Page:Theophrastus - History of Stones - Hill (1774).djvu/35

 Power of Attraction; a Property in all Matter, by which the Particles of Bodies draw. one another with a certain Force, which acts infinitely, more intenely at the Contact, or extremely near it, than at any determinate Ditance.

How far the Heat, which is apparently manifet to our Senes at great Depths in the Earth; and is from thence, and from much greater Depths than we are ever likely to have Opportunities of being acquainted with, continually paing upwards to the Surface, may have been concerned in dipating the remaining Part of the Water, which had erved to bring the Particles of Stones and Earths together; and, by that means, been intrumental to the bringing them into their preent State; and how far the Cold about the Surface may have aited in the Formation of others, by preventing the Diipation or farther Rie of their contituent Particles, which had been wahed from among the Matter of the Strata by the Water which continually alo acends from below towards the Surface, inceantly pervading them, and detaching and bearing up with it thee Particles from among them, is a ubject of too nice Enquiry, and too long to be particularly decided here. The bare mention of it may however erve to explain in what Manner Heat and Cold may be concerned in the reducing ome of the foile Subtances into the State wherein we find them; and how Heat would have detroyed the very Means of Coalecence in thoe Subjects, to the Formation of which Cold has, according to this Philoophy, been eential; and Cold, on the contrary, mut have prevented what Heat uninterrupted might have had Power of doing, in the others. VIII. There are in Stones of different Kinds many peculiar Qualities, which arie from this, that there are many very great Differences both in the Matter and Manner of the Affluxes of the terretrial Particles from which they were formed; of which thoe in regard to Colour, Tenacity, Smoothnes, Denity, and the like Accidents, are frequent; though thoe in other more remarkable Properties, are not o common.