could not circulate below the bed of
rivers, is equally, and obviouſly, inconclu-
five numberlefs particles of water that
netrate mountains may have no connexion
with the bed of rivers. How many fta-
lactitic concretions are found in the caverns
of Kilkenny, Derbyshire, &c. far below
the level of the adjacent rivers? The fourth
objection, that no metallic particles are
4
pe-
found
( 427 )
:
found in the rocks adjacent to veins, may
be anſwered by ſaying, that the metals have
been long ago carried out of them; befides
the proportion may be fo fmall as to elude
all reſearch, as in the mines of Ramelſberg.
See Schlutter, Chap. IX. hence gold is
not found in the mountains, out of which,
nevertheleſs, it is yearly conveyed by inun-
dations, and 2 Sauff. 411. Mem. Par. and
filver as in Cronstedt's obfervation. More-
over all the advantages fo ingeniouſly de-
duced by Werner, from obferving the va-
rious antiquity of metallic veins, and of
their contents, are equally applicable to the
theory of percolation.
Veinftones, originating only from the mi-
nute particles detached from any combina-
tion, and having (except lime) no particular
connexion with any metal, are indifferently
found with them.
ORES FOUND IN PRIMEVAL MOUNTAINS.
The ores found in primeval mountains,
are principally and commonly the follow-
ing:
In
( 428 )
In Granitic Mountains.
From 2d Lenz. Flurl Bavaria, 256.
Tinſtone, galena, compact brown iron
ftone, fulphur pyrites, hematites, blende,
bifmuthic, cobaltic, arfenical pyrites, and
molybdena, rarely magnetic iron ſtone, 1
Chy. Ann. 1797, III. hence
copper and
filver ores feem excluded, though native
gold, filver, or copper, are not.
In Gneiss.
;
Silver ores, martial, copper and arſenical
pyrites, magnetic iron ſtone, lead ores, tin
ores, blende, and cobalt.
1
In Shiftofe Mica.
Ores of iron, copper, tin, lead, cobalt,
and antimony.
In Stellftein.
Ores of copper, or filver, or lead.
In Hornblende Slate.
Sulphur pyrites, copper orc. Aikin Wales,
119.
In
(429)
In Argillites.
Ore of filver, copper, lead, fulphur py-
rites, blende, calamine. Aikin Wales, 21,
antimonial and mercurial ores; hence ores.
of cobalt, &c. are excluded. The great
belly of ore in the Paris mountain is found
under aluminous flate. Aikin Wales, 136.
In Shiftofe Chlorite.
Sulphur pyrites, octohedral magnetic
iron ftone.
In Grunftein.
That formed of hornblende and mica
fometimes affords ores of copper, or iron,
or fulphur pyrites.
In Clay Porphyry. (Saxum Metalliferum
Bornii.).
Ores of filver, copper, iron, lead, blende,
and antimony.
In Hornftone Porphyry.
Sparry iron ore, fulphur pyrites, galena,
black blende, bifmuthic orcs.
#
In
الم
(430)
}
In Serpentine.
Specular iron ore, magnetic iron ſtone,
fulphur pyrites.
In Trap.
Specular iron ore, magnetic iron ſtone,
fulphur pyrites.
In Wacken.
Iron ſtone, fulphur pyrites, manganeſe.
In primitive Limestone.
Magnetic iron ſtone, fulphur pyrites, cop-
per pyrites, galena, yellow ende.
No veins are found in fandftone, or horn-
flate. Charp. 27.
IN SECONDARY MOUNTAINS.
In compact Limestone.
Copper pyrites, fparry iron ore, fulphur
pyrites, galena, cinnabar. Bowles, 64.
J
Marlite.
Cinnabar. Berolding, 45.
In
( 431 )
In bituminous Marlite. (Lehm. 218.)
Copper ores.
In Chalk.
Pyrites. Monnet Mineralog. 339.
Cinnabar.
In filiciferous Sandstone.
In argillaceous Sandstone.
Vitreous copper ore, malachite, iron ſtone,
fulphur pyrites, cinnabar.
Berolding, 39.
In Rubblefione.
Bowles, 12.
Copper pyrites, fulphur pyrites, galena,
bifmuthic and cobaltic ores.
In Clay.
In blue or grey clay pyrites moſt eaſily
vitriolizable. Monnet Mineralog. 339.
In Gypfum.
Green calx of copper, copper pyrites, grey
copper ore, galena, alfo fulphur and bitu-
men.
In
(432)
In Strata of Coal. (Lehm. 219.). -
Native filver, copper and fulphur pyrites,
galena, manganeſe.
Metallic Strata found in fecondary
Mountains. (Lehm. 220.)
Iron ſtone, fulphur pyrites, calamine, cin-
nabar.
ESSAY
1
( 433 )
ESSAY X.
ON THE HUTTONIAN THEORY OF THE
EARTH.
On this theory I have already made fuch
remarks as appeared to me fufficient to
fhew its inconfiftency with actual appear-
ances, in a memoir inferted among thofe of
the Royal Iriſh Academy, in the fifth vo-
lume; to theſe Dr. Hutton has ſince thought
proper to reply with much acrimony, in an
enlarged republication of his theory, form-
ing two thick 8vo volumes; a detailed ex-
amination of all he has there advanced
would neceffarily be as voluminous; but, if
I miſtake not, wholly fuperfluous. It will
be fufficient to fubvert the fundamental
principles upon which his fyftem is con-
ftructed, and occafionally to point out the
abfurdities that flow from it: to fulfil this
taſk we need only examine a few chapters
of his work.
Ff
In
(434)
In his first chapter, he endeavours to eí-
tabliſh the fundamental points of his theory,
which may be comprized in the following
propofitions:
1º. That the foil which ferves as a bafis
for vegetation is nothing but the materials.
collected from the deftruction of the folid
land, and that it, and the materials of which
mountains are formed, are gradually de-
tached, and unceasingly carried forwards by
the circulation and propulfion of water into
the unfathomable regions of the fea, and,
confequently, that in fome indefinite time
the land muſt be deſtroyed; but is after-
wards to be renovated by ſubſequent opera-
tions; thefe operations, which lead partly
to deſtruction and partly to renovation, he
calls the natural operations of the globe.
2º. That the dry land which we now in-
habit, was formed in the ocean, from mate-
rials conveyed into it, from an anterior ha-
bitable earth, and in particular that calca-
reous earth, or limeſtone, originates from
marine animals.
3°. That the loote materials thus col-
lected, muſt have been confolidated by heat
and congelation from a previous fufion; and
not
(435)
not by accretion, or cryftallization from
water.
Laſtly, that the fubftances thus conſoli-
dated, have been elevated to their actual
height over the feas and ocean, by extreme
heat, and expanded by an amazing force,
and form our preſent continents.
Examination of the first Propofition.
This confifts of feveral parts; 1º. That
all our actual foil, or the actual furface of
the earth, confifts of particles detached
from the more folid land, and that all moun-
tains are in a ſtate of increafing decompo-
fition. 2º. That this foil, and thofe par-
ticles, detached by decompofition, are ne-
ceffarily carried into the abyffes of the
ocean. 3. That in confequence of this
conftant decay and deftruction, all our
mountains muft in time be levelled, and
our continents deſtroyed.
To juftify this conclufion, the two firſt
mentioned facts fhould be eſtabliſhed in
their univerfality; for if all foil does not
arife from decompofition, and if all moun-
tains are not in a ſtate of decay, there is no
Ff 2
room
( 436 )
room to fuppofe that the former conftantly
travels to the fea, nor that all the latter will
ever be levelled. Now all foil does not
arife from decompofition, for a calcareous
foil often covers a clay that contains no
limestone, and the folid rock under this, is
often of the granitic kind; of this I have
already quoted an inſtance obferved at Do-
lau in Germany, where an effervefcent
calciferous clay covers another which does
not effervefce, and confequently of a totally
different naturc. Sauffure alfo remarks that
the fand near Aliaffon appears not to have
been abraded from any rock, but to have
cryftallized on the ſpot whereon it is depo-
fited. 5 Sauff. § 1375. Therefore thefe
foils did not arife from the decompofition
of the ſtones at leaſt, on which they reſt;
nor are all mountains fubject to decay, for
inſtance, ſcarce any of thoſe that conſiſt of
red granite. The ftone of which the runic
rocks are formed have withſtood decompo-
ſition theſe 2000 years, as their characters
evince, and of this fort of granite whole
mountains are formed in Sweden and Fin-
land. 19 Schwed. Abhand. 221. 223, 24.
Patrin alfo remarks the fame indeftructili-
£
lity
( 437 )
lity of granites near Lyons. 4 Nev. Nord.
Beytr. 170. This univerfal degradation of
mountains is alfo denied by that great ob-
ferver, Mr. Monnet; fee his Mineralogy,
p. 61, in the note. Bafaltic pillars in gene-
ral bid defiance to decay, as is evident from
their angles; even where this degradation
takes place, it is in a degree conſtantly de-
creaſing, and, confequently, muſt ceaſe long
before the period at which the mountains
could be levelled with the plains, either
through the protection of vegetation, as
Mr. de Luc has amply fhewn in his 28th
and 29th, &c. Letters to the Queen, or
through other caufes; for the rocks that
ſtood at the entrance of the port of Alex-
andria, though continually beaten by the
waves thefe 2000 years, ftill fubfift in their
ancient integrity, as Dolomieu has well re-
marked. 42 Roz. 50. However I fhall
readily allow that in many places much of
the foil has arifen from the decompofition
of the ſtone whereon it refts, or was con-
veyed by the ancient extenfion of rivers or
floods from circumjacent mountains; but
I muſt deny that it is in general true that it
travels, ever fo flowly, to the fea, as where
Ff 3
there
( 438 )
1
there is no declivity, there is no reaſon to
ſuppoſe that either it or the water that
falls upon it are carried forward; and thus,
by far the greater part of the earth's fur-
face is circumftanced. Even in cafes where
the progrefs of detached particles has been
at firſt forwarded by declivities, it is after-
wards frequently arrefted by the expanſion of
the waters that convey them. For instance,
in lakes where theſe particles are for the
moſt part depoſited; hence Mr. Aikin could
diſcover ſcarce any earthy particles in the
waters of the lake Bala, in the midſt of
Wales. See his Tour, p. 24. and as to ftones
of any bulk, Bowles has fhewn, that none,
not even of thoſe that have been rounded by
rolling, arrive at the fea. Bowles Spain. 506,&c.
But the moſt important miſtake in this
part of the Doctor's Theory confifts in his
fuppofition, that the fand and foil conveyed
to the fea, by many and even moft, great
rivers, are depofited in the unfathomable
depths of the ocean; whereas nothing is
more certain than that they are depofited
at the mouths of thofe rivers, or at a ſmall
diſtance from thoſe mouths, and there form
prolongations of the land that incroach on
1
the
༣
>
( 439 )
the fea; among innumerable inftances, I
fhall quote only a few. Notwithſtanding
the rapidity of the Rhone, it was from its
depofitions that the plains of Crau and
Camarque, in lower Languedoc, were
formed, and what is carried into the fea is
rejected on the fhore by the currents of the
Mediterranean, as Mr. Pouget has fhewn.
Mem. Par. 1775, 562. Dolomieu has
proved that great part of lower Lombardy
has been won from the fea by the depofi-
tions of the Po; and inſtead of the fea's
retreating from Ravenna, as many have
imagined, that the land has been extended
by the fame caufe, much beyond that city.
42 Roz. 47, &c. All the ancients agree
that the greater part of Egypt originated
from the depofitions of the Nile, and at
this day, the fludge depofited at its mouth
forms fhoals which are elevated above the
level of the river by the waves of the fea
which repel the fand and mud, as Volney
obſerved. Egypt, p. 31. and hence the old
town of Damietta, anciently fituated near
the fea, is now by the prolongation of the
land, 2 leagues from it. 42 Roz. 196.—
In the fame manner Holland, and great
Ff4
part
(440)
ī
part of Flanders, and the fhoals on their
coafts, originated from the depofitions of
the Rhine, Meufe, Schelde, &c. as is gene-
rally acknowledged, and is evident from
the fluviatile fhells difcovered in fundry
excavations. The greater and more rapid
rivers, as the Ganges, and Bourampooter,
after depofiting the greater part of the fand
and mud with which they are charged, at
their mouths, and forming extenfive Deltas,
convey fome part into the fea, but to no
great diſtance, as Major Rennell has ob-
ferved. Hence there is no reafon whatfo-
ever to fuppofe that inland waters convey
any portion of earth into the unfathomable
depths of the fea, but there are many that
may perfuade us, that not a particle is car-
ried to any confiderable diſtance from the
coafts. Mariners were accuſtomed for fome
centuries back to diſcover their fituation
by the kind of earth or fand brought up by
their founding plummets, a method which
would prove fallacious if
fallacious if the furface of
the bottom did not continue invariably
the fame. Fortis in his travels through
Dalmatia, p. 282, relates that urns thrown
into the Adriatic upwards of 1400 years, fo
far
(441)
far from being covered with mud, were
found in the fame fituation as they could
be ſuppoſed to have been the first day of
their fall; therefore notwithſtanding many
particles of earth are by rivers conducted to
the fea, yet none are conveyed to any dif-
tance, but are either depofited at their
mouths, or rejected by currents or by tides*.
And the reafon is, becauſe the tide of flood
is always more impetuous and forcible than
the tide of ebb, the advancing waves being
preſſed forward by the countleſs number be-
hind them, whereas the retreating are preff-
ed backward by a far fmaller number, as
muſt be evident to an attentive fpectator,
and hence it is that all floating things caft
into the ſea, are at laſt thrown on fhore,
and not conveyed into the mid regions of
the fea, as they should be if the reciprocal
undulations of the tides were equally pow-
erful. Frifi in fome of his mathematical
treatiſes remarks, that if any conſiderable
maſs of matter were accumulated in the
interior of the ocean, the diurnal motion of
the globe would be diſturbed, and confe-
* See 1 Varen. chap. 18, prep. 9.
I
quently
(442)
↓
quently it would be perceptible, a pheno-
menon, however, of which no hiſtory or
tradition gives any account. Polybius, fe-
duced by the fame reaſons as Dr. Hutton,
imagined that the Black Sea, which is fo
narrow, and into which fo many great rivers
diſcharge themſelves, would in fome centu-
ries be filled up, and by computation it may
be fhewn it ſhould. See Buff. Hiſt. 70,
2
&c. and 154. and yet after more than 20
centuries that have fince elapfed, we have
no reaſon to think that it is at prefent fhal-
lower than in his time, on the contrary, its
furface has been narrowed by immenſe pro-
longations of the continent, and in this
manner, if the rivers did not gradually de-
creaſe, it would probably at laſt be nearly
filled, but not by any elevations in the
middle (which would be the conſequence
of the Doctor's theory), of which there
is not the leaſt appearance. So the whole
country about Peterſburg was formed by
depofitions from the Neva, and even ſtrata
of ſtone were thus formed, for a boat, and
human ribs, and reeds, were found under
the ftony ftratum. I Nev. Nord. Betyr.
133. Here perhaps we might ſtop, as this.
principal
(443)
principal foundation of the Doctor's theory
being fubverted, it were needlefs to detect
its remaining defects; but as he may reply,
that if only one particle were detached
from the moft folid rocks in 4000 years,
and only off particle carried into the mid
regions of the deep in the fame ſpace of
time (a fuppofition it would be difficult to
difprove), in fome immenfe future period
the folid land of our continent would be
deftroyed, a cataſtrophe which he imagines.
has already ſeveral times happened, it will
be neceffary to fhew from the inconfiftency
of his hypothefis with actual appearances,
that whatever may happen in future, no-
thing of this fort has heretofore happened.
Examination of the fecond Propofition.
That the dry land which we now inha-
bit was formed in the bofom of the ocean,
I have already proved in the former eſſays;
though not from the materials of a former
habitable globe, of which the Doctor brings
no proof but what has been juſt refuted;
but that all calcareous earth originates from
fea animals, I muſt deny; on the contrary,
4
we
(444)
!
។
we have ſtrong reafon to think that marine
animals obtain calcareous earth from their
food, for it is well known that fea water
contains felenite; and with refpect to land
animals, it is faid that hens produce eggs
without ſhells when deprived of acceſs to
mortar or other calcareous matter; whether
this be true or not, it is certain that all ani-
mals and moſt vegetables, take in calcareous
earth with their food, of which it appears
to be an effential ingredient, therefore, an
habitable earth fimilar to ours, (and fuch
Dr. Hutton fuppofes) could not have ex-
iſted at any period without that earth.
But whether habitable or not habitable, unleſs
the Doctor will alfo fuppofe the globe to
have exiſted without any ſtone, he cannot
confiftently with actual appearances fuppofe
it to have exifted without this earth, as
there is no fpecies of ftone (except a few
of the rareft) into whofe compoſition it
does not enter, confequently it muſt have
exifted in thofe that formed the bafis of
the ſea, and therefore have preceded the ex-
iftence of fea animals. The Doctor indeed
allows that vaft maffes of calcareous matter
exift in which no animal remains can be
difcovered,
}
( 445 )
diſcovered, but thefe, he fays, were cryſtal-
lized by fufion, which obliterated all trace
of animal matter, P. 322, 325. the
truth of this affertion we fhall now exa-
mine.
Examination of the third Propofition.
To decide the queftion how fuch con-
tinents as we now have, could have been
elevated above the fea, from materials
collected at its bottom (as he thinks he has
proved in his firſt propofition) we muſt, he
fays, examine how they could have been
confolidated into maffes of the greateſt ſo-
lidity having neither water nor vacuity be-
tween their various conftituent parts, nor
in the pores of theſe conſtituent parts
themſelves; but we have already fhewn
that there is no reafon to think that our
continents have arifen from the materials.
collected at the bottom of the fea, from
the detritus of a former continent, nor is it
true that minerals contain no water in their
compofition or between their pores but the
very reverfe is the truth as we ſhall pre-
fently fee. There are but two ways, the
Doctor
+
(446)
Doctor tells us, by which fpungy bodies
may be confolidated and fubftances formed
into maſſes of a regular ſtructure; the one
of thefe is congelation from a fluid ftate by
cold; the other by accretion from a folution
in water, p. 44. This laft mode he rejects
for reaſons which I fhall foon examine, and
adopts the firſt, principally from the al-
leged impoffibility of applying the ſecond.
The only direct reaſons he adduces are the
following.
1° Flints are found perfectly infulated
both in chalk and fand, and their form de-
monſtrates that they have been introduced
by injection, and have congealed from a
ftate of fufion; but to defcribe theſe con-
vincing appearances, would, he fays, re-
quire à too prolix detail; inſpection alone
he thinks fufficient; yet to Mr. De Luc
and other geologifts, infpection, it ſeems,
has fuggeſted a very different theory. This
fort of injection, of whofe ingrefs not the
leaft trace is to be found, feems to me im-
poffible; it is to be noted that flints are.
found in ftrata, and at different heights,
and placed with the utmoſt regularity,
appearances utterly incompatible with this
theory.
I
1
}
( 447 )
theory. Many other folid objections to it are
urged by Mr. De Luc, in the Monthly Re-
view for 1790, p. 209, to which I refer, but
a demonſtration of its falfehood has lately
been diſcovered, for 126 filver coins have
been found inclofed in flints, at Grinoc, in
Denmark. Schneider Topograph. Mineral.
114. and an iron nail at Potſdam, Ibid.
2º Pieces of foffil wood have been
found penetrated with flinty matters, in
theſe the injected flint appears to him to
to have been in a fimple fluid ftate, and
not in a ſtate of folution in water, firft, be-
cauſe however little of the wood is left un-
penetrated, the divifion, he fays, is always
diſtinct between the injected part and that
which is not penetrated by the fluid flint,
there is no partial impregnation nor any
gradation of the flintyfying operation, ast
muſt have been if the filiceous matter had
been depofited from a folution; and fecond-
ly becauſe the termination of the flinty
impregnation has affumed fuch a form, as
would naturally happen from a fluid flint
penetrating that body. Mr. De Luc,
however, who has feen all thefe fpecimens
of foffil wood, thinks their various appear-
ances
(448)
:
ances contradict the Doctor's hypothefis*,
and indeed fpecimens occur whofe appear-
ances are abfolutely incompatible with it;
for inſtance, thofe in which the ligneous
fibres are diſtinctly petrified, fo that each
of them may be feparated from the
other, and thofe which exactly exhibit
the traces of organization. Could theſe arife
from a mere fiery injection that ſhould
deftroy all fibres, and form an uniform
maſs? and in every cafe what ſhould be-
come of the ligneous part diſplaced by the
injection? it could not evaporate or be
burned, for the Doctor fuppofes a compref-
fion which fhould prevent all evaporation,
and it was not driven out, for the place it
paffed through fhould be diſcerned, but
this is one of the many inconfiftencies of his
fyſtem which the Doctor has entirely over-
looked. In fome cafes, only the worms
that corroded the wood are petrified. What
confined his melted flint to thefe only? Sec
Neret's paper in 17 Roz. Whereas that
* Monthly Review, 1790, p. 211.
+ 17 Roz. 303, &c. and 6 Nev. Nord. Beytrage
118. and Fougeroux in Mem. Par. 1759, quoted in
10 Buff. Sup. 191.
water
(449)
water has frequently a petrifying power is
notorious and evident, as the petrifaction
of wood inferted in fuch water reaches as
high as the water reaches, and no higher,
and the water is found impregnated with
the fame ftony matter as that of the petri-
faction. See the inftance recorded at the
end of the first volume of Don Ulloa's
Voyages, and the petrifaction of the wood
of Trajan's Bridge, mentioned in the 4th
Effay.
That petrifactions proceed from water
impregnated with the petrifying matter
appears alſo from this, that wood petrified
by iron is more plentifully found in the
vicinity of martial fprings. I Nev. Nord.
Betyr. 135. neither is the first fact on
which the Doctor principally relies ge-
nerally true. Collini in the 12th chapter
of his Voyages, p. 166, French edition,
tells us that in fome fhells converted into
agates, the filiceous impregnation is par-
tial and gradual. J'ai obfervé que dans
même noyau furtout de turbinite, les
degrés de lapidification varioient de mani-
ere, qu'il etoit totalement converti en agate
tranſparente au fommet et qu'à meſure
G g
qu'on
(450)
qu'on remontoit vers l'ouverture de la co-
quille la lapidification n'avoit produit
qu'une pierre moins dure et opaque, juſqu'
à la partie fuperieure du noyau qui n'a-
voit acquis qu'une tres legere cohefion.
3°. Foffil alkali called trona has been
found in the ſouthern parts of Africa,
cryftallized in a peculiar manner, which,
contrary to the habit of common foda,
does not effervefce nor liquify in a mo-
derate heat, and as the Doctor thinks,
contains no water of cryftallization, and
therefore muſt have been in a ſtate of
fufion immediately before its congelation
and cryftallization. If it has been fuſed, it
muſt have been fo in circumftances very
different from thofe in which the Doctor
ſuppoſes ſuch extraordinary fufions to have
taken place, for it is found not running in
veins in beds of rock falt, as Doctor Monro
ſuppoſed, but on the ſurface of the earth*
forming a cruft at moſt an inch thick, con-
fequently, if fufed, moft of its fixed air
muſt have eſcaped, whereas it contains
fomewhat more of this than common foda
does.
* 35 Schwed Abhandl. 131.
Through
(451)
Through the goodneſs of Dr. Black, I
obtained nearly an ounce of this ſubſtance,
and found its internal structure nearly as
mentioned; it did not effervefce in a flight
heat as common foda does, but it did
effervefce in a heat of 300°, and therefore
loft water; but to determine the quantity
of this water, I faturated the trona with vi-
triolic acid, and found it to contain 34 per
cent nearly of fixed air, 41,9 of mere al-
kali, and 1,8 of reddiſh fand, the remaining
22,3 grains were therefore water. This
proportion of water is indeed much ſmaller
than that contained in 100 parts of com-
mon foda, and the proportion of fixed air is
greater; but this arifes from the different
circumſtances of its cryftallization. Com-
mon foda is cryſtallized in mere water,
this on the contrary germinated from the
earth, and was expofed to a burning fun;
and it is well known that falts cryſtallized
at a high temperature contain lefs water
than thoſe in a low. It is evident how-
ever, it was not fuſed, elſe the few grains
of fand found in it would have been vitri-
fied. His remaining proofs being indirect,
confiſting in objections to the theory of
G g 2
the
( 452 )
the aqueous folution of minerals, I fhall
confider under that head: as for his ar-
guments from the ſtructure of ſeptaria, I
do not perceive their force, and there-
fore paffing them by, I fhall now ſtate my
reaſons for rejecting the opinion that mine-
rals owe their folidity to congelation from
fufion.
1
My first objection to this theory is, that
it is grounded on a fuppofition (or at leaſt
we may infer from it) that at fome paft
period a degree of heat prevailed under the
ocean fuperior to any that has ever been
known to exift, and which must have
taken effect in circumftances the leaft fa-
vourable to its production and exertion;
thus in the Doctor's hypothefis, the enor-
mous mountains of calcareous matter in
which no animal remains have been de-
tected, fuch as are found in Swifferland,
Tyrole, Siberia, &c. were fufed, and not
only fufed but cryftallized by this heat:
to form fome idea of the heat requifite to
effect this fufion, we muſt recollect that
the heat produced in the focus of a large
burning glaſs, is much fuperior to any that
can be produced in any furnace, but much
inferior
8
( 453 )
inferior to that produced by pure air acting
on burning charcoal, and yet neither La-
voifier nor any other experimenter has been
able to fuſe the ſmalleſt viſible particle of
pure limeſtone in this prodigious heat. Mr.
Sauffure indeed, has of late fucceeded in
melting a particle of it, but fo fmall that it
could be difcerned only by a microſcope.
What then muſt have been the heat necef-
fary to melt whole mountains of this matter?
Judging then from all we at preſent know
of heat, ſuch a high degree could only be
produced by the pureft air acting on an enor-
mous quantity of combuſtible matter: now
Ehrman obferved that the combuſtion of
280 cubic inches of air acting on charcoal,
was not able to effect the fufion of one
grain of Carrara marble, from whence it is
apparent that all the air in the atmoſphere,
nor in ten atmoſpheres, would not melt a
ſingle mountain of this ſubſtance of any ex-
tent, even if there were a fufficient quantity
of inflammable matter for it to act upon.
Judging alfo of fubterraneous heat by what
we know of that of volcanoes, no fuch heat
exifts; the higheſt they in general produce
is that requifite for the fufion of the volcanic
Gg 3
glafs,
(454)
glafs, called obfidian, which Sauffure found
not to exceed 115° of Wedgewood, but ba-
faltine, which requires 140° of Wedge-
wood, is never melted in the lavas of Etna;
how little capable then would volcanic heat
be to effect the fufion of Carrara marble,
which, according to the fame excellent au-
thor, would require a heat of upwards of
6300° of Wedgewood, if this pyrometer
could extend fo far? And in what circum-
ftances does Doctor Hutton fuppofe this
aftoniſhing heat to have exifted, and even
ftill to exift? Under the ocean in the bow-
els of the earth, where neither a fufficient
quantity of pure air nor of combuftible mat-
ter capable of ſuch mighty effects can with
any appearance of probability be ſuppoſed
to exift; and without theſe, fuch degrees
of heat cannot even be imagined without
flying into the region of chimeras. Volca-
noes give no countenance to ſuch a ſuppo-
fition, their heat is not commonly greater
than that which may be effected by the
abforption of fulphur by various metallic
ſubſtances, as the Dutch philofophers have
lately fhewn. To this train of reaſoning
Doctor Hutton anfwers, p. 253, "That it
66 was
(455)
And
P. 35,
"was improper to try his theory by fire."
There may be fome difficulty
"in conceiving the modifications of fubter-
"raneous heat; but as on the one hand we
(6
are not arbitrarily to affume an agent for
"the purpoſe of explaining events, or cer-
"tain appearances, which are not under-
"C
ftood, fo on the other we must not re-
"fuſe to admit the action of a known pow-
"er, when this is properly fuggefted by ap-
pearances; and though we may not un-
"derſtand the modifications, capacity, and
regulation of this power, we are not to
neglect the appropriating to it as a cauſe,
thofe effects that are natural to it, and
66
66
66
which, fo far as we know, cannot belong
"to any other." Much is here untruly
ſuppoſed with refpect to the known power
of heat, which I fhall not now notice, but
fingly examine how far its operation is fug-
gefted by the actual ftate and appearance
of mineral fubftances.
My next objection then to the Doctor's
theory is, that the actual ſtate of all mine-
rals preſents appearances incompatible with
the fuppofition that they originated from
heat or fufion. 1°. Almoſt all ſtones lofe fome
h
Gg 4
part
( 456 )
part of their weight*, and are altered either
in their hardneſs, luftre, colour, or permea-
bility, to light, when heated; could this
happen if to heat they owed their origin?
the affiftance of compreffion in this and the
following inftances is in vain invoked.
The ingredients of granite are found dif-
tinct and ſeparate from each other, and the
felfpar opake and without blebs; now if
theſe ingredients were fufed they would
run into each other, and the felfpar would
either have blebs, or if melted in a high
heat would form a tranſparent glaſs; the
quartz would alſo become opake, as it al-
ways does on being heated, the mica alfo
would have been vitrified, therefore the ap-
pearance of this aggregate is incompatible
with the ſuppoſition of its having been
fuſed. Sir James Hall attempts an an-
ſwer to this objection, which I fhall ex-
amine hereafter.
2º. Granularly foliated limeſtone, in
which no animal remains exift, and which
the Doctor would perfuade us was cryſtal-
lized by fufion, is often fod feated on
* See Effay IV.
argillite,
(457)
argillite, and even intercepted between the
laminæ of argillite; yet the argillite, (one
of the moſt fuſible of all ſtones,) not only
diſcovers no marks of fufion, nor even of
having been heated; Is not this impoffible
on the fuppofition that the limeſtone was
melted? The Doctor tells us, that fhells
originally exifted in limeſtone, but were
deſtroyed by heat; but here he contra-
dicts his own hypothefis, namely, that the
fufion took effect under a compreffion
that prevented the volatilization of all
aerial fluids; if he fays they remain, but
unaltered in their form, I afk, how they
came to remain unaltered in their form in
a heat fufficient to melt them, as they do
in many filiceous ftones? for in company
with thefe, which according to him were
in fuſion, they alſo ſhould have been fuſed.
Again, ftrata of granular limeſtone are of-
ten intercepted between ſtrata of gneifs,
and even alternate with them, and me-
tallic veins paſs without interruption through
each, a proof of their coeval formation;
but where the vein paffes through the lime-
ftone it is deftitute of metal; and even
the metallic fubftances found in each differ
both in nature and pofition, as Charpentier
has
(458)
has obferved. Lettere Oritologice al Sr Ar-
duino.
-
Now it is evident that the heat
which could melt the limeftone fhould
melt alfo the ftrata of gneifs, which is
much more fufible, and confound both.
This obfervation alfo proves that metals
were not thrown up in a ſtate of fufion into
the veins that contain them (another opi-
nion of Dr. Hutton's), elſe ſome would be
found in that part of the vein that tra-
verfes the limeſtone.
To theſe confiderations I fhall add a de-
monſtration that pure limeſtone, ſuch as
Carrara marble, did not originate from
ſhells; it is this, phoſphoric acid is found in
moſt ſhells *, but none is found in pure lime-
ſtone, Mem. Turin. 1789, 63. and its abſence
cannot be attributed to fufion, for phoſpho-
ric acid is indeſtructible by heat.
3. Stony fubftances are often found fu-
perimpoſed on clay, which has not the ap-
pearance even of having been baked; how
could that happen if both were heated from
beneath?
4. Various filiceous cryftals, and fome
gems are found terminated by perfect py-
* See Mr. Hatchett's curious paper in Phil. Tranſ,
1799, Part II.
ramids
( 459 )
ramids at both ends, without any mark of
adherence; if theſe were formed in water
fuch formation may be conceived, as the
primordial particles might be fupported by
that fluid, but they cannot be ſuppoſed, to
have been formed by fufion, as during that
operation they muſt have been ſupported by
fome folid to which they would afterwards
adhere, and thus their fhape on feparation
would be deſtroyed.
5°. The impreffions of fhorls and other
ftones more fufible than quartz, are often
found deeply engraved in it; they muſt
therefore, if in fufion, have congealed,
while the quartz was ftill in fufion which
is a contradiction in terms.
6°. Pure minute filiceous cryſtals are
found difperfed even in Carrara marble;
the granular limeftone of Dauria and Swif
ferland abound in filiceous and argillaceous
particles; now if thefe calcareous maffes
had been fufed, this could not happen, as
thefe fubftances are fluxes to each other,
and run into a common mafs. Fluors and
gypfum have alfo been found cryſtallized
in the midſt of fubftances into which, if
fuſed, they ſhould flow, and with them, by
the
(460)
the laws of affinity, form one common maſs,
as is daily experienced.
7°. Shells, in their natural fhape and
with their natural pearly luftre, have been
found imbedded in flints and hornftones ;
Could this happen if the flints, &c. had
been melted? if it could, why are they ne-
ver found in granite or gneifs, &c? Again,
as to metallic fubftances and ores, they
equally diſclaim an igneous origin.
Thus, 1°. Gold is found native in large
maſſes in the county of Wicklow, many
fpecimens, to all external appearance even
when examined with a microſcope, per-
fectly free from ftony ſubſtances. I have
examined one of theſe ſpecimens, and found
its ſpecific gravity only 13. but after it had
been melted its ſpecific gravity amounted to
18. and many fandy particles appeared on
its furface; thefe, therefore (and perhaps
fome vacuities), were originally difperfed
through its maſs, which could not happen
if it had originated from fufion, fince by the
laws of gravity the grains of fand ſhould
float on its furface, as they afterwards did
when it was really fufed. Mr. Alcohorn,
I am informed, fawed a piece of this found
in
( 461 )
in Wicklow, and found grains of quartz
and ironſtone in the middle of it. In the
fame manner native filver is often found in-
ternally mixed with quartz, 2 Roz. 197,
which could not happen if the filver had
been fufed.
2°. The fulphurated filver ore is fre-
quently found incorporated with calx of
iron; now if it had been formed by fufion,
this could not happen, as the fulphur would
unite preferably to the iron.
3°. Cryſtallized amalgamas of filver and
mercury are found in the Dutchy of Deux
Ponts. Could theſe have been formed by
heat? Magnetifm is deftroyed by heat,
and magnets cannot be formed by fufion,
but they may by ruft and water, therefore
that iron ore was never fufed.
3. Specular iron is found lining the in-
fide of gun barrels in which water had been
decompofed, by fufion this compound would
be deftroyed; the natural was not there-
fore formed by fufion.
5°. Galena may be imitated in the dry
way, but imperfectly, for that fo formed
does not decrepitate when heated, whereas
the natural does, therefore this was not
formed by fufion.
6º. Pyrites
•
(462)
6°. Pyrites may be formed by fufion, but
fuch pyrites differs much from the natural,
the natural is yellow, the artificial never;
the natural is fcarcely fufible, the artificial
eafily; the natural contains abundance of
fulphur and yields it by diſtillation; artifi-
cial cannot be made to yield any.
7º. Cinnabar may alſo be formed by heat,
but the artificial differs from the native;
the native is almost always of a compact
or foliated texture, whereas that formed by
heat is fibrous or ftriated.
8'. So alfo regulus of antimony fulphur-
ated by nature takes up upwards of 35 per
cent. of fulphur, but by fufion the fame
quantity of regulus cannot be made to
take
up 30 per cent. of fulphur.
9°. Blendes, or fulphurated zinc ores,
contain a large proportion of water, which
could not happen if they were produced by
fufion, but is not furprifing if they were
formed in water; moreover fulphur and
zinc can ſcarcely be brought to unite in
the dry way.
10. Native precipitate, per fe, or oxygen-
ated mercury, is frequently diffufed through
bituminous clay or ilates; heat would im-
mediately
6
(463)
this ore
mediately feparate the oxygen,
therefore was formed in the moiſt way.
11°. Cobalt and bifmuth are found
united in cobaltic ores, but thefe metals do
not mix with each other in fufion, there-
fore they were not formed by it.
-12°. In the cobalt ore, called reticular
cobalt, we fee the cobalt running in veins
through quartz, and yet the quartz on each
fide remains untinged, which could not
happen if the cobalt had been in fufion. In
many caſes we ſee the quartz tinged red by
cobalt, whereas if fufion had taken place,
the tinge fhould have been blue.
13°. White calx of manganefe blackens
when heated, now this calx is found na-
tive, therefore this was never heated.
14°. Sulphur if heated in contact with
oxygen, muſt have been converted into vi-
triolic acid; and for the fame reafon, no na-
tive regulus, but rather calx of arfenic,
ſhould exift, therefore the abfence of oxygen
in a heat that could be produced only by
oxygen, is a new fuppofition to be added
to the Huttonian theory.
Thefe inftances I think fufficient to
prove,
(464)
prove, that the actual state and appearance of
minerals are not due to previous fuſion.
water.
The Doctor indeed, feems to reft the
neceffity of admitting his theory chiefly on
the impoffibility of afcribing the acknow-
ledged original fluidity or foftneſs of mine-
rals to any other caufe but igneous fuſion.
There are juſt two ways, he fays, by which
porous bodies may be confolidated, and
formed into maffes of a regular ſtructure,
namely, congelation from a fluid ſtate by
cold, and accretion by cryftallization from
His arguments againſt this laſt
widely difperfed through his whole work,
or at leaft, the principal among them, I
fhall now confider, but expreſſed in my
own words, as the author's ftatements are
intolerably perplexed and diffufe, and more-
over frequently refer to that part of his
theory which I have already refuted, name-
ly, that all minerals were originally collect-
ed at the bottom of the fea from the mate-
rials of an anterior continent, and confe-
quently in a pungy porous ftate, as he calls
it.
1º. If it was from a folution in water
that minerals were formed, it is impoffible
to
1
(465)
to conceive how theſe maſſes ſhould have
been confolidated without any viſible water
in their compofition; the anſwer to this is
obvious; falts daily cryftallize in water,
without retaining any visible in their com-
pofition. Barytic lime acquires a ftony
hardneſs on being barely flacked *. The
depofitions of the fprings of Cartſbad, in
Bohemia, the cruft formed in common
tea kettles are other inftances of ftony
maffes formed in water without retain-
ing any viſible in their compofition. Doc-
tor Black can tell him, " that when con-
cretions of filiceous earth are once form-
ed, and afterwards receive frequent ad-
ditions of the fame matter, which in-
finuating itſelf into the pores of the con-
cretion is fixed there, and increaſes their
denfity and folidity, the mafs may in time
acquire a furpriſing degree of hardneſs, the
petrifactions of Geyfer are undoubtedly form-
ed in this manner, and fome of them are fo
denſe and hard, that they can hardly be
diftinguiſhed from agate or calcedony. 3
Edin. Tranf. p. 114.
The obfervations of
* Annales de Chym. p. 278, 283.
H h
Rinman,
( 466 )
Rinman, and Mr. Edward King, quoted at
large in my 4th Effay, are alfo full to the
purpoſe.
2. The Doctor infifts, that if water had
been the menftruum by which confolidating
matter had been introduced into the inter-
ftices of ftrata, then water fhould be con-
fidered as an univerfal menftruum, in con-
tradiction to chemical principles, for there
are ftrata confolidated by calcareous ſpar,
by fluors, by fulphureous or bituminous
fubftances, by filiceous matter; all which
fubftances are infoluble in water. P. 53.
he afferts that no filiceous body having the
hardneſs of flint, nor any cryftallization of
that fubftance, have ever been formed ex-
cept by fufion. From this paragraph one
would be apt to infer that flints and filice-
ous cryſtals have in fome experiments been
formed by fufion, whereas the truth is, that
no flint or pure filiceous cryftal have ever
been known to have been fufed, except the
microſcopic particle fufed by Sauffure, as al-
ready mentioned, and that the fufibility of
filiceous matter in any known heat, with-
out the affiftance of fluxes, which enter
into the compofition of the refulting com-
pound,
( 467 )
pound, is as much or more oppoſite to che-
mical principles than the folubility of fili-
ceous matter in water, I fay more oppofite,
becauſe filiceous particles have, frequently
been found diffolved in water, as I have
Thewn in many inftances, both in the 4th
and 7th Effays, and therefore need not
here repeat. The infolubility of filiceous
matter proceeds from its integrant affinity:
thus Mr. Macie found powdered flints in-
foluble. Phil. Tranf. 1791. 385. hence
when it is fufficiently comminuted, as I
have ſhewn it originally to have been, there
is no obstacle to its folution. Water cannot,
however, be called an univerfal menftruum,
as a menftruum is a fluid whofe fpecific affi-
nity to the particles of a folvend is greater
than the integrant affinity of the ultimate
particles of the folvend to each other. His
affertion that ftrata are folidified by fpars,
filiceous matter, fluors, &c. is perfectly chi-
merical, and reſts folely on his own peculiar
opinion that they were originally depofited
in a foft ftate, but hardened by the con-
gelation of thofe fufed fubftances; whereas
their hardness proceeds generally, merely
from their own integrant attraction, as
Hh 2
thewn
( 468 )
F
fhewn in the 4th Effay. From what elſe
can the hardneſs even of a fubftance con-
gealed after fufion proceed?
3. Sulphur is found combined with al-
moſt all metals; a combination, he ſays, that
could be formed only by fufion, as fulphur
is infoluble in water. This affertion alfo
is contradicted by facts: fulphur has been
repeatedly found diffolved in water in the
form of hepatic air; I have fhewn that a
cubic foot of water may contain 374 grains
of fulphur, and according to Bergman, it
may contain much more. See 2 Weftrumb.
117, 130. Copper pyrites have been found
newly produced, as fhewn in my 7th Eſſay,
and alſo the red filver ore.
Monnet afferts martial pyrites to be
daily formed, Vitriolization, p. 11. he alfo
found that calces of iron and fulphur unite
in the moift way. Diffol. p. 57. That
copper and fulphur unite in the moiſt way,
See 1 Chy. Ann. 1794, 296. Blende is
unluckily quoted by the Doctor, as from
the difficulty of uniting fulphur and zink
in the dry way, and the quantity of water
it contains it prima facie befpeaks an aque
ous origin. Cinnabar and antimony are
8.
alfo
(469)
alfo fulphurated metallic compounds, and
may by art be formed both in the dry and
the moift way, but the compounds formed in
the dry way differ from the natural, as
already feen; there are many compounds.
formed by nature in the moift way, with
the detail and manner of whofe formation
we are not acquainted; for inftance nitre,
which nature forms in a manner we have
not yet diſcovered; the Doctor will not
affuredly thence conclude that it therefore
was formed by fufion.
4°. The Doctor next proceeds to the ex-
amination of the bituminous fubftances,
and tells us that oily and refinous ſubſtances
originate from vegetation, and from a col-
lection of thefe at the bottom of the fea
there are formed ftrata which have after-
wards undergone various degrees of heat, and
were variouſly changed in confequence of
that heat according as the diftillation of the
more volatile parts was fuffered to proceed,
p. 69. and in his 8th chapter, which pro-
feffedly treats of the formation of coal, he
tells us, that many coal ftrata are found in
a charred ftate, which indicates that their
more volatile oleaginous or fuliginous mat-
ter had been ſeparated by fubterraneous
Hh3
heat
}
(470)
heat at the bottom of the ocean. To this
we are alſo to add all the fuliginous matter
that ariſes from burning bodies on the fur-
face of the earth, which ultimately fettled
at the bottom of the fea. Moreover, the
Scotch rivers run into the ſea tinged brown
by mofs water, which leaves on evaporation,
a fubftance much refembling foffil coal;
therefore we may conceive an immenſe
quantity of inflammable vegetable ſub-
ftance diffolved in water carried into the fea
by all the rivers on the earth, for an inde-
finite ſpace of time, and cannot heſitate in
fuppofing it ſeparated from the water and
precipitated by the continual action of the
fun and atmoſphere, to the bottom of the
fea; there it muſt form a body of a moſt
uniform ſtructure, and breaking with a po-
liſhed furface, and more or leſs fufible in
fire, and burning with more or lefs flame
and fmoke, in proportion as it ſhould be
diſtilled or infpiffated by more or leſs fub-
terranean heat. p. 579, &c. and though
beds of fandſtone are frequently placed
above and below the ftrata of coal, yet, he
adds, we do not find any fand mixed in the
ftrata of the coal itſelf.
This
(471)
4
This account of the origin of mineral
coal appears to me as improbable as that of
the origin of ftony ſubſtances, and in fome
refpects, more extraordinary, as will appear
by examining it in detail.
1º. According to this hypothefis, all fu-
liginofities arifing from combuftion on the
furface of the earth are finally carried into
the fea; this refts on the fuppofition, that
all foil is gradually carried into the ſea, a
notion which has been already refuted.
2º. It is fuppofed that all rivers carry
vegetable carbonaceous matter into the ſea,
and that it is there depofited, and yet no
proof is given that any river depofits the
vegetable matter that tinges them, and on
the contrary it appears from the Doctor's
own words, that this vegetable carbon-
aceous matter is depofited, only in the
cafe where the water is feparated from it
by evaporation. If the action of the fun
and atmoſphere has the power of produc-
ing fuch a feparation without evaporation,
the Doctor fhould adduce fome experiment
to that purpoſe, and not content himſelf
with mere affertion; but the fact is, depofi-
tions of even flimy inflammable matter
H h 4
are
(472)
are exceeding rare, and muft, like many
others, be made in the rivers themſelves, asi
in the canals in Holland, or at their
mouths, and there is no reaſon to think
that it is the vegetable matter that dif
colours fome rivers that is ever depoſited,
but the more folid turfy particles that are
carried off by the rivers that flow through
bogs or the particles that accidently fall
into them; the vegetable matter found in
the canals of Holland does not form a par-
ticular ftratum, but is mixed with mud,
no fuch ftratum has been found in the ex-
cavation made in Holland to the depth of
240 feet, as may be ſeen in Varenius and
Mufchenbroeck, nor in that made in the
ftrata formed by the depofitions of the Seïne
examined by Guettard, Mem. Par. 1753.
nor in that made in Egypt, though the
foil was intirely formed of the depoſitions
from the Nile, nor has any ſuch coaly
matter been ever brought up in any found-
ings;
hence I conclude that the exiſtence
of fuch ftrata at the bottom of the fea is
purely imaginary.
3. If our beds of mineral coal had been
formed in the fea, we fhould find fea fhells
among
1
(473)
among them, whereas fluviatile fhells are
by far the moſt common, when any are
found. Sea fhells occur very rarely, and
thefe are merely adventitious, as I have
ſhewn in the preceding Effays.
4°. Suppoſing even that vegetable mat-
ter had been conveyed into the fea, and
there had formed particular ftrata, the dif
tillation of thefe ftrata is equally incon-
ceivable; to diftil coal a great heat is ne-
ceffary; to diſtil it fo as to expel the oily
matter, an incandefcent heat would be
required, and even by this the laſt portions
of bitumen cannot be expelled, moreover
an immenfe quantity of inflammable air
is produced: if our beds of coal had under-
gone that operation, would not various
figns of it appear? Would not bitumen be
found in the neighbourhood of thoſe beds
of coal from which it had been expelled?
Would not the fulphur alfo be diſtilled
from the pyrites found in the coal? Yet
neither in the coal mines of Kilkenny, the
coal of which is of all others moſt complete-
ly deſtitute of bituminous matter, nor any
where near them, is the leaft trace of
bitumen
( 474 )
bitumen to be found, and the pyrites re-
main in their uſual integrity. Would not
fome of the neighbouring ftones appear
fuſed by this heat? Yet no trace of fuſion
is feen in any coal mine. Would not the
ftrata of coal itſelf appear bloated and puf-
fed, inſtead of affuming a regular foliated
texture? Would not the fuperior earthy
or ftony ftrata be diſordered by the vehe-
ment expulfion of air? Yet no fuch difor-
der, but in general a great regularity, is
obferved. How comes it to paſs, that the
few fhells, and the by far more numerous
leaves that are found in coal mines, difcover
not the leaſt mark of having endured any
heat? And yet the interſtices of the coal
are frequently lined with lamellar quartz,
particularly in the coal mines of Kilkenny;
a new proof that the quartz was never
fufed.
After thefe remarks, I think it needlefs
to enlarge farther on this fubject, or inquire
why coal mines are confined to fecondary
hills, or inquire how fixed air had acquired
its carbonic matter, and ſhall only add that ·
the Doctor's affertion, that fand is never
found
(475)
found mixed in the ftrata of coal, is not
true. See Charp. p. 7. and 2 Buff. Miner.
p. 189, in 8vo.
Even ſtrata of falt appear to the Doctor
to have been formed by fufion; but the
only proof he adduces is, that the falt rock
of Cheſhire lies in ftrata of red marl, and
that the regular ftructure of the floating
marly ſubſtance in the body of the falt is
inexplicable on any other fuppofition but
the fufion of the falt. The intermixture
of marl and clay in beds of falt, I have al-
ready explained, and its exiftence in them
is a certain proof that the falt was not
fuſed, for if it were, it would by the mix-
ture of theſe ſubſtances be decompoſed, at
leaſt in part, whereas no trace of uncom-
bined alkali is found in common falt mines;
the fea fhells, and alfo wood, often found
between the ftrata difcover no fign of the
application of heat; befides falt was never
in any experiment found cryftallized after
fufion. Of metallic ores enough has been
already faid; I ſhould not, however, forget
in digging the ruins of the ancient town of
Chatelet feveral iron tools were found, the
wooden handles of which were converted
into
( 476 )
$
into hematites, the organization of the wood
ſtill remaining; they lay buried during 1600
years. 10 Buffon Suppl. 197. This ore
then muſt have originated in the moiſt
way.
Having thus fhewn that the origin and
preſent ſtate of no fpecies of mineral can,
with any appearance of probability, be af
cribed to fufion, I fhould here conclude
this Effay, as it were idle to inquire how
our continents could be raiſed, by a cauſe of
whoſe exiſtence we have no proof, did I
not think it neceffary to expofe the fallacy
of fome, and the falfehood of others of
Dr. Hutton's replies to the objections I
made to his fyftem on a former occafion.
I fhall not indeed always confine myſelf
to his own words, as this would be often
intolerably tedious, but I fhall ftrictly ſtate
the ſubſtance of each.
P. 206. The Doctor denies that he had
"that all foil is made from the de-
"compofition or detritus of ftony fubſtan-
faid,
66
-
"ces," yet page 13, he ſays, “a foil is no-
thing but the materials collected from
"the deftruction of the folid land;" this
requires no comment.
Ibid.
(477)
Ibid. He denies that he had ſaid, "that
"foil is conftantly waſhed away, but only
"that it is neceſſarily waſhed away, that is,
occafionally." This is a mere play upon
words, conftantly is as often taken for cer-
tainly as perpetually, fee Johnſon's Diction-
ary; but I am fure neceffarily was never
ufed as fynonymous to occafionally.
Ibid. He apprehends "I have miſappre-
"hended Mr. De Luc, when I afferted on his
66
6f
authority, that foil is not always carried
away by water, even from mountains.'
The paffages of Mr. De Luc are too long
and too numerous to be here inferted;
they may be found in the 27th and 28th,
and following letters to the Queen; on pe-
rufing them it will eaſily be feen which of
us has miſapprehended the meaning of that
celebrated Geologift.
''
p. 208. He cenfures me for advancing,
"that his conclufion relative to the imper-
fect conſtitution of the globe falls to the
ground, and the pains he takes to learn
by what means a decayed world may be
" renovated are fuperfluous."
""
In reply to which he afferts,
"that the
object of his theory is to fhew that this
CC
decaying
( 478 )
<<
(6
66.
decaying nature of the folid earth is the
very perfection of its conftitution as a living
world, and therefore it was proper he
"ſhould ſhew how the decayed parts ſhould
"be renovated."
P. 210. He puts me a ftring of quef-
tions. "Does he mean to fay, that it is
"not the purpoſe of this world to provide
"foil for plants to grow in?" I answer,
provifion for this purpoſe has long ago been
made and does not require daily renewal.
"Does he ſuppoſe that foil is not remove-
"able with the running water off the ſur-
"face?" I answer, that all that is move-
able is not moved; all the water that falls
on the furface does not run to the fea, but
is either foaked, evaporated, or fucked in by
vegetables; that which runs is often ſtopped
in its courſe, and the molecules of foil
abraded and carried from fome ſpots are
often annually recruited by vegetation, ex-
cept in a few particular fituations, as on the
fides of hills much expoſed to winds, and
even there the abraſion is fcarce ever total.
"Does he think it is not neceffary to re-
66
place the foil which is removed?" I an-
fwer, it is not, neither always nor every
·6
where.
་
(479)
J
where. The Doctor fays, " He required no
"more than this gradual removal of foil;"
but in the firſt place, he required this re-
moval to be univerfal and complete, and in
the next place, that this foil fhould at laſt
be ſeated in the unfathomable abyffes of the
ocean, notions which I have fhewn to be
unfounded, and he himſelf partly owns to
be fo in the note to page 14 of his new
publication.
P. 211. The Doctor charges me with
denying what he afferts in his theory, name-
ly,
That the folid parts of the globe are
"in general compofed of fand, gravel, ar-
gillaceous and calcareous ftrata," and
with adding, "that this cannot be affumed
"as a fact, but rather the contrary; that it
"holds true only of the furface, and that
"the baſis of the greater part of Scotland
is evidently a granitic rock, to fay nothing
"of the continents both of the old and new
66
world, according to the teftimony of all
"mineralogifts," in anfwer to which, he
tells us, that this general propofition he
ftill maintains as a fact, and that after
vifiting moſt parts of Scotland and obtain-
ing good information with regard to thofe
parts
(480)
$
parts which he had not feen,
14
66
"perhaps
"that he can
"with fome confidence affirm, that (ex-
cept the north-west corner) inſtead of the
"bafis of the greater part of Scotland being
granitic rock, very little of it is fo, not
part." His countryman,
Mr. Williams, by profeffion a miner, and
who certainly has vifited all parts of Scot-
land, and particularly noted the ſubterra-
neous, gives us a very different account.
Vol. II. p. 13. he tells us, "that the moun-
"tains of Ben-Nevis in the Highlands are
chiefly compofed of red granite, and that
"it is found in great abundance in many
"other parts of Scotland . . . . . but without
"the leaſt appearance of ſtratification ;'
and
"That grey granite is very
P. 19,
"common in many parts of this iſland both
in high and in low lands, north and
fouth;" and p. 33," that Scotland is re-
"markable for a great number and variety
"of granites."
Mr. Everfman, a German mineralogiſt,
who refided fome years in Scotland, and
vifited moſt parts of it, is ftill more expreſs;
he tells that the fundamental rock (Grund-
gebirge confifts of a granitic aggregate
(grani-
(481)
nitic aggregate (granitartigen maffe), 1 Berg.
Jour. 1789, p. 495. The Doctor indeed tells
us, that along the coaft of Galloway to Inve-
rary, he examined every fpot between the
Grampians and Tweedale mountains, yet
could fee no granite in its place; but Doctor
Afh in a letter to Mr. Crell, 1 Chy. Ann.
1792, p. 115, informs him, that from
Galloway, Dumfries, and Berwick, there is
a chain of mountains, commonly fhiſtoſe,
but often alfo granitic: and Mr. Grotſche,
another German mineralogift, who had
vifited Scotland, affirms, that the Grampian
mountains confift of micaceous limeſtone,
gneifs, porphyry, argillite, and granite, alter-
nating with each other. 1 Bergb. 399. Moſt
probably the Doctor examined only the fur-
face, where he ſhould not always expect to
meet that which I called the baſis the fuperi-
or ftrata; the glaring inconfiftencies that oc-
cur in page 215 I need not mention, as
they cannot eſcape notice.
my
P. 216. He upbraids me with " forming
notions of geology from the vague
opinion of others and not from what I
"had feen." Muft not many of thofe who
66
embrace his opinions, do
he expects will
I i
the
(482)
the fame? Does he think that from a view
of Britain fingly, a geology can be formed?
Yet this is all he boafts to have feen;
though I have not travelled with my eyes
fhut, yet I felicitate myſelf with being ac-
quainted, not merely with the opinions, but
with the facts related by a Ferber, who has
travelled through Germany, Italy, and
England; by a Pallas, and Patrin, and Her-
man, who traverfed Ruffia, and Siberia;
by a Born, who vifited Hungary; by a
Sauffure, who made us fo well acquainted
with the Alps; by Carbonieres and La
Peroufe, who viewed and examined the
Pyrenees; by Charpentier, who inveſtigated
fo ably the internal ſtructure of Saxony;
by Lafius, who diſplayed that of the Hartz;
and by many more whom I have occafion-
ally quoted in the preceding Eflays. I
ſuppoſe it will be thought reaſonable to
pay more attention to thefe, than (to ex-
preſs myſelf in the mildeſt terms) to the
a priori conclufions of any man, unſupported
by facts, and contradicted by all natural
appearances. As to the tendency of his -
fyftem to prove that this globe had properly
1peaking no beginning, I fhall take no far-
8
ther
(
483 )
i
ther notice of it; all he fays he means is,
"that in tracing back the natural opera-
"tions which have fucceeded each other
"6
we come to a period in which we can-
"not ſee any farther. This, however, is not
"the beginning of thofe operations which pro-
"ceed in time. . . . nor is it the eſtabliſh-
ing of that which in the courſe of time
"had no beginning, it is only the limit of
"our retrofpective view of thofe operations
"which have come to paſs in time, and
“ have been conducted by fupreme intelli-
66
gence." p. 223. Let the reader under-
ftand this as he can: but whether the
Doctor can fee fo far or not, there muſt
have been a primitive globe, or this globe
was eternal; if there was a primitive globe,
it muſt have had calcareous earth underived
from ſhell fish, or not reſemble ours.
P. 226. As I had advanced in my for-
mer paper, that the interior parts of the
earth, at the depth of a few miles might have
been originally, as at prefent, a folid mafs,
the Doctor afks, "how a naturalift who
"had ſeen a piece of Derbyſhire marble, or
66
any other limeftone, could make that
fuppofition?" As if any marble or lime-
Ii 2
ftone
(484)
1
ſtone had ever been taken from the depth
of a few miles! and as if the ſea itſelf, from
whence he derives all, did not require a
folid body to fupport it.
P. 227. He enters on a refutation of
my
notions of the confolidation of ſtrata, which
he contrives fo to diſtort, miftate, and per-
plex, that to disentangle them from his dif-
ingenuous mifreprefentations would require
too tedious a difcuffion; my own ſtatement
may be ſeen in the preceding Effays, and
differs but little from the fentiments of
fome or other of the moſt enlightened na-
turalifts of this age, Sauffure, Werner, De
Luc, La Metherie, &c. Yet as I had quoted
the induration of Pouzzolana mortar (not
common mortar as he miftates) under wa-
ter, he ſays, "One would imagine I was
66
writing to people of the laſt age," and
takes no notice of the ftalactite formed un-
der water, which I had quoted from Mr.
Smeaton's obfervations, though both are
full proofs of the general fact, that ftony
concretions may be formed in water, though
their interſtices were originally filled with
water. What too will he fay to Dolo-
mieu's obſervation, that many ſtones harden
by
( 485 )
by fprinkling them with water? Ponces,
417. and to many other inſtances which
I have quoted in Effay IV? He furely can-
not think that more regard is to be had to
his a priori reaſoning about the difficulty of
expelling water from the interſtices of con-
creting maffes, than to known facts.
P. 236. After obferving that I had taken
great pains to refute the notion of a ſub-
terraneous heat fufficient to melt all mine-
ral fubftances, he tells us, "that he gives
66
""
66
❝ed.
himſelf very little trouble about that fire,
"and takes no charge with regard to the
procuring of that power, as he had not
"founded his theory on the fuppofition of
"fubterraneous fire; however that fire pro-
perly follows as a conclufion from thoſe
appearances on which the theory is found-
... he does not pretend to prove
"demonftrably that the fuſed minerals had
"been even hot; however that conclufion
"alfo naturally follows from their having
"been in fufion, it is fufficient for him to
"demonſtrate that theſe bodies muſt have
"been more or lefs in a ſtate of foftnefs
"and fluidity, without any ſpecies of folu-
"tion; he does not ſay that this fufion was
" without
Ii 3
( 486 )
"without heat, but if it had, it would an-
"fwer equally well the purpoſe of his
<<
(C
theory.” And p. 237 he owns, "I have
juſtly remarked the difficulty of fire burn-
ing below the earth and fea, but fays it
"is not his purpofe to endeavour to remove
"thofe difficulties which perhaps only exiſt
"in the fuppofitions made on that occa-
"fion. . . . . It is furely one thing to employ
"fire and heat to melt mineral bodies, in
CC
66
fuppofing this to be the cauſe of their
"conſolidation, and another thing to ac-
knowledge fire or heat as having been
"exerted on mineral bodies, when it is
"proved by actual appearance that theſe
"bodies had been in a melted ftate; here
66 are diftinctions which would be thrown
66
away upon the vulgar," &c. I confefs I
am one of the vulgar, and can underſtand
nothing in this paradoxical paragraph; I
cannot conceive how minerals could be
melted without heat, unleſs miraculouſly,
nor the difference between the employ-
ment of heat, and the exertion of heat, and
plainly fee, that it would be idle in me to
argue with a perſon who thinks he can.
P. 238. He tells us, "He does not avoid
meeting
66
( 487 )
<6
meeting the queſtion of providing the
"materials for fuch a mineral fire as may
"be required; but it must not be put in
"the manner I have put it, that is, as if he
"had made that fire a neceffary condition,
<6
or principle of conſolidation, whereas he
"had inferred the exiſtence of an internal
"heat from the proofs he had given that
ſtony ſubſtances had been in a fluid ſtate
66
66
of fufion, and if thefe be juft then my
arguments are uſeleſs." And in p. 243,
he tells us,
"that according to his theory
"the ſtrata of this earth are compoſed of
"materials which came from a former
earth, particularly the combuftible ſtrata
"that contain plants. Let us then ſuppoſe
"the fubterraneous fire fupplied with its
"combuſtible materials from this fource,
"the vegetable bodies growing on the fur-
"face of the land. Here is a fource pro-
"vided for mineral fire which is inexhauſt-
66
66
ible, or unlimited, unleſs we circumfcribe
"it with regard to time and the neceffary
ingredients." As to the firſt part of
this paragraph, I have fufficiently refuted it
by fhewing that there is no general appear-
ance, which neceffarily fuggefts a former
ftate
Ii 4
( 488 )
1
1
ftate of fufion of all minerals; let us then
examine the latter part, in which I conceive
the Doctor has egregiouſly deceived him-
felf. According to his theory then the
minerals of this earth were melted by the
combustible vegetables that grew on a for-
mer earth for an indefinite length of time;
this earth, however, the Doctor ſuppoſes to
have been inhabited like the prefent*; moſt
of theſe vegetables, therefore, muſt have
been confumed, as at prefent, by theſe an-
cient inhabitants, and many muſt have de-
cayed. There remained only fuch quan-
tities of them carried into the fea as are
at preſent ſo conveyed, and when there,
they muſt have rotted or been decompofed
as at prefent; and only fuch as efcaped de-
compofition could ferve as fuel for his mi-
neral heat; but in an indefinite ſpace of
time must not all of them have been de-
compofed? How then, even in that unli-
mited duration which the Doctor gratui-
toufly claims, could fuch a collection of
combuftibles be accumulated, and in fuch
a perfect ſtate as would be neceffary to fur-
* Page 177, 188. 273.
nih
f
( 489 )
niſh a degree of heat fufficient to melt, I
do not ſay a mountain, but even a frag-
ment of quartz? Where has he diſcovered
or read that ſuch unmixed ftrata as would
be required in his hypothefis, were ever
found at the mouths of rivers, where fome
part at leaſt of thoſe combuſtibles muſt have
been depoſited in the fame manner as he
ſuppoſes them to have been at the bottom
of the fea? How detain the hydrogen?
Where find the oxygen, equally neceffary?
On whatever fide we view this hypotheſis,
nothing but improbability or impoffibility
offers itſelf to our view.
The Doctor tells us, p. 143, that " We
"must not eſtimate the proportion of ma-
"terials anciently employed in fufing mi-
"nerals by that which is actually found in
this earth, this he allows is deficient, and
" is only the fuperfluity of that which was
employed." If we are not to judge of
the paſt by analogy with the preſent world,
I own I am at a lofs how to judge; the
Doctor gives no eſtimate, but finds it much
more convenient to leave the whole in-
volved in obſcurity.
P. 247, &c. He reproaches me with
mifcon-
(490)
mifconceiving, or miſrepreſenting, a paſſage
of Mr. Dolomieu, wherein I make him
ſay, that ſubterraneous heat is not even
equal to that of our common furnaces, and
the Doctor affirms, that if I had quoted the
text inſtead of giving my own interpreta-
tion, I could not have offered a ſtronger
confirmation of his theory. I fhall, there-
fore, now give him the words of Mr. Do-
lomieu, which were taken, not from the
Journal de Phyfique, Mai, 1792, as the
Doctor believed, but from the Preface to
his Account of the Pontian Islands, p. 8;
the words are, "Le feu des Volcans n'a
point d'intensité il ne peut pas vitrifier les
"fubftances les plus fufibles tels que les
fhorls, il produit la fluidité par une ef-
66
22
pece de diffolution par une fimple dila-
"tion qui permet aux parties de gliffer les
"unes fur les autres." It is this laſt opi-
nion it ſeems the Doctor regretted, I had
not quoted, as it alludes to a myſterious -
kind of fufion, which Mr. Dolomieu then
admitted, and which the Doctor confe-
quently thought favourable to his own, as
it participated of the fame incomprehenſi-
bility. But this great geologiſt has fince
(
cleared
( 491 )
cleared up this point and perfifts in denying
the great heat of volcanos. I fhall now
quote his own words. Journ. de Phyf. for
1794. p. 118. Le feu des volcans n'a pas
une grande intenſité il ne produit pas une
chaleur proportioné à ce qu'on preſumeroit
de fon grand volume, on approche d'un
courant de laves fans eprouver cette ardeur
vive & cuifante que l'on reffent près des
verres & des metaux en fufion on peut
monter deffus pendant qu'il coule, &c. and
p. 121. prefque tous les phenomenes ac-
ceffoires favorifent mon opinion fur la
fluidité des laves qui ne feroit alors qu'une
fimple folution par le fouffre & qui n'exigeroit
qu'une chaleur peu fuperieure à celle neceffaire
pour tenir en fufion le fouffre pur. The info-
lent tone the Doctor affumes in the fuc-
ceeding pages would call for the fevereſt
reprehenfion did it not ſtill more properly
meet it in the fentiments it muſt naturally
excite in the minds of every unprejudiced
philofophic reader.
•
P. 253-257. He examines my anſwer
to the argument he deduced from the appa-
rent fuſion of the native regulus of manga-
neſe, and concludes by remarking that "
❝ obſervation
my
f
(492)
"obfervation on this occafion, looks as if I
66
were willing to deſtroy by infinuation the
"force of an argument that proves the the-
ory of mineral fufion, and wiſh to render
66
doubtful, by a ſpecies of fophiftry, what, in
"fair reafoning, I cannot deny." To this
compliment I ſhall make no reply, but barely
ftate Mr. La Peroufe's teftimony and the
conclufion I drew from it. Mr. La Perouſe
relates that he found the native regulus
among the iron mines of Sem; that it
exifts in feparate lumps like the artificial,
but much larger, and that its figure exceeding-
ly refembles that of the artificial," and that
"this exact refemblance ought, it ſhould
"feem, to induce us to think it was pro-
"duced by fire. That it is very pure,
"and contains no part attractable by the
"magnet." Hence it is plain Mr. La Pe-
roufe is inclined to think it was produced
by fufion; but I did not think myſelf
obliged to adopt this opinion; Mr. La Pe-
roufe's propenfity to believe it a product of
fire, was grounded on the great refem-
blance of this native regulus to the artificial;
this, however, did not convince me, as by
the fame mode of reaſoning, moſt other
native
(493)
native metals might alſo be afcribed to fu-
fion, a notion entertained by none but
Doctor Hutton. Local circumſtances muſt
concur in fuggeſting fuch an opinion; now
I knew that here local circumftances con-
tradicted it; for the manganefe was found
in the mountain of Rancié, a mountain
of primitive limeftone, and among iron
ores, moſt of which are hematitic, as Mr.
La Peroufe informs us in his Traité fur les
Mines de Fer, p. 8, and 53. neither of
which were ever fufpected to be of igneous
origin except by Doctor Hutton. Hence I
concluded the manganefe could not be
deemed to originate from fufion; the cir-
cumſtance of its being found in lumps
ſeemed to me a confirmation of this rea-
foning, as it is well known that reguli
arifing from fufion are always difcrete and
ſeparate when the melting heat is not ſuf-
ficient, and a defect of this fort could
fcarce be found in fuch a heat as Doctor
Hutton would have us to adopt, as accord-
ing to him it could melt quartz, and muſt
have melted the primitive limeſtone of
which this mountain is formed, therefore the
fize of the maffes produced makes part of the
evidence that this regulus is not a product
of
( 494 )
of fuſion, whatever the Doctor may allege
to the contrary; but the Doctor answers
"that with regard to the nature of the fire
66
by which the fuſion had been produced,
"I am much mistaken if I imagine that
"the reduction of the reguline or metallic
manganefe depends on the intenſity of
"the heat; it depends on the circum-
"ſtances proper for the feparation of
"the oxygenating principle of the calx."
I ſuppoſe he means the reduction of
the calx of manganefe, for the reguline
or metallic manganefe being already re-
duced, requires no reduction; then in
oppofition to the Doctor I do fay that the
reduction of the calx or feparation of the
oxygenating principle by fufion fo as to ob-
tain a pure regulus does require a very in-
tenſe heat, and that no known circum-
ſtance fuperfedes the neceffity of fuch
heat. This I aver, not only on my own
experience, but on that of every chymift in
Europe. The words of Bergman are inten-
fiffimo qui in laboratorio parari poffit igni ex-
ponitur. 2 Berg. 203. he tells us that he
himſelf could obtain only minute difcrete
reguli; but that Gahn by applying a most in-
tenfe heat obtained a larger. p. 202. See alſo
Klaproth
( 495 )
་
Klaproth 1 Chy. Ann. 1789, p. 11. and
3 Gren. § 3409. therefore the fize depends
on the heat applied. The Doctor cannot
furely fuppofe me a ſtranger to the necef-
fity of ſeparating the oxygen. I was the firſt
that publiſhed the proceſs for the reduction
of manganeſe, in Engliſh in the year 1784.
Hence the fallacy of his train of reaſoning
and the injuſtice of his reproaches are evi-
dent.
P. 258. He reproaches me with not com-
prehending how coal, an infufible fub-
ſtance, could be ſpread into ftrata by any
degree of heat, after he had given three
4to pages endeavouring to explain how all
the different degrees of infufibility were
produced; a fufficient fpecimen, he fays, of
my underſtanding, at leaſt of his theory.
He need not, however, confine himſelf to
this fpecimen, for many other parts of his
theory are to me equally incomprehenfible,
as I have already often noticed; his explana-
tion of this point in particular, I do not yet
comprehend, for all coal appears to me infu-
fible, except he means by fufion the intumef
cence that takes place in certain fpecies of
coal from the liquefaction of the bitumen
contained in them which makes them cake
A
but
(496)
but not flow, but this partial liquefaction
of the bitumen is not a real fufion of the
whole compound, but rather ſimilar to that
which takes place in borax and ſome other
falts, from water* previous to their real fu-
fion, and has never been confounded with it
by any correct writer. Now no one that has
ever ſeen coal thus partially liquefied can
comprehend how, if the liquefied part were
ſpread ever fo widely, it could form ſtrata
of a texture and appearance, fo totally dif-
ferent as thoſe we behold in coal mines, nor
confequently how the one can be identified
with the other.
P. 259. His remarks on my obfervation
on the cryſtallized trona, continued through
five whole pages, are too perplexed and te-
dious to be here repeated. The upſhot of
my argument was fimply this, ſuppoſing
that trona is deprived of its water of cryf-
tallization, and yet found cryftallized (a
circumſtance which I had then no oppor-
tunity of examining), it would only prove
that in this particular folitary inftance, that
* And to this Wallerius very juftly compares it.
2 Syft. Miner. p. 100.
alkali
( 497 )
alkali was cryftallized by fufion, but yet
that was not the general mode in which
cryftallized mineral alkali was produced,
for that immenfe quantities of it were
elſewhere found cryftallized, but all fur-
niſhed with the water of cryftallization, and
therefore from that ſolitary inſtance which
might accidentally be produced, no general
inference could be drawn; fince that time
I have on examination found that in the
inftance mentioned by the Doctor, the
trona was not deprived of its water of cryf-
tallization, but only contained much lefs of
it than ufual. The Doctor, p. 163, cen-
fures me for not informing him whether
thofe maffes of mineral alkali which I faid
to be cryſtallized, retaining their water of
cryftallization were found in what may be
properly termed their mineral ftate, or
whether they were transformed from their
mineral ſtate by the influence of the atmo-
ſphere. In anſwer to which, I fhall tell
him, that if he means by a mineral ſtate a
fubterraneous ftate, neither they nor the
trona were fo found; but if he means a
ſpontaneous production of nature in the
Kk
mineral
}
(498)
mineral kingdom, they are found fo cire
cumſtanced, not produced from any folid
mafs but from a ſtate of aqueous folution.
The mineral alkali found on the fea coaſt
in India, mentioned in the 6th vol. of the
Society of Arts, of London, reſembles tro-
na in ſome reſpects, for Mr. Keir, who
examined it, tells us that it is in an inter-
mediate ftate, between that of cryftals,
which hold a large portion of water, and
that of alkali dried as much as it can be.
Ibid 141. it is true that this parcel was
marked refined to diftinguish it from ano-
ther fort much more impure, but it does
not appear to have undergone any operation
of art, in the account given of it, p. 265,
&c. The Doctor fuppofes the granite which
I faid was formed in the Mole, conftruct-
ed in the Oder, was nothing more than
fand compacted by mud, and regrets I had
not been more particular in my deſcription
of it. To fatisfy him then, I ſhall farther
add, that it was fo compact that it could
fcarce be feparated from the real granite to
which it was contiguous by a blow, and
could not be diſtinguiſhed in colour or co-
hefion from natural granite, even by the
moft
( 499 )
moſt experienced mineralogift; fee Prince
Gallitzin's 1st Letter to Crell, p. 30, or
his Treatife on Minerals, p. 23. Other in-
ftances of regenerated granite may be ſeen
in my 6th Effay, article Granite.
f
1
1
Kk 2
:
NOTES.
(500)
NOTE S.
Native Gold.
Page 21. Charpentier fhews that calcareous earth
does not proceed from ſhells, and is often contempora-
neous with gneifs; fee his deſcription of Saxony, p. 399.
402.403.
P. 25. Siberia, and probably all other primeval tracts,
whether plain or mountainous, were originally much
higher than at preſent, having been lowered by difinte-
gration, to which primeval rocks are moſt ſubject, par-
ticularly the higheſt.
P. 46. Some fecondary mountains appear to have been
formed by fluviatile inundations, and difintegration, as
the carboniferous, &c.
P. 79. The earthquake that was felt in Canada in
1663, overwhelmed a chain of mountains more than
300 miles long. Clavigero's Hiftory of Mexico, p. 221.
P. 403. In Mexico, native gold and other metals
are chiefly found in fecondary mountains or hills. Helm,
300. Thefe are undoubtedly thoſe which I call DE-
RIVATIVE, having arifen from the accumulation of the
difintegrated particles of primeval mountains, as they lie
at the foot of, and follow the courfe of, the primeval
mountains.
Few parts of Spaniſh America contain maffes of fea
fhells. 2 Clavigero's Hiſtory of Mexico, Engliſh edition,
p. 249. Theſe fecondary mountains were not therefore
formed under the fea, but, like the carboniferous, aroſe
from the difintegration of the primeval. The fame
may be faid of many of the metalliferous mountains of
Siberia and Cornwall, which confiſt moſtly of ſecond-
ary granite.
8
P. 414.
( 501 )
P. 414. But in Mexico, fulphurated filver ores occur
in mountains of granite, gneifs, and argillite. Helm.
P. 417. In Guancavelica in Mexico, a vein of cin-
nabar, 80 yards thick, is accompanied with galena, man-
ganeſe, and arſenic. Helm.
P. 420. In Iouricocha near Pafcho, a belly of porous
brown ironflone is found, half a mile long and 15 fathom
în thickneſs, containing native filver thinly diſperſed
through it. But in the midst of it there runs a vein of
white argil in which the filver abounds. Helm.
Is it not evident, that the filver originally difperfed in
this. porous mafs was conveyed by water into this argil?
P. 421. At Maijos, the fparry iron ore is found in
fecondary argillitic mountains, accompanied with gold,
copper pyrites, and galena.
P. 428. Near Cordova in Mexico, fome veins of
copper ore are found in mountains of red and grey gra-
nite. Helm.
P. 429. In primeval blue argillite, of which the
Cordelieres principally confift, the fame ores occur,
together with thofe of gold, filver, and galena, and the
fparry iron ore, in veins. The famous argentiferous
coniform mountain of Potofi, which is 28 miles in cir-
cumference, confifts of yellow hard argillite. At La
Paz, the higheſt point of the Cordelieres, there is an
auriferous conglomeration of yellow clay and rounded
flints, in a fragment of which, that had lately fallen
down, lumps of gold, weighing from two to twenty
pounds, were found, and ſome of an ounce weight are
ftill found. Helm.
P. 431. In conglomerations of marl, gypfum, lime-
ſtone, and fragments of porphyry, native gold, and filver
ores abound in the ftratified mountains of Cufco.
Alfo
3
native
(502)
native filver, and compact ores of copper and lead.
Helm.
P. 431. Behind Guancavelica, the argillite graduates
into calcareous fandſtone, as does this into fimple lime-
ftone; all equally rich in gold, filver, and mercury.
Helm.
P. 454. Spallanzani has alfo attempted to prove the
heat of volcanoes to be very intenſe, but he is refuted
by Dolomieu, fee Magazin Encyclop. An. 2d. Vol. I.
P. 226.
P. 468. Mr. Hatchett, in a paper lately read before
the Royal Society, has fhewn from the experiments of
Mr. Wiſeman, that martial pyrites and fulphurated filver
ores, are even now formed in the moift way. Phil.
Tranf. 1799. Nay, filver that has lain long in the fea
has been found fulphurated and muriated, though ful-
phur can be detected in fea water by no teft, which
proves the truth of Mr. De Luc's affertion, that the
fea may contain fubftances as yet unknown. Mr. Gar-
dener informs me, he has found a coating of gold co-
loured martial pyrites on the fhells of a fort of fhell fiſh
called clamp fiſh, in a creek in Eaſt Florida.
may
P. 492. It at least be doubted whether the man-
ganefe in queftion be in its perfect metallic ftate, as
Chaptal in his Chapter on Ores, fince publifhed, bas
omitted it: But if it be found to be fo, this proves no-
thing in favour of Dr. Hutton's Theory, as we may
fuppofe all metals to have been originally formed in
their perfect ftate.
THE END,
{
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