Theory of the Earth, Volume 1 (of 4) by James Hutton
page 26 of 387 (06%)
page 26 of 387 (06%)
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source of mighty revolutions in the fate of land.
There may, indeed, be some difficulty in conceiving all the modifications of this mineral power; but as, on the one hand, we are not arbitrarily to assume an agent, for the purpose of explaining events, or certain appearances which are not understood; so, on the other, we must not refuse to admit the action of a known power, when this is properly suggested in the appearances of things; and, though we may not understand all the modifications, or the whole capacity and regulation of this power in bodies, we are not to neglect the appropriating to it, as a cause, those effects which are natural to it, and which, so far as we know, cannot belong to any other. On all occasions, we are to judge from what we know; and, we are only to avoid concluding from our suppositions, in cases where evidence or real information is necessarily required. The subject now considered, subterraneous fire, will afford an example of that truth; and, a general view of this great natural power will here find a proper place, before the application of it for the explanation of natural appearances. No event is more the object of our notice, or more interesting as a subject for our study, than is the burning of a fire: But, the more that philosophers have studied this subject, the more they seem to differ as to the manner in which that conspicuous event is to be explained. Therefore, being so ignorant with regard to that fire of which we see the origin as well as the more immediate effects, how cautious should we be in judging the nature of subterraneous fire from the burning of bodies, a subject which we so little understand. But, though the cause of fire in general, or the operations of that power in its extreme degrees, be for us a subject involved in much |
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