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Show [ 94 ] Round fparry caves metallic luftres Ring, And bear Phlogifl:on on their tepid wing. po!Tcfs a mixture of manganefe, and are thence preferable as a cement to other kinds of lime. 2. Bergman, 229. 'iVhich impregnation with manganefe has probably been received from the decompolition of fuperincumbent vegetable matters. Thefe cracks or perpendicular caverns in the granit~ or limel1one pafs to unknown depths ; and it is up thefe channels that I have endeavoured to 01ew that the 11eam rifes which becomes afterwards condenfcd, and produces the warm fprings of this iOand, and other parts of the world. (See note on Fucus, Vol. II.) And up thefe cracks I fuppofe certain vapours arife, which either alone, or by meeting with fomething defcending into them from above, have produced moll of the metals; and feveral of the materials in which they are bedded. Thus the ponderous earth, Barytes, of Derby01ire, is found in thcfe cracks, and is 11ratified frequently with lead-ore, and frequently furrounds it. This ponderous earth has been found by Dr. Hoepfner in a granite in Switzerland, and may have thus been fuf,limed from immenfc depths by great heat, and have obtained its carbonic or vitriolic acid from above. Annales de Chimie. There is alfo reafon to conclude that fo.mething fr~m above is nece!Tary to the formation of many of the metal s : at Hawk11one 111 Shrop011re, the feat of Sir Richard Hill, there is an elevated rock of filiceous. fand which is coloured_ green with copper in many places high in the air; and I have 1n my po!Teffi~n a fpecnnen of lead formed in the cavity of an iron nodule, and another of lead ~m1d fpar from a crack of a ~oal-fl:ratum; all which countenance the modern produch~n of thofe metals from defcending materials. To which a1ould be added, that the h1ghel1 mountains of granite, which have therefore probably nev b d · h - er een cover~ ·wit m;Jnne produtlions on account of their early elevation, nor with vegetable or an1mal matters 01: acconnt of their great coldnefs, contain no metallic orcs whillt the lower ones contam copper and tin in their cracks or veins both in Saxon 's-1 fi an d Co rnwa II · K'1 rw:m ' s Mineral. p. 3 ' y, I e Ia, 74. The_ tranfmutation of one metal into another, though hitherto undifcovered b tl ~lchym1fl:s, does not appear impoffible '; fuch tranfmutations have been fi1ppofcd toyexi~ m n. at_u re, thus lapis calami nari s may have been produced from tl1e den r1ll.cnli·O n o f 1e a d- o' re as _a IS g~ncr~lly found on the top of the veins of lead, where it has been calcined o; tsii1Jtfield Wl~h air, and _beca~lfe maJies of Jead-ore are often found intire]y inclofed in it o 1 ver IS found m1xed 1 11 11 1 d · . h- h . ll1 a mo a ea -ores, and fometimes in feparate filaments Wit ll1 t e c_avities of lead ore, as I am informed by Mr. Michell and is thence o ba_bly a partial tranfmutation of the lead to filver the rapid '_ r . f d pr - mlf!r h - 0 1 ' prog1 C1~ o mo ern che-y avmg lewn t_:1e analogy between metallic calces and acid power of tranfmuting their bafes. a difCO'"'I"Y I b 'll s, may lead to the · '" muc 1 to c w1 1ed. [ 95 ] ,., HENCE glow, refulgent Tin! thy cryfl:al grains, And tawny Copper {hoots her azure veins; Zinc lines his fretted vault with fable ore, And dull Galena teffellates the floor ; On vermil beds in Idria' s mighty caves The living Silver rolls its ponderous waves ; With gay refractions bright Platina fhines, And-fl:uds with fquander' d ftars his-duiky mines ; Long threads of netted gold, and filvery darts, Inlay the Lazuli, and pierce the ~artz ;- Whence roof'd with :lilver beam'd PERU, of old, And haplefs MExico was paved with gold.- 410 '' Heavens! on my :Gght what fanguine colours blaze! Spain's deathlefs fhame ! the crimes of modern days I When Avarice, ilirouded in Religion's robe, 4 I 5 Sail'd to the Weft, and Daughter' d half the globe; While Superfl:ition, ftalking by his :lide, Mock:d the loud groan, and lap' d the bloody tide |