VEINSTONES. 



589 



original situation ; and that under this pretended 

 gravel would be found the solid rock. 



" I shall not here enlarge on the destructive 

 power of the elements, but reserve the subject for 

 another work ; where I shall show, by a series of 

 facts, its consequences in granites, sandstones, 

 basalts, and almost all the rocks. I shall show 

 that acting constantly, and without interruption, 

 during a long series of ages, it must have pro- 

 duced very great effects on the solid crust of our 

 globe ; and has strongly concurred in fashioning 

 the inequalities, now observed on its surface. I 

 shall with regret be obliged to combat the opinion 

 of Dolomieu ; the vivacity of whose imagination 

 could not bear the slow and uniform progress, 

 which experience shows to be that of nature. He 

 said he could not believe that a rivulet should 

 have scooped out large valleys : but I must ob- 

 serve that nature has time entirely at her disposi- 

 tion ; and that a finite effect, produced an infinite 

 number of times, is an effect infinitely great." 



It is hoped that these observations will be suf- 

 ficient to direct the student of nature in his atten- 

 tion to veinstones, which, whether in mountains 

 or in cabinets, have often been confounded with 

 rocks. In the latter, particularly, they have some- 

 times led mineralogists, and even geologists, to 



