The Economy of Nature Explained and Illustrated: On the Principles of Modern Philosophy. By G. Gregory, ... In Three Volumes. With Fifty-six Plates

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J. Johnson, 1798

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Page 368 - Upon this, turning my eyes towards the river, which in that place is near four miles broad, I could perceive it heaving and swelling in a most unaccountable manner, as no wind was stirring.
Page 60 - Recovering the first surprise, however, we entered boldly ; and had not proceeded above twenty paces, when the supposed statue of the giant presented itself to our view. We quickly perceived, that what the ignorant natives had been terrified at as a giant, was nothing more than a sparry concretion, fo-rmed by the water dropping from the roof of the cave, and by degrees hardening into a figure, which their fears had formed into a monster.
Page 61 - I ventured in once more with him, for about fifty paces, anxiously and cautiously descending by a steep and dangerous way. Finding, however, that we came to a precipice which led into a spacious...
Page 372 - ... to have been more fatal to me, as I contracted a fever by it, but of which, God be praised, I soon got the better. However, this made me so cautious for the future, that I avoided passing near certain places, where the stench was so excessive that people began to dread an infection. A gentleman told me, that going into the town a few days after the earthquake, he saw several bodies lying in the streets, some horribly mangled, as he supposed, by the dogs ; others half burnt ; some quite roasted...
Page 328 - Etna, like the former, is compofed of lava ; but this is now covered fo deep with earth, that it is no where to be feen but in the beds of the torrents. In many of thefe it is worn down by the water to the depth of fifty or fixty feet, and in one of them ftill confiderably more.
Page 61 - ... green ; and all receding in due perspective. They struck us with the more amazement, as we knew them to be mere productions of Nature, who, hitherto in solitude, had, in her playful moments, dressed the scene as if for her own amusement.
Page 337 - ... murmur of the prayers and lamentations of a numerous populace, forming various processions, and parading in the streets, added likewise to the horror. As the lava did not appear to me to have yet a sufficient vent, and it was now evident that the earthquakes we had already felt had been occasioned by the air and fiery matter confined within the bowels of the mountain, and probably at no small depth (considering the extent of 'those earthquakes), I recommended to the company that was with me,...
Page 336 - It is impossible that any description can give an idea of this fiery scene, or of the horrid noises that attended this great operation of nature. It was a mixture of the loudest thunder, with incessant...
Page 61 - Our candles being now all lighted up, and the whole place completely illuminated, never could the eye be presented with a more glittering, or a more magnificent scene. The whole roof hung with solid icicles, transparent as glass, yet solid as marble.
Page 175 - The officers appointed by the Duke of Cornwall assay it. by taking off a piece of one of the under corners of the block, partly by cutting, and partly by breaking ; and if well purified, they stamp the face of the block with the impression of the seal of the Duchy...

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