organized bodies are every where found, bu- 

 ried in the various strata which form the ex- 

 ternal cru^t of this globe. Immense collec- 

 tions of shells lie buried far from any sea, and 

 at heights inaccessible to its waves : fishes are 

 found in veins of slate, and vegetable im.pres- 

 sions at heights and depths equally astonish- 

 ing. But what is most surprising is the 

 disorder which reigns in their relative posi- 

 tions ; here, a stratum of shells covers another 

 of vegetables 3 there, fishes are found over 

 terrestrial animals, which in their turn are 

 placed over plants or shells. Torrents of lava 

 and pumice, produced from subterranean 

 fires, are mixed with the products of the 

 ocean: these fossils are almost always foreign 

 to the soil which hides them; it is in the 

 equator we muft look for recent shells and 

 fishes analogous to those which are found fos- 

 sil in the north, and 'vice n^erfa. In short, 

 although nature has thus embellished the 

 actual residence of living beings, although so 

 much care is shewn in their preservation and 

 happiness, she seems equally pleased with 

 exhibiting the monuments of her pov/er in 

 this disorder and apparent confusion — all evi-» 



B 2 



