onal fohitid-n Ihall be ,liit upon. What I moft lament,' ; is, that this,
learned and ingenious writer has not fulfilled his. promiie fo often
repeated, of demonftrating both, the poffibility and, reality of his
feveral hypothefes, and confirming them by experiments: He had
for this end projected a large work, of which his Theory of the
Earth was to be only introductory. The chief dlqeCfioh,« which
I could have. wiftied to have feen anfwered by him, relates,to the
hard fobftance of ftones, which he takes for granted to have been
alfo d'iSolved and liquified.
conjeaureon f 1 afk, by what means this liquefaction was wrought at the
the diflolutiou V. p . < . . r . ' a of the ear*, time or the deluge r rr recourfe be had to tlie. fuppofed central
* fire, from tvhiCh the globe derives its levrty,'- &c; and it l^e ftjd
that this by coCtion could diflbkrc the hardeft quarries-- ©f.-m&ihlg*
.(the- veins and ftreaks whereof &fifrientiy.frhwits former fosfinefsy
and the locomotion of. ite parts,-not to mention.'the heterogeneous
tilings found itt it) thenNoah an d the: animals-mThcarkfmuft
have differed, unlefs w e take the liberty of forming a new hypo-:
thefis, that this coCtioh was not: univerfal at once, but affeCted
only a certain part of the globe, andhertaih traCis,'of?its;£iifrice * ?
Strange and novel it friay appear,'- to" a lig n fetch a-vehement:
heat m the water of the deluge, yet this was a very aadKjS&irah
dition, if wfrpay affyfegard th the^words^attributfed to:the idevou6
Pioniiiis, who differed martyrdom in tin; year 2.50, undeuthe
emperor Decins, (SM arrs^gsothef to' hisrunben
lieving perfecutors, “ Ye yourfclvcs, from-your old traditions, acknowledge"
that.tfre deluge of Noah, whom- yo-u naif ..Deucalion,'
was mingled with fire,: yet db you but half underftahd I the real
truth of this matter.” Now though no great ftrefs be to be laid
thereon, yet is this conjcCkire far from being fo. improbable as that
of Burnet, who makes the chaos o f our globe to have, Been the remains
or. afh.es of a coirfumed and vitrified comet, which by the
creation, acquired a new.life, form, and difpofition +;
; But
* Who knows whether, any yojeanop pxifted before tlie.deluge,. elbepially, .whether
it did not previou'fly atcumuJateWPgefiBM; Aidaniihal fragment froih the re find
®! 'flihtreyof thebottotn of the fea-, or a r le ift great quantities of'fuej, to,1 the ful-,
■ .Tj.im¥^^ ^ ^ o.tHe£^ife:ihgxhaSMtl^M^Sg depofited there P Whoffatleaft will
. ’and' inceflant ititf
T e rM S^ ^ ^ s^ r ffr ljC a h ^ iW n ^ e ffth e^® D 'jo^P.ilelleiicluli’e^l^s ffy rt'
Mugid^’Chp-'if; pV 3OTV feq. ’
P f The celebrated naturalift Mr. Buffon, in feveral parts of Tom. i fq f his'Natiii-ai
Hift©ry, in feme meafure ciofes with this hypothefif, tho’ he differs very rmfchfrom
'. -‘him
But whenever this fufion happened, or whether the Almighty
made ufe of it as . a means or not, or whatever means he phpfe for i
fiiat end, 'for I 4 n npt concern rpfsjfilf With thofe qhimeras LfSt-p
nature and e^pjpnpppe fpeaj: plain to the point, and
ifcew firft * the, pqfiibilitev.,of 4fr4 of 'flqpe whatever,
pebb|ev marbleir. feta&nte*hfikinnl^ Ver. freen^of, fuch a
har-dnefi, as * notjodae capnjdft o f being mffiwAh into, its- mófrkni-|
nutf: particles^ melted.^frmpj^aipapd., g ^ j ^ykrified,. efpeciallv by
a good ftnrnmg-gkffs. f . In t$Apex|:. pfeoó, ^ ^ ljf^ b f ftbe matter
appears wl^^a^e’ f oup^pripwt
of viewing the,,w1i4us'flgures and cofourifef rthe, flones. jnfrhe.
nocks and: mpqulai11^ .,fppte ignited, pC^ftfs^Rrig^ed*
Lete^gen^qpl ^ ip s intqrmi?se4 with{.t , ' M f ( W^.y, ?
affords" multitudes,, efpeemlly qn the ■ fea-coaft.’ 5 f Iff. we .gonfidje^i
thefe attentively, they masi'fef^y AvidfPceJ .afcicntlys4iep> mat-)
tpr yag fo|t and liquid, but again indurated,' and that afrei tbis;
indmiation;* oiipptrii^cation, they were in
tached 'and, cod^fjdydi. ras if hewedffl^pngh., biokepj ^ lit,
railed, from their fiift horizpaital flat e.-to ap idbliqp^ ^pd in loing,
parts a perpendipdar ppi^tion. I^fhe befpi'e=queptonq4
theqriils had tghep,^ vipw^of this cojim^yjifr.WC^M^axe fqrpifljed
them,- .frl tbeyond an y ‘Other, -with. the .fttongefl experiniental
pioqfs. and illuflratjqns fift jthpir hypofltefe .1. fhalk hqwgyes, ;
adduce fo'me remarkable proofs from the heterogeneous folid bo- y
dies,, fo frequently found .entombed as it were in other folid bodies,
him -in -the circuëttaifiices.; He turns our globe into a'fluid-or liquified matter, fhorn
from the fun by a comet, which mixed itlelf .with it., Gould this have' béen .éxpefted
from a man who treats all hypothefes wirli the tiunoft Gghrenipt ? ■ ,
fi *3 Incehdliis ef .inp,hdaifipn'i'bus Varie transformata funt corpora,. et .qiliu nunc opaca
et fieca cernimiasi arliffe injtio, mox aquis haulfa fuiffe, tandemque elementis •
in prsefentem-vBflwni emerfiffe,.credi par éft.. Omnis ex fufione icoria vitri eft genus, s .;
feprise: autem jtfljmilari; debpit cru&ij „quffi- fufarn globi materiam, v e lut^ jmer^
fiirno o.btexit, ijn^umitqtie poft fufionem------Ipfa magna -telluris ofla, nudteque
Silas rupes atque rmmlr®1^ filices,- cuin tota fere in vitrum abeant, quid ni-fi edn- '
creta ifunt oktn .corporibus, &c. Leibnitz -Protogma, .§ xii.-p. 3, .4.
f. Mr. Becher, in his phyfic. Siibrerran. Brews, that the hardeft ftpnes are diflb-
luble -by water!and :ighis;.et aquae ope, fpeciali experiment,. .^urifEmos
quofque lapides in miicq^rn',refoIv.q, qui deftillatus fubtilem lpiritum. ^exhlbtet.1’
Again“ “ Eft etiarn ceftafmëthódus,‘ folius aqu&cpmmunis op® Blices êt arenam
in liquoreni. -viicofuta, eundemq.ue ,‘in fal viride conycrtendi et hoc in pleum'rubi- .
cupdym.” This laft methpdi; which does.pot require the ufe of fire, is moft agreeable
to Woodward’s Syftém, which on that account; among ..others, appears the
pioft.eligible. ■ .1 1. ' * . ,
± That all ftones were anciently, a foft or- flimy pafte, is admitted as a'tried and.un-
gueftiona'ble certainty, in the Memoires de 1’ Aéaderhie Royale^ lad A . -1-7 x-6, p. -14.
i R I ffolida