336 
MINERALS. 
(C The beds of calcareous matters are not only 
horizontal in the plains, but likewise in all moun- 
tains which have not been disturbed by earthquakes 
or other accidental causes : and when the strata are 
inclined, the whole mountain is likewise inclined, 
and has been forced into that position by a subter- 
raneous explosion, or by the sinking of a part of 
the earth, which had served it as a basis. We may 
therefore conclude, in general, that all strata formed 
by the sediments of water are horizontal, like the 
water itself, except those which have been formed 
on an inclined base, as is the case with the most part 
of coal-mines.” 
If these judicious remarks by the Count de 
Buffon could possibly require confirmation, they 
would receive it from observing the disposition 
of the strata of flint described by Sir H. Engle- 
field in the sixth volume of the Linnaean Trans- 
actions. 
In a chalk-pit in the Isle of Wight, close to the 
village of Carisbrook, there are several layers of flint 
from six to nine inches deep, separated from each 
other by intermediate strata of chalk, from two to 
nine feet in thickness. The flints are formed in 
the usual manner and of different sizes ; but what 
constitutes the singularity is, that instead of lying 
in a horizontal direction, as we find them in other 
pits, they are all inclined to the horizon in an angle 
of at least sixty-seven degrees. On examining the 
pit with attention. Sir Henry was astonished to find 
that every flint, though lying in its place, and re- 
