108 ONTOLOGY. 



Zircon earth is only a removal or displacement of the 

 silicious toward the argillaceous earth. 



524. The argillaceous earth also is not dissevered into 

 its principles ; it is not found as a carbonate. On the 

 contrary, it is at once shown to be far more pliable 

 by its capacity for being kneaded and moulded in water, 

 and by its hardening when exposed to air and fire. It 

 is also seized upon and dissolved, i. e. reduced to the 

 aqueous condition, by all acids. Its kindred earths are the 

 Glucine and Yttria, verging towards the talcose earths. 



525. The first dismemberment of principles is shown 

 by the talcose earth. Where it appears uncombined with 

 the former earths it is carbonate, yet still feebly corrosive. 



526. These three principal earths together make up 

 the body of the earth, while the calcareous earth is only 

 spread over them like a mantle or crust. 



527. As no earth is in its totality corrosive, and 

 none such occurs in nature or has at least not been 

 originally produced from it, so may the insolubility of the 

 earths in water be set up as an essential and thoroughly 

 valid characteristic of the earths. Their distinctive cha- 

 racters have been sedulously rendered fluctuating, by 

 having been drawn not from nature, but the products 

 of art. That the corrosive chalk is soluble in water, and 

 may therefore be a salt is true ; but it has not issued 

 thus out of the womb of nature. Mineralogy knows 

 nothing of a corrosive calcareous earth. The earths are 

 sufficiently separated from the salts by their insolubility 

 in water. They are separated from the ores by their 

 incombustibleness, or, if they have been already burnt, 

 by their incapacity for reduction. As both of these 

 qualities are imparted by fire, so the earths are dis- 

 tinguished by their immutability in fire, whereby is 

 naturally understood not the scoriation, but change of 

 the earthy character. They differ also in the same man- 

 ner from the Inflammables. Nature does not undertake 

 the artificial reductions of earths to Metalloids, at least 

 not so, that they may become again of themselves earths. 

 The metals are permanent reductions. 



