n 



Pre[. 



mate 



le 



at a 

 fion, 



ftbe 



I on, 



in 3 



■ytic 



ilit/ 

 erf' 



HUTTONIAN THEORY. 23 



fore probable, that the fame thing would hap- 



''^^' pen to the calcareous earth, if by any means the 



^' fixed air were prevented from efcapliig when 



^ca. great heat is applied to it. This efcape of the 



^^'^^ fixed air is exadly what the compreffioii in 



' §^' the fubterraneous regions is calculated to pre- 



and vent, and therefore we are not to wonder 



e- among the calcareous ftrata, we find marks of 



di- acflual fufion having taken place *, 



lade, 17. Thefe effeds of preflure to refill tJie de- 



jy of compofition, and augment the fufibility of bodies, 



being once fuppofecj, we lliall find little difficulty 

 Dm a in conceiving the confolidation of the llrata by 

 d by heat, iince the intervals betv/een the loofe mate- 

 ; late rials of which they originally confifted may have 

 3^n^ been clofed, either by the foftening of thofe mate- 

 ,Qj^. rials, or by the introdudion of foreign matter a- 



mong them, in the fl:ate of a fluid, or of an elaftic 

 qI vapour. No objedion to this hypothefis can arife 

 j^ from, the confi.derations ftated in the preceding 

 cafe ; the folvent here employed would want no 

 pores to lodge in after its work was completed, 

 nor would it find any difficulty in making its re- 



tf treat through the denfeil and moll folid fubflan- 

 ces \ii the mineral kingdom. Neither can its 



incapacity to diffolve the bodies fubmitted to its 

 adion be alleged. Heat is the moll powerful 

 aqd mod general of all folvents , and, though 



B 4 fome 



* Note vir. 



