Buffon's Natural History, Volume 01 (of 10) Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Mineral, &c. &c

There are high countries on the earth, which seem to be points of division marked by nature for the distribution of the waters. In Europe, the environs of Mount St. Goddard are...

In plains and large vallies, where there are great rivers, the beds are generally the lowest part of the valley, but the surface of the water is very often higher than the groun...

I shall not here examine whether the reddish colour of vegetable earth proceeds from the iron which is contained in the earths that are deposited by the rains and dews, but bein...

This, probably, will be considerably augmented by the second analogy, viz. that the inclination of the planes of the orbits do not exceed 7-1/2 degrees; for, by comparing the sp...

The surface of the Earth, like that of Jupiter, is not divided by bands alternative and parallel to the equator; on the contrary, it is divided from one pole to the other, by tw...

"It is certain, says an English author (Tancred Robinson), that there have been sea-shells dispersed on the earth by armies, and the inhabitants of towns and villages, and that...

Woodward, in pages 23 and 24, proceeds, "There are, besides these, great multitudes of shells contained in stones, &c. which are entire and absolutely free from any such mineral...

These questions are difficult to be resolved, but as the facts are certain and incontrovertible, the exact manner in which they happened may remain unknown, without prejudicing...

What we have now said on the great eminences of the earth, may also be observed on the greatest depths of the sea. The vast and highest seas are nearer the equator than the pole...

In many places earthquakes have formed considerable hollows, and even separations in mountains; all other inequalities have been produced at the same time with the mountains the...

All the matters, says our author, which compose the earth, from the summits of the highest mountains, to the greatest depths of mines, are disposed by strata, according to their...

"Abuziel remarks, as a new and very extraordinary thing, that a vessel was carried from the Indian sea, and cast on the coasts of Syria. To find a passage into the Mediterranean...

Clay and sand are therefore matters perfectly analogous, and of the same class; if clay, by condensing, may become flint and glass, why may not sand, by dissolution, become clay...

What we have just said on the cause of the motion and formation of the satellites, will acquire more probability, if we consider all the circumstances of the phenomena. The plan...

Transcriber's Notes: Words in italics in the original are surrounded by _underscores_. Depending on the font, there is one character that may not be visible. It is a superscript...

Leaving these erroneous principles, he flies to ingenious suppositions, which, although extraordinary, yet have a degree of probability to those who, like him, incline to the en...

But without dwelling longer on this point, which shall hereafter be more amply discussed, I shall confine myself to well-known observations and established facts. There is no do...