6 Sir James Hall on the Consolidation (t/'tli-e Strata. 



no longer in the precise state which they would have been left 

 in by those violent heaves alluded to, he was led to inquire what 

 other causes could be supposed to have reduced them to their 

 present appearance. It was not long before he saw that a vast 

 and overwhelming torrent or debacle (perhaps many more than 

 one) must have passed over all those parts of the globe which 

 he had an opportunity of examining. A little further reflection 

 made it also evident to him, that if the Huttonian Theory were 

 supposed to be true, such waves became a necessary conse- 

 quence. For if great masses of strata be suddenly elevated to the 

 surface from the bottom of a deep sea, waves proportionate 

 in size must be produced, which, in their transient, but over- 

 whelming course, would produce all the well known pheno- 

 mena of a diluvian character. Professor Buckland's recent 

 speculations on the same subject form a valuable addition to 

 this most interesting theory. 



The consolidation of sandstone was another very knotty 

 point amongst the geologists — no theorist of either party, as 

 far as we know, having attempted to account for it by any ra- 

 tional hypothesis. The present paper, which we shall now 

 proceed to analyse, goes far to supply this deficiency. 



Sir James Hall commences by some general observations on 

 the nature of geological inquiries, and on the spirit in which 

 experiments should be conducted, which have for their object 

 to advance the boundaries of this science. These remarks we 

 recommend strongly to any one engaged in similar pursuits ; 

 and we must be permitted to say, that the time is now surely 

 come when it is incumbent on the supporters of the aqueous 

 doctrine to show, experimentally, that their theory is equally 

 capable of representing artificially the rocks which we see in 

 nature, so many of which the Huttonians have successfully 

 imitated. 



Our author proceeds to say, it had often been urged, 

 and apparently with good reason, against this branch of 

 the Huttonian Theory, that no amount of heat applied 

 to loose sand, gravel, or shingle, would occasion the parts 

 to consolidate into a compact stone. And as all his ex- 

 perience led to the same conclusion, he saw that, unless, 

 along with heat, some flux were introduced amongst the 



