They may, indeed,
have been thrown up by explosions, as Whitehurst supposes, or have been
the effect of convulsions. But there can be no proof of the explosion,
nor is it probable that convulsions have deformed every spot of the
earth. It is now generally agreed that rock grows, and it seems that it
grows in layers in every direction, as the branches of trees grow in
all directions. Why seek further the solution of this phenomenon? Every
thing in nature decays. If it were not reproduced then by growth, there
would be a chasm.
I remember you asked me in a former letter, whether the steam-mill
in London was turned by the steam immediately, or by the intermediate
agency of water raised by the steam. When I was in London, Boulton
made a secret of his mill. Therefore, I was permitted to see it only
superficially. I saw no water-wheels, and therefore supposed none.
I answered you, accordingly, that there were none. But when I was at
Nismes, I went to see the steam-mill there, and they showed it to me in
all its parts. I saw that their steam raised water, and that this
water turned a wheel.
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