
The\ N A TU K AL _ H IS TORY' gf _
the Ovum of fome T o a f was brought thither by. a Spring
or Vein, leading .to. that Cavity*' for Springs, are .very often
difcern’d in. Eree-ftohe, Rocks*; ouziiig thorow tlieir Pores’*
now it cannot be imagin’d that it was lodg’d there ever
£nce the Deluge* which muft neceflairily follow* unlefs we.
allow thOi keciteduHypothecs • Of the Lapisj Serpenta-
■rim there: arc two .forts, the* one bears the Image of a Viper
iwfeath’d up in fpirahLineS*. .and/ that; I* have Teen in the
Copper Slates in. Fur n e f in Lancafbire j ' thxk other the ft ape
of a Serpent at length* and this was found in aFree-ftone
Rock at Hafgh in Lancdjhi.e, andr communicated to me
by that learned Rady*: the Lady; Guife. n
dl As to the Shells .remarkable in thefe! Parts* they are either
the large:.Se,a Cockle^in : which I never:yet faw Ftfh* ■ the'
HafoeRShells^xhiiTurbo, the Edomites ^ tixN L up Wilkes< or
SPenw-mcMev thefe: larexafb upfe thelSe^Coafts- ah gtfeat
numbers; thereMtkewife>-another ShellUvhichvefemTles
th e Scabbard of j r Sword*,and.by the^Seagmeii commonly
call’d the Sword-Ftfb; the Eohihitss■> hasifekeral lattlbHairs
that growljthrql Thalf Orifices*: but I could' never difcover
a-HMh in,any-Jof thefe*iwhich that-I fliould noigHas often caus’d
nay wonder: T miagihthei efoi ethattlieyai ejbrought fi dm a
great dihancetd the Shore*: by. the-violence ;o£ Stormsi - and
th a t, the I Eilhes in i.thofe turbid Commotions quit their
Shells. Of the Teclinites there arc various Torts*: and
thole; variegated fometimeslwith red parallel CirHesj-Toihe-
•timesthey are fmooth* Tomfetimes they ..have little Protu-
berahceympph their-Tuperficies* •asi has likewife thelarge
■SemChdde. L . * ■' i:) f
. .'f.;et.usjnoAV Come to that grand Enquiry of. the leaned
Spen.ofvi&f Whether:or no Rocks wefer.at. fii;ft a Fluid*
and; by Tubfidenee. of - terrene grofs Particles'! form’d In'to that
fttbhaneefPt iTheclearihg of this point willi.depend upon the
Phaaaoihenaobfervable in them* and thdfeafe ;chiefiiy (Flints;
afid.a]kind!;o£ Pebbles! that will run into a Glafs ': Now! it is
mbit evident that thefe are of a .Nature veiiy 'different froih
that
that of the Rock* and have like wife never in any Age been
obferv’d to germinate ; we may hence reafonably allow that
Rocks were fir It fluid, and that different kinds c f Fluids
did then precipitate by fpecific Gravity, that eternal flan-
da rd communicated to them from the fir ft formation of
Bodies* which doubtlefs did in a great meafure depend
upon the Magnitude and Number of their Pores* and according
to thofe varioufly fubfided : Conformable to thefe
Phasnomena is Mojess Hiftory of the Creation* where in
the firft Chapter of Gene fis he tells, us* that the earth wots
without form and void, and darknef was upon the fa ce c f the
deep, and that the fp irit o f God moved upon theface o f the
waters. But thefe laft Words are more aptly expreffed by
Junius^ and Tremellius* thofe two great Mailers of the He-,
brew Language* who. from the Hebrew T ext tranflate it
not Movebat* but Spiritus L ei incubabat fuperfkiet dqim:
rum, that is* the fp irit o f God brooded upon theface o f the
waters ; a Metaphor taken from a Fo wl ha tching her young
ones. . The Explication of which Text further evinces*
that at the Creation* before any thing was reduc’d to Form*
this Globe was an immenfe Liquid* eonfifting of all
forts of Particles. Hence not only from Phasnomena in
Nature* but likewife from Divine Writ it is evident that
thefe prodigious Mountains were the Tubfidenee of a Fluid.
wherefore how rugged foever thefe may appear to the Eye*
yet even thefe* if we pry into their innermoft Recefîès*
undeniably evidence the Power of Nature*, and the Exift-
enceof an omnipotent Being ; fo that tho’ there was not
an univerfal diflblution of their Strata at .the Deluge, as
was before manifefted* yet to account for the various Phenomena
obfervable in thofe Mountains* it is certain that
they muft once have been fluid Bodies* and fucceffively indurated
into thefe hard Confiftences by. their own Gravity*
and the Heat and Salts of the ambient Air* upon the receding
of the Waters* as Mofes clearly evinces in the fame
Chapter* where Godfaid, L e t the Waters wider the hem
I i vens