SWEDENBORG. 35 



marine, the elevation and depression of the land, &c. &c. 

 The celebrated naturalist, Ray, had already lent the weight 

 of his character and attainments to this new but progressive 

 study ; and Dr. "Woodward subsequently farther promoted 

 its cultivation by bequeathing his collection to the University 

 of Cambridge, and endowing a professorship of the science. 

 The naturalists of Italy, already mentioned, Vallisneri, Moro, 

 Generelli, Donati, Targioni, and others, prosecuted their 

 inquiries with energy and success, and Linnaeus directed his 

 investigations to the structure of the earth. He contended 

 against the universality of the deluge; arranged the different 

 formations in a natural order of succession; showed that 

 the calcareous deposits are of vital origin, composed of 

 zoophytes and shells, and proved that animal as well as 

 vegetable remains have contributed to make up the solid 

 crust of the earth. Buff on' s Des Epoques de la Nature largely 

 promoted the advancement of geology. The illustrious zoolo- 

 gist's magical pen portrayed with all the brilliancy of graphic 

 description, the changes that have taken place in the earth's 

 crust during the epochs of its past history. The countrymen 

 of Leibnitz successfully prosecuted the same inquiries ; and, 

 in the year 1759, Lehman, director of the Prussian mines, 

 a skilful mineralogist and chemist, published a work, in 

 which he classified the rocks into primary, secondary, and 

 tertiary, in the same year that Arduino proposed a similar 

 arrangement. 



EMANUEL SWEDEKBORG (1720), in the early part of his 

 career, acquired considerable proficiency in the physical 

 sciences, traces of which are discernible in his la'ter writings. 

 His publication entitled Opera PhilosopJiica et Mineralogica, 

 in three volumes folio, with numerous engravings, was justly 

 regarded as a most extraordinary performance. His scien- 

 tific observations contain some sound principles and instruc- 

 tive facts; the nebular theory of the solar system, the 

 original fluidity of our planet, and its various preparatory 

 changes, as opposed to the prevailing idea of its instantaneous 

 creation in its present matured condition ; the succession of 

 various tribes of animals and plants; these, with other 

 assertions, the truth and accuracy of which have been demon- 

 strated by modern science, are the lights which shine through 

 the mystical philosophy which pervades his works. 



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