"Mountains, ferve for the Maintenance of Cat"tle, for the Service of the Inhabitants of the "Valleys. 5. Another Thing he obferves is, "That thofe "long Ridges and Chains of lofty and topping "Mountains, which run through whole Continents "Eaft and Weft (f), ferve to stop the Evagation of "the Vapours to the North and South in hot Coun"tries, condenfing them like Alembick Heads into "Water, and fo (according to his Opinion) by a "kind of external Diftillation giving original to Springs and Rivers; and likewife by amaffing, cooling and conftipating of them, turn them into "Rain, by thofe Means rendring the fervid Regi66 ons of the torrid Zone habitable. To the might be added fome other Ufes and Conveniences (g); as that the Hills ferve to the (f) Many have taken Notice, that fome of the greatest Eminences of the World run generally Eaft and Weft, of which take the late ingenious and learned Dr. Nichols's Account, [Confer. with a Theift, Part 2. pag. 191.] To go no farther than our own Country, all our great Ridges of Hills in England run East and Weft; fo do the Alps in Italy, and in fome Meafure the Pyrenees; fo do the Mountains of the Moon in Africk, and fo do Mount Taurus and Caucafus. This he faith is a wife Contrivance to prevent the Vapours, which would all run Northwards, and leave no Rains in the Mediterranean Countries. (g) That the Generation of many of the Clouds is owing to the Hills, appears from the Obfervations of the ingenious and learned Dr. Joh. Jam. Scheuchzer of Zurich, and Mr. Foach. Frid. Creitlovius cited by him. They obferved at Sunrifing, divers Clouds detached by the Heat of the Sun, from fome of the Tops of the Alps, &c. upon all which their Obfervations, the Conclufion is, Mirati fummam Creatoris fapientiam, qui id quod paulò antè nulli nobis ufui effe videbatur, maximis rebus deftinaverat, adeóque ex illo tempore dubitare cœpi, num Nubes effent futura, fi iftiufmodi Montes & Petra non darentur. Hypothefi hâc ftante, elucefceret permagna utilitas, imò neceffitas, quam Helvitice Alpes non nobis tantùm accolis fed & vicinis aliis regionibus præftant, difpenfando, quas gignunt Nubes, Ventos, Aquas. Scheuch. Iter. Alpin. 2. p.-20. Generation Generation of Minerals and Metals (b), and that in them principally are the moft ufeful Foffiles found; or if not found and generated only in them, yet at leaft all these fubterraneous Treafures are most eafily come at in them: Alfo their Ufe to several Nations of the Earth, in being Boundaries and Bullwarks to them. But there is only one Ufe more that I fhall infift on, and that is, 6. And lastly, That it is to the Hills that the Fountains owe their Rife, and the Rivers their Conveyance. As it is not proper, fo neither fhall I here enter into any Difpute about the Origine of Springs, commonly affigned by curious and learned Philofophers. But whether their Origine be from condenfed Vapours, as fome think (i); or from Rains falling, as others; or whether they are derived from the Sea by way of Attraction, Percolation, or Diftillation; or whether all thefe Caufes concur, or only fome, fill the Hills are the grand Agent in this prodigious Benefit to all the Earth: Thofe vaft Masfes and Ridges of Earth ferving as fo many huge Alembicks or Cola in this noble Work of Nature. But be the Modus, or the Method Nature takes in this great Work as it will, it is fufficient to my Purpofe, that the Hills are a grand Agent in this fo noble and neceffary a Work: And confequently, that those vaft Maffes and lofty Piles are not as they are charged, fuch rude and ufelefs Excrefcences of our ill-formed Globe; but the admirable Tools of Na (b) Let us take here Ol. Mag. Obfervation of his Northern Mountains, Montes excelfi funt, fed pro majori parte fteriles, aridi; in quibus ferè nil aliud pro incolarum commoditate & confervatione gignitur, quàm inexhaufta pretioforum Metallorum ubertas, quâ fatis opulenti, fertilefque funt in omnibus vita neceffariis, forfitan & fuperfluis aliunde fi libet conquirendis, unanimique robore, ac viribus, ubį vis contra hac natura dona intentata fuerit, defendendis. Acre enim genus hominum eft, &c. Ol. Mag. Hift. L. 6. Præf. See alfo Sir Robert Sibbald's Prodr. Nat. Hift, Scot. p. 47. See Book I. Chap. 3. Note (b). ture Book III. ture, contrived and ordered by the infinite Creator, to do one of its most useful Works, and to difpenfe this great Bleffing to all Parts of the Earth; without which neither Animals could live, nor Vegetables fcarcely grow, nor perhaps Minerals, Metals, or Foffiles receive any Increase. For was the Surface of the Earth even and level, and the middle Parts of its Iflands and Continents, not mountainous and high, (as now it is) it is moft certain there could be no Defcent for the Rivers, no Conveyance for the Waters; but instead of gliding along thofe gentle Declivities which the higher Lands now afford them quite down to the Sea, they would ftagnate, and perhaps ftink, and alfo drown large Tracts of Land. But indeed, without Hills, as there could be no Rivers, fo neither could there be any Fountains, or Springs about the Earth; becaufe, if we could fuppofe a Land could be well watered (which I think not poffible) without the higher Lands, the Waters could find no Defcent, no Paffage through any commodious Out-lets, by Virtue of their own Gravity; and therefore could not break out into thofe commodious Paffages and Currents, which we every where almoft find in, or near the Hills, and feldom, or never in large and fpacious Planes; and when we do find them in them, it is generally at great and inconvenient Depths of the Earth; nay, thofe very fubterraneous Waters, that are any where met with by digging in these Planes, are in all Probability owing to the Hills, either near or far diftant: As among other Inftances may be made out, from the forcible Eruption of the fubterraneous Waters in digging Wells, in the lower Auftria, and the Territories of Modena, and Bologna in Italy, mentioned by my fore-named learned Friend Mr. Ray (k). Or if there be any fuch Place found (k) Monfieur Blundel, related to the Parifian Academy, whar Device the Inhabitants of the lower Austria, (which is encom paffed found throughout the Earth, that is devoid of Mountains, and yet well watered, as perhaps fome fmall Islands may; yet in this very Cafe, that whole Mafs of Land is no other than as one Mountain defcending, (though unperceivedly) gently down from the Mid-land Parts to the Sea, as moft other Lands do; as is manifeft from the Defcent of their Rivers, the Principal of which in moft Countries have generally their Rife in the more lofty Midland Parts. And now confidering what hath been faid concerning this laft Ufe of the Hills, there are two or three Acts of the divine Providence obfervable therein. One is, that all Countrics throughout the whole World, fhould enjoy this great Benefit of Mountains, placed here and there, at due and proper Distances, to afford thefe feveral Nations this excellent and moft neceffary Element the Waters. paffed with the Mountains of Stiria) are wont to use to fill their Wells with Water. They dig in the Earth to the Depth of 25 and 20 Feet, till they come to an Argilla [clammy Earth] which they bore through fo deep, till the Waters break forcibly out; which Water it is probable comes from the neighbouring Mountains in fubterraneous Chanels. And Caffinus observed, that in many Places of the Territory of Modena and Bologna in Italy, they make themfelves Wells by the like Artifice, &c. by this Means the fame Seig. Caffini made a Fountain at the Cafle of Urbin, that caft up the Water five Foot high above the level of the Ground. Ray's Difc. 1. pag. 40. ubi plura. Upon Enquiry of fome fkilful Workmen, whofe Business it. is to dig Wells, c. whether they had ever met with the like Cafe, as thefe in this Note, they told me they had met with it in Effex, where after they had dug to 50 Foot Depth, the Man in the Well obferved the clayie Bottom to fwell and begin to fend out Water, and ftamping with his Foot to stop the Water, he made way for fo fuddain and forcible a Flux of Water, that before he could get into his Bucket, he was above his Wafte in Water; which foon afcended to 17 Feet height, and there stayed: And although they often with great Labour endeavoured to empty the Well, in order to finifh their Work, yet they could never do it, but were forced to leave it as it was. For For according to Nature's Tendency, when the Earth and Waters were feparated, and order'd to their feveral Places, the Earth must have been of an even Surface, or nearly fo. The feveral component Parts of the Earth, must have fubfided according to their feveral fpecifick Gravities, and at laft have ended in a large, even, fpherical Surface, every where equidiftant from the Center of the Globe. But that instead of this Form, fo incommodious for the Conveyance of the Waters, it should be jetted out every where into Hills and Dales, fo neceffary for that purpose, is a manifeft Sign of an especial Providence of the wife Creator. So another plain Sign of the fame especial Providence of God, in this Matter, is, that generallythroughout the whole World, the Earth is fo difpos'd, fo order'd, fo well laid; I may fay, that the Mid-land Parts, or Parts fartheft from the Sea, are commonly the higheft: Which is manifeft, I have faid, from the Defcent of the Rivers. Now this is an admirable Provifion the wife Creator hath made for the commodious Paffages of the Rivers, and for draining the feveral Countries, and carrying off the fuperfluous Waters from the whole Earth, which would be as great an Annoyance, as now they are a Convenience. Another providential Benefit of the Hills fupplying the Earth with Water, is, that they are not only inftrumental thereby, to the Fertility of the Valleys, but to their own alfo (); to the Verdure of the Vegetables without, and to the Increment and Vigour of the Treasures within them. Thus (1) As the Hills being higher, are naturally difpofed to be drier than the Valleys; fo kind Nature hath provided the greater Supplies of Moifture for them, fuch at leaft of them as do not afcend above the Clouds and Vapours. For, befides the Fountains continually watering them, they have more |