Thomas Beddoes to Sir Joseph Banks, 30 May [1792]
Oxford
30 May
Dear Sir
If it be not too late, I desire to add a very short post script to my letter to you on Iron, which you will find on the next leaf. I hope, in the course of a month, to convince you of the existence of Volcanos in England, at some period posterior to the formation of our rocks or mountains. I cannot before that period have the drawings & specimens in readiness. Shall I find you & the philosophers in town then? Will it be enough to produce substances unquestionably fused, & to have discovered the aperture whence they issued, to establish the discovery? The only possible objection to it is the possibility of the substances having an artificial origin. But, I believe, the latter circumstance & their abundance will obviate this objection. I myself know of no test by which the productions of natural & artificial furnaces can be absolutely discriminated. Can you tell me of any? I wd have written to my acute friend Macie, but I know not his address. Mr Strange I have some hopes of seeing here. In the mean time, I shd be much obliged to you if you wd state any points to be attended to in the examination of the spot or materials. I am, Dear Sir, with great respect Your obliged ServtThos Beddoes.
In the multiplicity of objects which must engage your attention, you may possibly have forgotten to direct 100 copies of my paper to be printed for my use. At least you will excuse me for mentioning the circumstance. –
Published: The Scientific Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks, 1765-1820, ed. Neil Chambers, 6 vols (London: Pickering and Chatto, 2007), vol. IV, pp. 126–27.