8o 
NATURAL HISTORY 
More hard 
and folid pro- 
ductions in 
one place 
than another. 
Mountains 
and hills the 
necefl'ary re- 
fill t of more 
folids in one 
part than in 
another, at 
the time of 
firft general 
induration. 
earth, and their contractile powers prefied forth, and threw up into 
their proper elevations, the elements of air, water, and earth ; ele- 
ments, as neceffary to the furface, as the ftony flrata were to the 
inferiour parts of the globe. Such was the general divifion, but 
it is not to be imagined that in works of fuch immenfity, a minute 
exadnefs could take place : No — there was more of ftony matter 
in one place, more of earth in another ; in fome places ftones be- 
came lefs porous, and contracted into a narrower fpace, in others 
more lax and diffufed ; fome waters, fome air, fome fire detained at 
firft: in the interftices, and afterwards efcaping, occafioned depref- 
fions, and extenfive caverns ; and the matter of fa£t confirms this 
theory, for the more we examine the ftrudture of our globe, and 
weigh the phenomena, and confequences of earthquakes and vul- 
canoes, the more cavernous we find the earth, and of the more un- 
equal denfity. In fhort, it was impoffible in the nature of things, 
that fuch a multifarious body as our globe fhould fettle and indu- 
rate with an abfolute exactnefs, or that every part of it’s furface 
fhould be accurately equidiftant from the center. It is eafy to ob- 
ferve, that fome countries abound more than others in rocks already 
formed, and others in waters lapidific, and ready to penetrate bodies 
immerfed, and make their fubftance become ftony b . Is it then 
any great wonder, that at the firft induration, there fhould be more 
of thefe ftony principles, and confequently ftony productions, in one 
part of the globe than in another; in other words, that the fhell 
of the earth fhould be more or lefs denfe in fome particular places 
than in the reft: ? Now, wherever this greater quantity of ftony prin- 
ciples was, and rocks fettled upon rocks, and flood firm, there the 
higher grounds, craggs, hills, and mountains became protuberant, 
and above the common furface. If this ftony procefs was in a 
ridge-like form, then it produced a chain of mountains ; if conical, 
a fharp fingle mountain, or more in number according to the 
number of cones ; where a quantity of air, fire, or water was in- 
clofed at the time of induration, in proportion to the caverns which 
fuch extraneous elements occupied, fo would be the fubfidencies be- 
twixt the firmer and more ftable eminences. If thofe caverns were 
deep and great, precipices would be formed in the fides of 
mountains, and in cliffs ; if fhallow and oblate, gentle declivities ; 
if thefe declivities were greatly extended, then they fhoot forwards, 
and make chanels in the fea ; if damm’d up and circumfcribed, they 
make lakes and feas ; all thefe inequalities are the necefiary refult 
b Stones and rocks are no more than earth ce- and concrete into ftone when they meet with a 
mented bylapideous particles, educed, fufpended proper nidus to reft in, and attracEt one another 
in, and collected by the common vehicle of water; with greater force, than the water divides them, 
thefe particles leave the fluid they are fufpended in, 
of 
