A View of Nature, in Letters to a Traveller Among the Alps: With Reflections on Atheistical Philosophy, Now Exemplified in France, Volume 2T. Becket, 1794 - Philosophy |
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Page vii
... light --- the universal law of gravita- tion --- the central power of the universe --- gravity neither inherent in matter , nor caused by an exter- nal impulse --- its cause unknown --- the question con- cerning a plenum and vacuum ...
... light --- the universal law of gravita- tion --- the central power of the universe --- gravity neither inherent in matter , nor caused by an exter- nal impulse --- its cause unknown --- the question con- cerning a plenum and vacuum ...
Page 9
... light : moreover , the formation of Il Monte Nuovo , which is always quoted as an in- stance , was gradual , and was formed merely of accumulations round its cone ; the same has hap- pened , it must be confessed also , in the forma ...
... light : moreover , the formation of Il Monte Nuovo , which is always quoted as an in- stance , was gradual , and was formed merely of accumulations round its cone ; the same has hap- pened , it must be confessed also , in the forma ...
Page 19
... light upon the subject . In the clouds , and in the regions above the clouds , we must search for the elu- cidation of these phænomena . Electricity pre- sents itself before us , and that mighty agent we must investigate and trace , in ...
... light upon the subject . In the clouds , and in the regions above the clouds , we must search for the elu- cidation of these phænomena . Electricity pre- sents itself before us , and that mighty agent we must investigate and trace , in ...
Page 20
... light to resemble what it really is , lightning . Flashes of lightning are always crooked , so are flashes of ... Light- ning burns , so does electricity . Lightning dis- solves metals , so does electricity . Lightning rends some ...
... light to resemble what it really is , lightning . Flashes of lightning are always crooked , so are flashes of ... Light- ning burns , so does electricity . Lightning dis- solves metals , so does electricity . Lightning rends some ...
Page 21
... Light- ning may be considered in three states : The first , that in which it explodes and flashes , without any force to do harm ; the second , when it explodes with greater force and density , striking people with blindness , setting ...
... Light- ning may be considered in three states : The first , that in which it explodes and flashes , without any force to do harm ; the second , when it explodes with greater force and density , striking people with blindness , setting ...
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Common terms and phrases
Adam æther Ætna ages Alps ancient animal antediluvian appears Aristotle astronomy atmosphere attraction basaltes bitumen bitumen of Judea bodies bowels calcareous cause clouds coal combustible conceive conjecture consequently continued creation crystals degree deluge dephlogisticated earth earthquakes effects elastic electric fluid electric matter elevation eruptions eternal existence explosion feet force fossil Giant's Causeway globe granite ground heat heavens hence imagine inflammable instance iron island land lava less light likewise loadstone magnetic manner mass metal miles mineral Mont Blanc Moses motion mountains nature needle Newton observed occasioned ocean opinion origin particles phænomena philosophers phlogiston planets poles present principle probably produced pyritæ quantity reason regions rock Saussure says Scripture Scythians shew Sir William Hamilton solid sphere stances stones strata substances subterraneous fire supposed surface thing thunder tion tricity truth universal vallies vapour vegetables Vesuvius vitrified volcanos water-spouts whole
Popular passages
Page 293 - And God said unto Noah. The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Page 258 - And God made the firmament, and divided the waters, which were under the firmament from the waters, which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Page 282 - And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Page 286 - He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
Page 117 - The heat of the metal of the first gun drove so much damp into the mould of the second, which was near it, that as soon as the metal was let into it, it blew up with the greatest violence, tearing up the ground some feet deep, breaking down the furnace, untiling the house, killing many spectators on the spot, with the streams of melted metal, and scalding many others in a most miserable manner.
Page 72 - So it is in contemplation ; if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts ; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.
Page 338 - Sea; this huge mass of stone is softened and dissolved as a tender cloud into rain. Here stood the African mountains, and Atlas with his top above the clouds: there was frozen Caucasus, and Taurus, and Imaus, and the mountains of Asia ; and yonder, towards the north, stood the Riphaean hills, clothed in ice and snow.
Page 399 - Thousands of thousands of suns, multiplied without end, and ranged all around us, at immense distances from each other, attended by ten thousand times ten thousand worlds, all in rapid motion, yet calm, regular, and harmonious, invariably keeping the paths prescribed them ; and these worlds peopled with myriads of intelligent beings, formed for endless progression in perfection and felicity.
Page 247 - That great chain of causes, which, linking one to another, even to the throne of God himself, can never be unravelled by any industry of ours.
Page 411 - And are not the sun and fixed stars great earths vehemently hot, whose heat is conserved by the greatness of the bodies and the mutual action and reaction between them, and 'the light which they emit; and whose parts are kept from fuming away, not only by their fixity, but also by the vast weight and density of the atmospheres incumbent upon them and very strongly compressing them, and condensing the vapors and exhalations which arise from them?