443 



Taking all this at once for granted, Dr. Hution fays, " All thefc 

 " appearances find the mofl: perfeft explanation in the Theory he endea- 

 " vours to eflablifli, and are the fads from which he reafons." 



I can by no means admit the truth of thefe pofitions, which fervc 

 to juflify the neceffity of his theory, and aftually (as he tells us) 

 furniOi his Proofs. The country which I have examined with care, has, 

 (as will appear) fuffered no deJlruElivi change ; its materials and their 

 arrangement, vary often, it is true, but the fteady pofition of the ftrata 

 of which it is compofed, all horizontal or nearly fo, (hew, that thej 

 have not been broken or di/iurbed by any -violent operation. 



As the materials of this world, which, by Dr. Mutton's ift pro- 

 pofition, are in conjiant motion from its higher parts, can be carried ofF 

 from its furface alone, it becomes neceflary to take a general view of the 

 furface, and to examine of what materials it is compofed. 



I need not on this occafion take notice of our boundlefs ocean, 

 nor the extenfivc plains covered with moveable fands, as they do not 

 enter into this difcufFion. 



Ihe remainder of our furface is covered with a thin flratum of foil, 

 well clothed with vegetables ; through this naked rocks often appear ; 

 but thefe taken all together, bear a very fmall proportion to the parts 

 adorned by verdure, and affording fuftenance to numberlefs animals. 



I confider this ftratnm of foil, with its vegetable coat, as a fuit 

 of armour, with which nature, in her wifdom, clothes the world, to 

 proteft its loofe, moveable materials, and to prevent their being carried 

 off by the rain and winds. The propenfity of nature fo to cover her- 

 fclf, is irrefiftible. Currents of Lava, in time, acquire a foil and vege- 

 table cloathing. The bleakeft parts of our wild rocks and mountains, 

 are covered with their own foil, and their own vegetables ; even the 

 tops of the Giant's Caufeway Pillars, where beyond the breach of 

 the fea, are clothed with a fibrous, mofly earth, producing a good ver- 

 dure. 



( 3 K t ) Every 



