PART I. CHAP. III. 66 66 very distinguished natural philosophers have lately contested this mode of formation, (viz. "the Neptunian, or by the action of water); and "have endeavoured to substitute for it another, (viz. the Plutonian, or by the action of fire); "but these anomalous theories appear to be mere oscillations, which the progress of our geological knowledge experiences in its po"sitive progress towards truth1." 66 10. "The first essential step which has "been made in this course of pursuit, has "been the general conclusion deduced from "the assemblage of facts, after a long course "of observations; that all the substances which 66 compose our mineral strata, must have originated from chemical combinations in an aqueous liquid.-There was at first, upon our globe, neither menstruum nor solvend; a confused assemblage of elements-un assemblage confus d'élémens-formed itself in a liquid, of "which water was the basis; and it is from "this first mixture that all substances whatever, "which engage our observation or experi66 ence, successively formed formed themselves3. "All enlightened geologists now agree, that 1 D'AUBUISSON, t. i. p. 389. 2 DE LUC, Lettres Géologiques, p. 111, 112. Ib. p. 120. "all the substances which compose our strata, PART I "must have been, at one time, contained in the 66 66 same liquid; from which they were succes sively separated by a chemical process1. 11. "The primitive soils, whatever was the "mode of their formation and consolidation, 66 were not formed or consolidated at the same "instant: there was necessarily a succession of "time."-"Let us carry ourselves, in idea, to "the first moments of the formation of that part "of the globe which is known to us; that is, "of the thin rind or crust which covers our "planet.-At that epoch, the part of the globe "which was then actually existing, was like a kernel surrounded by the elementary prin 66 ciples of the minerals, of which its rind "or crust is now composed. We can repre"sent to ourselves these principles, as suspended “in a vast dissolution, whatever else might have "been its nature3. - This CHAOTIC OCEAN 66 or, 'original CHAOTIC FLUID",'- very different "from our present seas, contained the elements of the primitive earths. In obeying the laws "of the affinity of composition, they coalesced, "and grouped themselves together in different CHAP. III. PART I. CHAP. III. manners; and they thus produced the integral molecules of the different minerals. "This was the first, or chemical structure. 12. "Causes which are unknown to us, "having occasioned the precipitation of these "molecules, they successively deposited them"selves, uniting by the laws of the affinity of "aggregation; and they formed our minerals. "From this second or proper mineralogical "structure, are derived the different particu "larities which minerals present to us in their "texture and fracture. 13. "At length, the minerals formed, by "their assemblage, the masses or rocks, and "the strata or soils, the aggregate of which "constitutes the solid crust of the globe. The disposition of the minerals in their masses, "of the masses in their strata, of the strata "in the formations which subdivide them, and lastly, of the formations, with relation to "each other, constitute the geognostic struc"ture1. 14." The first formations were produced by a general cause. We can represent them " to ourselves, as precipitations from an universal dissolution, that is to say, from "a dissolution which covered the whole D'AUBUISSON, i. 271. CHAP. III. "terrestrial globe. But, although the disso- PART I. lution was general, it will not follow that every precipitate was such, and that each "formed originally a stratum which enveloped "the whole globe. While the dissolution de"posited one substance, or one rock, in one place, it is very possible that it produced "no precipitate of the same species in another; "either because the constituent principles of "the rock were not in sufficient quantities "in that part of the dissolution, or because "the causes of the precipitation did not there "exercise their action, or lastly, because other "causes obstructed them. In this place, they deposited granite; and a little further, "micaceous schist, because the elements of "mica were, perhaps, in a greater quantity in "that part of the dissolution which covered "the latter place 1. 66 15. "When the observer enters into the details of the formation of minerals, he sees nothing but precipitations, crystallizations, and dissolutions. The powers which produced the minerals, and which collected and united "their elements, were the powers of affinity. "He will not be able to appreciate correctly "their effects, without a profound knowledge "of general chemistry. But he will stand in 1 D'AUEUISSON, i. p. 326, 7. PART I. - CHAP. III. "need of great reserve and discrimination, "when he would conclude, from what takes place in our laboratories, to that which takes 66 place in nature. Nature acts upon immense masses; she has time at her disposal, it is nothing to her; and these two circumstances "will often be sufficient to render entirely dissimilar the effects of the same agent, and "the products of the same cause. - Time, "which has such narrow limits for us, has 66 none at all for Nature; for her, it is as inde"finite as space: both of these exceed even "the conception of our imagination'. — It is "further to be observed, that we cannot "flatter ourselves with being able to know all "the means which Nature employs in her forma"tions; and we are not to conclude that an "effect is impossible to her, because we have not been able to produce it in our labora tories; for instance, we are not to conclude "that a given substance is undecomposable, 66 merely because we have not been able to decompose it2. 16. " It will be sufficient to recollect; that "the science of physics makes known to us the "laws which appear to govern matter, and that, "by continually keeping before our eyes the 'D'AUBUISSON, tom. i. p. 241, 2. |