216 DOMAIN XI. DECOMPOSED. 



in favourable circumstances, the decom- 

 position of stones, of which it forms a con- 

 stituent part; to it the decomposition of 

 felspars, and many zeolites, may in part 

 be attributed. 



" Argil, when its induration does not ex- 

 ceed 7, must, by the common annual vi- 

 cissitudes of heat and cold, gradually be- 

 come rifty, absorb, soften and swell, and 

 thus promote disintegration and decompo- 

 sition. 



" Bitumen is said to form the cement of 

 some limestones, and probably of various 

 other species. Bowles found it so in va- 

 rious parts of Spain, and Flurl in Bavaria; 

 and to its fusion and withering (probably 

 by attracting oxj^gen), he attributes the 

 disintegration of several compact lime- 

 stones in Bavaria (p. 78). 



" Carbon has lately been found in several 

 species of stone ; as it powerfully attracts 

 oxygen, to it we may perhaps attribute the 

 disintegration of many of them, as marls, 

 marlites, some argillites, shales, &c. 



" Mephitic air (the azote of the French) 



