LINN^US. 303 



extent with floating fuci, the mould derived from 

 which gradually descends, while the lighter par- 

 ticles help to form a floating meadow. Marine 

 vermes, the mollusca, testacea, lithophytes, and zoo- 

 phytes, together with fishes and sea-birds, feed be- 

 neath this floating meadow. An argillaceous sedi- 

 ment falls down in the quiet water, and this, together 

 with the calcareous shells of the marine vermes, 

 gradually forms a heap, which rises to the surface, 

 while the pressure agitating the water drives out 

 the marine animals. On the rock thus formed, 

 the sea casts up great quantities of fuci, which are 

 converted into mould, until at length the sandy 

 earth rises above the surface, dries, is driven about, 

 and concresces into gravel and sandstone. In the 

 course of ages, the sand is hardened into sand- 

 stone, the mould into bituminous shale and coal, 

 the clay into marble, other layers of mould into 

 other beds of shale or slate, and other masses of 

 sand into gravel and conglomerate. This again is 

 converted into pebbles, these into stones, the stones 

 into rocks. At length, the water subsiding, the 

 mass becomes a mountain. Had Linnaeus been 

 as unfortunate in his other theories as in this, his 

 name would have been long ago forgotten. 



However fanciful his theoretical views may be, 

 his classification is not unworthy of praise, and his 

 specific definitions are generally intelligible to a mo- 

 dern mineralogist ; but this is nearly all, however, 

 that can be said in their favour. He divides the 

 mineral kingdom into three classes, under the names 

 of Pelrce, Minerce, and Fossilia. These are again 

 subdivided into several orders, and the number of 

 genera amounts to fifty-four. 



