46 



of the globe, and draws -much of its nourishment from-- 

 the fossile kingdom. The animal is almost wholly sus- 

 stai.ned by the vegetable kingdom, If \ve go deeper 

 into the earth, the rule which generally obtains with re- 

 gard to the strata thereof is this : The upper parts con- 

 sist of rag -stone, the next of slate, the third ol marble 

 Itlled with petrefactions, the ibarth of slate again, and 

 lastly, the lowest \\hich We are able to discover, cf- 

 free stone. 



That the sea once overspread a far greater part of 

 the earth than it does at present we learn not only from 

 geographers, but from its yearly decrease, observable in 

 many places ; partly occasioned by the vast quantities 

 of shells, and all kinds of rubbish which the tides con- 

 tinually leave on the shores. Hence most shores "are 

 usually full of wreck, of dead, testaceous animals, of 

 stones, dirt, or sand of various kinds, and heaps of other 

 things. Rivers likewise/ especially those which have a 

 rapid stream, wear away whatever they touch, particu- 

 larly soft and friable earth, which they carry and deposit 

 on distant winding shores: whence it is certain the sea 

 coiilinually subsides^nd the land gains no small increase. 



Water retained in low grounds occasions marshes. 

 Bt what a wonderful provision has nature made, thai 

 inany of these, even without the heip of man, shall 

 again become firm ground ! More and more mossy 

 tumps are seen therein: some of these are brought 

 down by the water, from the higher grounds adjoining., 

 and others are produced by putrilving plants : thus the 

 marsh is dried up and new meadows arise ; and this is 

 done in a shorter time whenever the sphagnum, a kind 

 of moss, has laid the foundation: for this, in process 

 of time, changes into a porous kind of mold, -till almost 

 all the marsh is filled with it. After this ihe nish begins 

 to strike root, ami, together with the cotton-grass, con- 

 stitutes a tnrf, wherein the roots get continually higher, 

 itad thus .fay a firm .foundation for otJber plants, till the . 



