highest mountains, by an universal deluge. 2. That they, with all the
calcareous stones and earths, are animal remains. 3. That they grow
or shoot as crystals do. I find that I could swallow the last opinion,
sooner than either of the others; but I have not yet swallowed it.
Another opinion might have been added, that some throe of nature has
forced up parts which had been the bed of the ocean. But have we
any better proof of such an effort of nature, than of her shooting a
lapidific juice into the form of a shell? No such convulsion has taken
place in our time, nor within the annals of history: nor is the distance
greater, between the shooting of the lapidific juice into the form of a
crystal or a diamond, which we see, and into the form of a shell, which
we do not see, than between the forcing volcanic matter a little above
the surface, where it is in fusion, which we see, and the forcing the
bed of the sea fifteen thousand feet above the ordinary surface of the
earth, which we do not see. It is not possible to believe any of these
hypotheses; and if we lean towards any of them, it should be only
till some other is produced, more analogous to the known operations of
nature. In a letter to Mr. Hopkinson, I mentioned to him that the
Abbe Rochon, who discovered the double refracting power in some of the
natural crystals, had lately made a telescope with the metal called
platina, which, while it is as susceptible of as perfect a polish as the
metal heretofore used for the specula of telescopes, is insusceptible of
rust, as gold and silver are. There is a person here, who has hit on a
new method of engraving. He gives you an ink of his composition. Write
on copper plates, any thing of which you would wish to take several
copies, and, in an hour, the plate will be ready to strike them off; so
of plans, engravings, &c. This art will be amusing to individuals, if
he should make it known. I send you herewith, the Nautical Almanacs for
1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, which are as late as they are published.
You ask, how you may reimburse the expense of these trifles? I answer,
by accepting them; as the procuring you a gratification, is a higher one
to me than money. We have had nothing curious published lately. I do not
know whether you are fond of chemical reading. There are some things in
this science worth reading. I will send them to you, if you wish it. My
daughter is well, and joins me in respects to Mrs. Rittenhouse and the