Barr's Buffon. Buffon's Natural History,: Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. From the French. With Notes by the Translator. In Ten Volumes..J.S. Barr, 1792 - Natural history |
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againſt alfo almoſt alſo ancient becauſe beds Befides bottom calcinable caufe cauſe clay coafts comet compofed confequently confiderable contains courfe courſe defcend deluge denfity depofited depth diffolved diminiſhes diſcovered diſtance diurnal motion eaft earth eſpecially faid fame fand fays fediment fhall fhells fhould fide fimilar fince firft firſt fituation flint fmall folid fome fometimes fource fouth free-ftone ftill ftone ftrata fubftances fubject fuch fufficient fummits fuppofe furface fyftem glaſs globe greateſt gulph height higheſt increaſes iſlands itſelf land leagues leaſt lefs leſs maffes marble marle maſs matter meaſure moft moſt motion moun mountains muſt neceffarily Nova Zembla obfervations Peru places plains planets poffible pofition prefent preferved produced quantity of water quarries raiſed reaſon rivers rocks Saturn ſea ſeparated ſhall ſhells ſmall ſome ſtate ſtone ſuppoſe tains terreftrial thefe themſelves theſe thofe thoſe tion tranſported vallies vitrifiable vitrifiable fand weft whofe whoſe
Popular passages
Page 315 - ... rivers with which it is indented in every direction. These are exceedingly numerous, and seem to form as essential a part in the constitution of our globe, as the mountains from which they flow, and as the ocean to which they direct their course. It is reckoned, that in the old continent, there are about 430 rivers, which fall directly into the ocean, or into the Mediterranean, and the Black seas ; but in the new continent, there are only about 145 rivers known, which fall directly into the sea....
Page 163 - This is the more wonderful, as the anrients were wholly ignorant of that amazing property of the loadftone in pointing to the poles, although they knew that of its attracting iron. They were equally ignorant of the general caufe of the flux and reflux of the fea, and were doubtful whether the earth was encompafled by the ocean, or was connected by necks of land, like that of the iftlnnus of Suez.
Page 166 - Calculation of the Mass of Water contained in the Sea. IF we would have an idea of the enormous quantity of water which the sea contains, let us suppose a common and general depth to the ocean ; by computing it at only 200 fathoms, or the tenth part of a mile, we shall see that there is sufficient water to cover the whole globe to the height of 503 feet of water ; and if we were to reduce this water into one mass, we should...
Page 180 - America, from whence they had returned with infinite labour and difficulty ; and we may even venture to affert, that had the ancients been fully convinced of the exiftence of a new continent, by the relation of thefe navigators, they would have deemed it wholly impracticable to...
Page 9 - ... of the dry land. We discover hills and valleys, plains and hollows, rocks and earths of every kind. We discover, likewise, that islands are nothing but the summits of vast mountains, whose foundations are buried in the ocean; we find other mountains whose tops are nearly on a level with the surface of the water; and rapid currents which run contrary to the general movement. These...
Page 266 - In general, the mountains between the tropics are loftier than those of the temperate zones, and these more than those of the frigid zones, so that the nearer we approach the equator, the greater are the inequalities of the earth.
Page 88 - ... with more velocity than the smallest and most massive; a separation therefore will be made of the dense parts of different degrees, so that the density of the sun being equal to 100, that of Saturn is equal to 67, that of Jupiter to 94^, that of Mars to 200, that of earth to 400, Venus to 800, and Mercury to 2800. But the force of attraction not communicating like that of impulsion, by the surface and acting on the contrary on all parts of the mass it will have retained the densest portions of...
Page 88 - ... by surfaces, the same stroke will have moved the grosser and lighter parts of the matter of the sun with more velocity than the smallest and most massive; a separation therefore will be made of the dense parts of different degrees, so that the density of the sun being equal to 100, that of Saturn is equal to 67, that of Jupiter to 94 '•£, that of Mars to 200, that of earth to 400, Venus to 800, and Mercury to 2800. But the force of attraction not communicating like that of impulsion, by the...
Page 11 - But, upon a more attentive obfervation, we mall perceive, that the great chains of mountains lie nearer the equator than the poles*; that, in the Old Continent, their direction is more from eaft to weft than from fouth to north ; and that, on the contrary, in the New Continent, they extend more from north to louth than from eaft to weft.
Page 81 - ... move when they pass in the vicinity of the sun. Another analogy which deserved some attention, is, the conformity between the density of the matter of the planets and the matter of the sun. We know on the surface of the earth there are some matters 14 or 15000 times denser than others. The densities of gold and air are nearly in this relation. But the internal part of the earth and the body of the planets are composed of more similar parts whose comparative density varies much less, and the conformity...