in Werner s Dogmatism 115 



suggestion towards a better comprehension of the history 

 of the earth. It was announced dogmatically as a body 

 of ascertained truth, about which there could be no further 

 doubt or dispute. Let me quote by way of illustration a 

 few sentences from "Werner's Theory of Veins, where he 

 definitely expresses his opinions on these matters. " In 

 recapitulating the state of our present knowledge," he 

 observes, " it is obvious that we know with certainty that 

 the floetz and primitive mountains have been produced by 

 a series of precipitations and depositions formed in succes- 

 sion from water which covered the globe. We are also 

 certain that the fossils which constitute the beds and 

 strata of mountains were dissolved in this universal water 

 and were precipitated from it ; consequently the metals 

 and minerals found in primitive rocks, and in the 

 beds of floetz mountains, were also contained in this 

 universal solvent, and were formed from it by pre- 

 cipitation. We are still further certain that at different 

 periods, different fossils have been formed from it, at one 

 time earthy, at another metallic minerals, at a third time 

 some other fossils. We know, too, from the position of 

 these fossils, one above another, to determine with the 

 utmost precision which are the oldest, and which the 

 newest precipitates. We are also convinced that the solid 

 mass of our globe has been produced by a series of precipi- 

 tations formed in succession (in the humid way) ; that the 

 pressure of the materials, thus accumulated, was not the 

 same throughout the whole ; and that this difference of 

 pressure and several other concurring causes have pro- 

 duced rents in the substance of the earth, chiefly in the 

 most elevated parts of its surface, We are also persuaded 



