* The Author s opinion and reafoning refpedling the formation of that 



fpecies of fuel which is called Peat-f, and alfo zvith regard to the trees 



dug out of thofe places zvhere Peat isfound: from whence he takes occa- 



fion to propofe and difcufs a queftion, whether the Sea may ?iot, in 



procefs of time, become more elevated in refpeSl of the Land. 



1 HAVE heard many perfons deliver their fentiments, refpe6ling the 

 manner in which that fubftance called Peat was produced in this 

 country of Holland. The general opinion is, that the place where 

 this Peat is found was, in former ages, nothing but a wood, and that 

 the falling leaves and fmaller branches or twigs of the trees, colle6ling 

 together on the earth, did in procefs of time, produce this fubftance, 

 which is by us called Veen. It is alfo believed, that thofe trees, 

 numbers of which are found among the Peat, formerly grew in the 

 fame place, and were all blown down by fome violent tempeft of wind 



* In this Enay, the Author departs from his iirual method of invcltigating the works of 

 Nature by the microfcope, and proceeds upon theory- It will be feen, however, that he 

 does, in one inftance, draw a very flrong argument in fwpport of his hypothefis, from microf- 

 coplcal examination. 



+ The words Peat, and Turf, are fometimes ufed promifcuoufly, though their true 

 meaning is very different. Turf, properly fo called, as denoting an article of fuel, is 

 compofed of the thick roots of grafs, pared off the furface of the earth on commons, and 

 dried in the fun. The bark of oak, after it has been ufed by the tanners, made up into 

 fquare pieces or cakes, and dried, is fold in London for firing, under the name of Turf. But 

 Peat, of which the author here treats, is found under the furface of the earth, fometiines to 

 a confiderable depth. 



T 



