To which it may be answered, that the alternate motions of the waters are not equal, the sea having a constant motion from the east to the west, besides, the agitation, caused by the winds, opposes and prevents the equality of the tides. It will also be admitted, that by every motion of which the sea is susceptible, particles of earth and other matters will be carried from one place and deposited in another; and these collections will necessarily assume the form of horizontal and parallel strata, from the various combinations of the motions of the sea always tending to move the earth, and to level these materials wherever they fall, in the form of a sediment. But this objection is easily obviated by the well-known fact, that upon all coasts, bordering the sea, where the ebbing and flowing of the tide is observed, the flux constantly brings in a number of things which the reflux does not carry back. There are many places upon which the sea insensibly gains and gradually covers over, while there are others from which it recedes, narrowing as it were its limits, by depositing earth, sands, shells, &c. which naturally take an horizontal position; these matters accumulate by degrees in the course of time, and being raised to a certain point gradually exclude the water, and so become part of the dry land for ever after. But not to leave any doubt upon this important point, let us strictly examine into the possibility of a mountain's being formed at the bottom of the sea by the motions and sediments of the waters. It is certain that on a coast which the sea beats with violence during the agitation of its flow, that every wave must carry off some part of the earth; for wherever the sea is bounded by rocks, it is a plain fact that the water by degrees wears away those rocks, and consequently carries away small particles every time the waves retire; these particles of earth and stone will necessarily be transported to some distance, and being arrived where the agitation of the water is abated, and left to their own weight, they precipitate to the bottom in form of a sediment, and there form a first stratum, either horizontal or inclined, according to the position of the surface upon which they fall; this will shortly be covered by a similar stratum produced by the same cause, and thus will a considerable quantity of matter be almost insensibly collected together, and the strata of which will be placed, parallel to each other.