in Natural History, denotes, in general, every thing dug out of the earth, whether it be a native thereof, as metals, stones, salts, earths, and other minerals; or extraneous, repolished in the bowels of the earth by some extraordinary means, as earthquakes, the deluge, &c.
Native fossils are substances found in the earth, or on its surface, of a simple structure, exhibiting no appearances of organization; and these are included under the general names of simple and compound, earthly or metallic minerals. See MINERALOGY.
Extraneous fossils are bodies of the vegetable or animal kingdoms accidentally buried in the earth. Of the vegetable kingdom, there are principally three kinds; trees or parts of them, herbaceous plants, and corals; and of the animal kingdom there are four kinds; sea shells, the teeth or bony palates and bones of fishes, complete fishes, and the bones of land animals. See GEOLOGY.
These adventitious or extraneous fossils, thus found buried in great abundance in divers parts of the earth, have employed the curiosity of several of our late naturalists, who have each their several system to account for the surprising appearances of petrified sea fishes, in places far remote from the sea, and on the tops of mountains; shells in the middle of quarries of stone; and of elephants' teeth, and bones of divers animals, peculiar to the southern climates, and plants only growing in the east, found fossil in our northern and western parts.
Some will have these shells, &c. to be real stones, and stone plants, formed after the usual manner of other figured stones; of which opinion is the learned Dr Lister.
Another opinion is, that these fossil shells, with all the foreign bodies found within the earth, as bones, trees, plants, &c. were buried therein at the time of the universal deluge; and that, having been penetrated either by the bituminous matter abounding chiefly in watery places, or by the fats of the earth, they have been preserved entire, and sometimes petrified.
Others think, that these shells, found at the tops of the highest mountains, could never have been carried thither by the waters, even of the deluge; insomuch as most of these aquatic animals, on account of the weight of their shells, always remain at the bottom of the water, and never move but close along the ground. They imagine, that a year's continuance of the waters of the deluge, intermixed with the salt waters of the sea, upon the surface of the earth, might well give occasion to the production of shells of divers kinds in different climates; climates; and that the universal saltness of the water was the real cause of their resemblance to the sea shells, as the lakes formed daily by the retention of rain or spring water produce different kinds.
Others think, that the waters of the sea, and the rivers, with those which fell from heaven, turned the whole surface of the earth upside down; after the same manner as the waters of the Loire, and other rivers, which roll on a sandy bottom, overturn all their sands, and even the earth itself, in their swellings and inundations; and that in this general subversion, the shells came to be interred here, fishes there, trees there, &c.
See Deluge.
Dr. Woodward, in his Natural History of the Earth, purging and improving the hypothesis of Dr. Burnet, maintains the whole mass of earth, with everything belonging thereto, to have been so broken and dissolved at the time of the deluge, that a new earth was then formed on the bosom of the water, consisting of different strata or beds of terrestrial matter, ranged over each other usually according to the order of their specific gravities. By this means, plants, animals, and especially fishes and shells, not yet dissolved among the rest, remained mixed and blended among the mineral and fossil matters; which preserved them, or at least assumed and retained their figures and impressions either indentedly or in relievo. See Geology.
Fossil Pitch. See Petroleum, Mineralogy Index.
FOSTER James, a nonconformist divine, very highly celebrated for his pulpit eloquence and erudition, was born at Exeter in the year 1697. At the age of five years he was put to the free school of that city, where his progress in the acquisition of grammar was so rapid, that his master boasted of him as the most eminent genius in his school. From this seminary he went to the academy where young men designed for clergymen in the dissenting interest were educated, where his progress and applause were equally great. His apprehension was remarkably quick, his judgment solid, memory retentive, eloquence commanding, and his talents for argumentation were truly admirable; but above all, his piety was genuine, and few men possessed candour, modesty, liberality, integrity, tenderness and benevolence, in such a remarkable degree. He commenced preacher at the age of 21, and was much admired where he occasionally officiated. About this time the doctrine of the trinity was much agitated in the west of England, which was not conformant to the notions of Mr Foster, and the honesty and openness of his heart would not allow him to conceal these, which brought so much odium upon him from the orthodox party, that he retired to another scene of action. He became pastor of a congregation at Milborne-port, in Somersetshire; but as soon as his hearers became zealously attached to what was deemed the orthodox opinion, he retired to Ashwick under the hills of Mendip, in the same county. In this asylum he preached to two congregations at a little distance from each other, as poor as they were plain, the united contributions of which did not amount to £5 per annum. In this humble poverty and obscurity he lived for some years, honourable, however, as it was occasioned by his determined uprightness and sincerity. In the year 1720, he gave the world his "Essay on Fundamentals, with a particular regard to the doctrine of the ever-blessed Trinity," &c. The design of this work was to check an uncharitable and intolerant spirit, at that time extremely prevalent, by showing that the trinitarian notion is not a fundamental article of Christianity, or made an express condition of salvation in the sacred scriptures. A sermon accompanied this essay, entitled "The resurrection of Christ proved, and vindicated against the most important objections of the ancient Jews, or modern Deists, and his disciples shown to be sufficient witnesses of the fact." From Ashwick he removed to Trowbridge in Wiltshire, where his congregation did not usually exceed 20 or 30 people.
By reading Dr Gale's treatise on infant baptism, he became a convert to the doctrine, that immersion is the true scriptural rite, and was accordingly soon after baptised in London in conformity to that mode. This unrevealed manner of adopting whatever his conscience believed to be truth, excluded him from almost every religious party among whom he might otherwise have expected preferments. But while he deliberated with himself whether he should abandon the ministry, and acquire the knowledge of some mechanical employment, Robert Houlton, Esq. took him to his house in the capacity of chaplain, where his circle of acquaintances became wider and more respectable. In 1724, he was appointed to succeed Dr Gale in the baptist congregation in Barbican, London. In the year 1728 he commenced a Sunday evening lecture in the Old Jewry, which he continued till within a short time of his death, with such a degree of popularity as few dissenters at that time experienced. In 1731 appeared his valuable work, entitled "The usefulness, truth, and excellency of the Christian revelation, defended against the objections contained in a late book, called Christianity as old as the Creation," &c. In this reply Mr Foster exhibited no ordinary share of talents and ingenuity, and it was admired by the candid and judicious of every description. Dr Tindal, against whom it was written, is said to have spoken of it always with great respect. He published a volume of sermons in the year 1734, followed by other three volumes, the last of which appeared in 1744. At this time he was appointed successor to Dr Jeremiah Hunt, in the protestant congregation at Pinner's-hall. In 1746, he attended the earl of Kilmarnock when under sentence of death for high treason, after which he published an octavo pamphlet, with the title of "An account of the behaviour of the late earl of Kilmarnock after his sentence, and on the day of his execution."
He received from the Marischal college of Aberdeen the degree of doctor in divinity, accompanied with handsome letters from the principal and Professor Fordeyce, the latter of whom thus addressed him. "We beg that you will be so good as to accept of the diploma, as a small mark of the sincere veneration we have for you, and of the sense we entertain of the eminent services you have done to the cause of liberty, religion, and virtue, by your writings as well as public instructions." The first volume in quarto of his "Discourses on all the Principal Branches of Natural Religion and Social Virtue," was published in the year 1749, and the second appeared in 1752. They were published by subscription; and to evince the high estimation in which his his talents and virtue were held, 2000 names were contained in the list, many of them distinguished by their dignified rank and literary abilities.
In the month of April 1750, he was seized with a violent distemper, from the effects of which he never thoroughly recovered; yet while at all able to officiate, he continued to preach till the beginning of 1752, when he had another attack, which seems to have been of a paralytic nature. After declining for some time, he expired like a genuine Christian on the 5th of November, in the 55th year of his age. His private and public life were alike irreproachable. Such was the wonderful extent of his beneficence, that he must have died in indigent circumstances, had it not been for the numerous subscriptions to his discourses on natural religion. Mr Rider gives him the following eulogium:
"His voice was naturally sweet, strong, distinct, harmonious, always adapted to his matter, always varied as his method changed; as expressive of the sense as the most judicious recitative. Monotony was a fault he was never guilty of. His action, the soul of eloquence, was grave, expressive, free from distortions, animated without being theatrical; in short, such as became the pulpit. He reminded us of Paul at Athens, arresting the attention of his auditors." It was no doubt such rare accomplishments which induced Mr Pope to be an occasional hearer, and to pay him the following compliment:
Let modest Foster, if he will, excel Ten metropolitans in preaching well.
In a poem describing the respective merits of dissenting ministers at that period, and supposed to have been the work of Mr Savage, we find the following lines upon Dr Foster.
But see th' accomplished orator appear, Refined his language, and his reasoning clear; Thou only, Foster, hast the pleasing art, At once to charm the ear, and mend the heart.
Besides the works formerly taken notice of, Dr Foster published three funeral sermons, one of which was intended for that celebrated confessor Mr Emlyn; together with a number of essays in the Old Whig.
Foster, Samuel, an ingenious English mathematician of the last century, and astronomical professor in Gresham college, was one of that learned association which met for cultivating the new philosophy during the political confusion, and which Charles II. established into the Royal Society. Mr Foster, however, died in 1652, before this incorporation took place; but wrote a number of mathematical and astronomical treatises, too many to particularize. There were two other mathematical students of this name; William Foster, a disciple of Mr Oughtred, who taught in London; and Mark Foster, author of a treatise on trigonometry, who lived later than the former two.