



^i 



vin 



I 



hicii 

 fore, 



§,is 



I 



thi 



litill 



hicli, 

 folu. 



; tha 



t 



m 0! 

 Nep 

 nfo! 



ilac 

 )ofitf 



I 



,tV2 



vord 

 )n 



le 



HUTTONIAN THEORY. 



ig 



ta. 



ledge a hair's-breadth beyond his experience and. 

 obfervation of the prefent order of things *. 



14. Such are the more obvious, but I think 

 unanfwerable objedtions, that may be urged 

 againil the aqueous confolidation of the lira- 

 It is true, that llony concretions, fome of 

 them much indurated, are formed in the humid 

 way under our eyes. Very particular condi- 

 tions, however, are required for that purpofe, 

 and conditions fuch as can hardly have exifted 

 at the bottom of the fea. Firll, The water muft 

 diflblve the fubftance of which the concretion 

 is to be formed, as it adually does in the cafe 

 of calcareous, and in certain circumftances, in 

 that of liliceous, earth. Secondly, It muft be 

 feparated from that fubftance, as by evaporation, 

 or by a combination of the matter diiTolved 

 with fome third fubftance, to which it has a 

 greater affinity than to water, fo as to form with 

 it an infoluble compound. Laftly, The water 

 that is deprived of its folution muft be carried 

 off, and more of that which contains the folu- 

 l no ' tion muft be fupplied, as fometimes happens 



tll2 



.turf 



B2 



Vr'here 



* Homo nature mlnifter, et 

 et intelligit, quantum de nature 



obfervaverit : nee amplius fcit, a 



mente 



Nov. Ore. lib 



