Elements of Physiophilosophy

by Lorenz Oken

587. The integral forms of the three fundamental earths crystallized with and through each other into one mass, or, in other words, the nucleus of the earth consists of a crystalline mass of the three fundamental earths. The solid nucleus of the earth consists of crystals upon a small scale of silex, clay, and talc.

588. As, however, no pole is produced of perfect purity in nature, so are the integral forms not perfectly pure fundamental earths, but other and later factors enter also into their composition, e. g. calcareous earth, with even ores and salts. The silicious earth is crystallized as quartz, the argillaceous as feldspar, the talc as mica.

589. The mixture of the three crystallized fundamental earths, which composes the nucleus of the earth, and upon which the polarized masses of soil have been supported, is therefore a definite species of rock, which has all the properties of Granite, although that which has been extruded from the earth may have been altered by heat.

590. As the mass of the earth is about five times denser than water; so must the planet, before the Earthy was separated, have been much denser than at present. With its separation the fluid must have suddenly diminished, and moved towards the middle point of the planet. During the descent of water for many miles in extent, it must separate in drops. The separation of the earths was combined with rain.

591. In every falling drop the three fundamental earths, which are insoluble in water, crystallized. The first crystals therefore are only of the size of drops. It is only by this mode of origin that the crystallization into one another of the three constituent parts of granite without any cementing substance can be comprehended. Granite is an earthy hail-storm. The hail-stones crystallized during their fall in a similar manner with each other.

592. Upon the whole the silicious character predominates in granite, as the primary formation of the planet, and must do so, for silicious earth is the primary earth, the principal earth of this precipitation, and one from which clay and talc subsequently proceed, being higher heterogynisms produced by light. Properly speaking only two perfectly different characters of earth exist, the silicious earth as the pure separation of the Earthy, and the calcareous earth, as the last separation of the water from the Earthy. It may also be said that in the calcareous earth fire, in the talcose earths the air, in the argillaceous earth water has exercised its influence and displaced the Earthy. Not only quartz is silicious earth, but feldspar and mica consist in a great measure of the same. Still, however, these last two constituent forms are wholly different from quartz, and very far removed from the nature of silex; the feldspar obviously forming the transition to clay by its resolution into porcellanic earths, but the mica passing over into talc.

593. There does not exist in nature an order of silex, clay, or talc, so soon as we take up these earths in a simply chemical manner. Nature instead of silex produces quartz, instead of clay feldspar, instead of talc mica; and these must be the earths, that determine this part of the mineral system; they are the characters of orders; there is thus properly no order of silex but of quartz, none of clay but of feldspar, none of talc but of mica, at least according to their signification.

594. The points of origin for this division of the mineral system or that formed by the fundamental earths are the three fundamental crystallizations, and upon these everything that does not belong to the calcareous earth must and does naturally arrange itself. The mineral system is only the developed and separated granite. The fact cannot rest unobserved, that mica has only one laminar cleavage, feldspar two, quartz three, this being for the first time a perfect crystal, a double tetrahedron with one column.

595. With granite and with it alone the solidity, the body and form of the earth has been given; it is the homogeneous fundamental mass of the planet, and is therefore crystallized throughout to the finest degree in its three constituent forms.

GNEISS AND MICA-SCHIST.