VEGETABLE REMAINS. G7 
ments of cutlery, the tools of our mechanics, and 
the countless machines which we construct, by 
the infinitely varied applications of iron, are de- 
rived from ore, for the most part coeval with, or 
more ancient than the fuel, by the aid of which 
we reduce it to its metallic state, and apply it 
to innumerable uses in the economy of human 
life. Thus, from the wreck of forests that waved 
upon the surface of the primeval lands, and 
from ferruginous mud that was lodged at the 
bottom of the primeval waters, we derive our 
chief supplies of coal and iron ; those two fun- 
damental elements of art and industry, which 
contribute more than any other mineral produc- 
tion of the earth, to increase the riches, and 
multiply the comforts, and ameliorate the con- 
dition of mankind. 
Chapter VIII. 
Strata of the Secondary Series. 
We may consider the history of secondary, and 
also of tertiary strata, in two points of view : the 
one, respecting their actual state as dry land, 
destined to be the habitation of man ; the other, 
regarding their prior condition, whilst in pro- 
gress of formation at the bottom of the v> aters, 
