i52 Real and supposed effects of igneous action. 



were pushed so far as to lead philosophers to suppose the 

 ocean to be frozen at a certain depth, which perhaps would 

 acc"unt for the vast nia^^ses of ice, of all figures and dimen- 

 sions, that the currents bring from the north, along the coast 

 of Newfoundland, during the end of February, and the 

 month of March, at least three months before the breaking 

 up of the winter in those latitudes, for which I could not as- 

 sign any feasible cause. The diameter of the earth at the 

 poles being less than at the equator, brings the imagined 

 central mass of melted metal nearer to the poles, with its 

 perpetual radiation of molecules of heat, which would pre- 

 vent the freezing of the earth to the depths, as experienced 

 by Hearne and other travellers, who found it difficult, even 

 in summer, to prevent water from the earth being frozen at 

 the depth beyond the sun's influence ; how could this ema- 

 nation of heated minerals proceed all in the direction of the 

 equator, and avoid the nearer surface for escape at the 

 poles ; certainly not on the principle of radiation. 



Volcanic eruptions thrown out of such a fluid mass, re- 

 volving and mixing up all its constituent parts for such a 

 great period of time, ought to have acquired, by its constant 

 motion, some homogeneity in its composition, which is con- 

 tradicted by the variety of materials thrown out ; no two 

 eruptions being exactly alike, and the eruptions of water and 

 cinders being so easily accounted for, on the supposition of 

 the diminution of combustibles, and of course of heat, and in- 

 crease of water in the cavities, made by the ejection of lava; 

 where in this vortex of melted metal could either water or 

 cinders find a place ? 



Werner's error, in forming the crust of the earth solely 

 by the agency of water, ought to have warned the disciples 

 of fire from falling into the same fault, by employing fire 

 only, and limiting nature to the confined scale of our imagin- 

 ations, which although they take an extensive range, yet can- 

 not go beyond ideas procured through the medium of our 

 senses ; it is probable that nature has many ways of acting 

 that our short lived experience has not yet brought us ac- 

 quainted with, for it is only yesterday that we were capable 

 either of observing or registering the natural phenomena, 

 and much as we have lately done, an immensity remains yet 

 to be examined. 



