136 ONTOLOGY. 



be called a primary valley that has not arisen or been 

 excavated by the current of water. 



614. Gneiss and mica-schist have indeed taken part 

 in the primary crystallization, yet are, however, only its 

 last movements, as the water had already met with 

 resistance, and was partly stagnant ; their mass therefore 

 is not so purely crystallized as granite. They are not 

 parts of the earth's nucleus, but lie only like a crust upon . 

 it like hollow crystals. 



615. It may be said that gneiss and mica-schist ori- 

 ginated only because there were fathomless valleys in the 

 granite, in which the dissevering actions were inclosed, 

 and extended themselves from one mountain-wall to 

 another, while the light could be reflected in them and 

 heat the earth. 



616. So long as the granite was devoid of valleys, so long 

 also did no other formation originate. This is proved by 

 the fact that upon the highest mountains the granite is 

 bare and uncovered, while this is not the case upon its 

 lateral walls. It is therefore the second and third earth- 

 rain that first originated, after the earth was heated. 

 Gneiss and mica -schist are, so to speak, precipitated by 

 reflected light. 



617. The principal valleys of gneiss and mica-schist 

 have not originated by themselves, but have been 

 modelled according to the form of the granitic valleys. 

 The valleys of those earth -precipitates are properly only 

 subsequent valleys. 



618. The lamination is not everywhere a mechanical 

 phenomenon, but without doubt also a polar. It is 

 exactly the same law, which determines the lamination 

 of crystals, that does that of the strata of the earth, and 

 operates also in producing their lamination. 



PRIMARY LIME-STONE. 



619. The earths must be viewed as one mass, the com- 

 ponent parts of which observe a mutual relation. Now, 

 after the silex, clay and talc had been precipitated, a 

 proportionate abundance of lime became free, which was 





