Werner’s tiieorv. 
23 
jng the central nucleus of tlie globe. But as in crystallization the 
force of cohesis’c attraction prevails over lliat of gravitation, tlie 
central nucleus did not form itself into a perfect sphere, hut shot 
up into ridges, constituting the mountain ranges of granite and 
other crystalline rocks that now traverse the surface of tlie globe. 
The water being thus freed in part from the substances which 
it held dissolved, there was a dilVcrent play of affinities, and a 
dill'crent species of rock, (gneiss), was formed and deposited; upon 
this a third, (mica slate), the successive strata extending them¬ 
selves in general, like the coats of an union, quite round the glolie. 
It was only in a few situations, eflectcd by peculiar circumstances, 
that crystalline deposits of a limited extent, were formed. Thus 
all the varieties of primitive rock came into being. 
2. Transition Iiocks .—The waters, still charged to some 
extent with mineral matter, retired in part into vast caverns in 
the central jiarts of the earth, and the mountains emerged; in 
part they became the abode of the lower orders and more imper- 
lect kinds of shell-fish; they were agitated by furious winds, and 
the fragments of rocks contained within their bosom, being rolled 
one upon another were rounded, and finally collected into im¬ 
mense beds, enveloping the exuviae of shell-fish, and consolidated. 
The primeval ocean also continued to deposit, though less abun¬ 
dantly than before, the substances it still held dissolved, some¬ 
times amongst the mechanical aggregates just mentioned, and 
sometimes in separate and distinct layers. The transition rocks 
are therefore partly crystalline and partl}'^ mechanical deposits. 
The)' received this name because during their formation, the 
earth was passing from an uninhabitable to a habitable state. 
3. Secondarj/ Eocks .—The sea continuing to retire, its shores 
became the habitation of the various kinds of plants and animals, 
and eventually the secondary, made up chiefly of the ruins of the 
older strata, were formed in a similar manner. With some crys¬ 
talline masses and beds, they are generally of a more earthly tex¬ 
ture than the transition, and embrace vegetable matter, retaining 
sometimes its original form, and the exuvirc of animals inhabiting 
both land and water. They were called jiailz, or horizontal 
rocks by Werner, because he supposed them always to occupy 
that position. 
'4. JJasalt. —Last, a great convulsion, a deluge supervened. 
The waters of the ocean rose out of their bed, stood over thetops 
of the loftiest mountains, and covered the whole surface of the 
earth with a coating of basalt, which was however broken up, 
and in a great measure swept awa}' by them as they retired, leav¬ 
ing only a few patches scattered over the rock formations of some 
countries. This particular in Werner’s theory, appears to have 
been added with the double purpose of bringing it into perfect 
harmony with the sacred Scriptures, and of accounting for certain 
masses of basalt that repose on the summits of the mountains 
between Freyburg and Bohemia. 
