38 



This charge, against so respectable a body as the Aca- 

 deniy of Sciences, is, I admit, too general; especially as 

 it is made by an author of decided partiality. It, there- 

 .fore, requires some more direct proof to establish it, and 

 from a less suspected source. Such evidence, I apprehend, 

 will be readily found, and in the Transactions of the Aca- 

 demy itself. 



In general, when a memoir was approved, and pub- 

 lished by that Society, a precis, or abridgment of it, 

 was prefixed at the beginning of the volume. This was 

 the business of an officer, called the Historian of the 

 Academy: of course, while the memclr rested upon the 

 authority of its author alone, the precis had the sanction 

 of the Academy itself, which took this method of an- 

 nouncing to the world, the opinion that body entertained 

 on the subject. 



Two passages, in the precis of Mr. Demarest's Memoir, 

 mark the zeal with which the Academy took up this ques- 

 tion; and prove, that its members were as little scrupu- 

 lous, as Mr. Demarest himself, about the means they made 

 use of, to support a favourite opinion, which they were 

 told, by its author, would be useful in furthering their 

 grand scheme. 



In this precis, the Historiographer of the Academy makes 

 two assertions, obviously decisive on the question, if ad- 

 mitted to be true: he says, 



" Almost every where, basalt is found mixed with scoria;" 

 and " all known volcanos are accompanied by masses 

 " of basalt." 



After 



