278 _ Preface to“ The Natural History 
With respect to the solid part of the globe itself, such a sub- 
terraneous heat as would effectually penetrate the whole mass, 
so as to brivg every part to a state of fusion, instead of leaving 
distinct and regular strata of various qualities, thickness, and 
other characters, separated from one another, as we find them, 
the whole solid globe must be run together into one solid slag, 
which might exhibit many cracks aud fractures after cooling 5 
but they would all be the cracks and fractures of an immense 
mass of ‘glass or slag. 
There could be uo horizontal divisions, nor marks of strata of 
any kind, nor could we have any coal, nor any useful stone or 
fossil whatsoever.—Such is the nature of this stearate hy- 
pothesis ! 
We have the most early traditions of our globe duderion a 
great catastrophe and change by water, which is recorded by 
Moses, and by many other eminent ancient philosophers ; and 
Count Buffon, Dr. Hutton, and manv other modern naturalists, 
see and acknowledge the marks of w ater in ail parts of the su- 
perficies of the globe: but such is their bias to the system of 
fire, that they attempt to convert all the rocks and strata of the 
globe into so many lavas of different colours and structures ; and 
in order to countenance aud assist their favourite agent, with all 
the powers of a heated unguarded imagination, one goes up 
to the source of all fire, in order to have the solid parts of our 
globe melred down in the sun; another goes down to the sub- 
terraneous regions, and blows up his fire there to a sufficient de- 
gree of heat to melt all the superincumbent rocks and strata to 
the degree of fusion, even when immersed under the waters of 
the ocean, which is, I think, a new method of fusing earthy 
inatter by fire, ‘ 
Others again are content to honour this agent with the for- 
mation of some few of our strata, such as the basaltes, and a 
few others of nearly a similar appearance: but after all that they 
have advanced, or can advance, to countenance this hypothesis, it 
is certain that none of the rocks and strata, which are a part of 
‘the solid superficies of our globe, exhibit any of the real marks: 
and characters of being formed by fire. 
The quality, component parts, interior structure, and appear- 
ance of our rocks and strata, are very distinguishable from slags 
or lava. Dr. Hutton acknowledges this in the 66th page of his 
Theory of the Earth, where he says, that ‘‘ a fusible substance, 
or mineral composition in a fluid state, is emitted from those 
places of the earth, at which subterraneons fire and expansive 
force ate manifested i in those eruptive operations. In examining 
these emitted bodies, men of science find a character for such 
productions in generalizing the substance, and understand the 
natural 
