§ xi. The chalk formation; of England and the Continent, Its organic remains; Echinite family characteristic, 4. Siliceous limestone-roof of the 2d marine formation, CHAP. IV.-Elevation of Submarine Strata, Mrs. Graham on elevation of the Chilian coasts by earthquakes, 460 II. Mastodonte of the Ohio; with figure of tooth, III. Fossil Hippopotamus-teeth figured, VI. Fossil horse; not so large as the present breed, Cavern called Kent's Hole near Torquay, another hyæna den, 578 Bone caves; of Hutton in Somersetshire, Derdham Down Osseous breccia of analogous nature with the cavern loam, 590 CHAP. VII. The present Earth, and Era of its Emergence, Richest soil of our earth elaborated under the ancient ocean, 594 Rain primarily very rare; rainbow a postdiluvian meteor, PREFACE. THE author does not profess, in the following pages, to furnish the geological proficient, with descriptions of new forms of mountain rock, or mineral superposition; nor, had he possessed any such store of original observation, would he have deemed this the fitting occasion to display it. His leading object has been to distribute the most interesting and best established truths, illustrative of the structure and revolutions of the earth, in the order of their physical connexions and causes; whence certain general inductions might be legitimately seen to flow. In executing this task he has drawn freely from every authentic source of geological knowledge within his reach-careful merely to quote his authorities, and to acknowledge his obligations; without descending to such minuteness of reference as might savour of pedantry. He has honestly endeavoured to seek the proper end of philosophy, by arranging multifarious and seemingly discordant facts, into a chain of natural links; an object which, if even partially gained, will constitute the chief novelty, and recommendation of his work. There is one treatise, the Geology of England and Wales, by Conybeare and Phillips, to which his debt is so considerable, as to call for preliminary avowal. He has followed in his account of secondary superpositions, the route so ably traced in their " inestimable work,"* under a conviction that this island offers in its geology an epitome * So styled by Dr. Buckland, Geol. Trans. 2d Ser. Vol. II. p. 124. Such also was the sentiment of Dr. Wollaston, that bright star, whose early setting under our horizon, Friendship and Science equally deplore. In one of the familiar interviews with him which rendered my visits to the metropolis so delightful, he pointed to the newly published volume of Conybeare and Phillips lying on his table, saying, "there is a small book for the price, but it is the cheapest that I know." of the globe, so that the observer who makes himself familiar with our strata, and the fossil remains which they include, has not only prepared himself for similar inquiries in other quarters, but is already, as it were, acquainted by anticipation with what he must expect to find there.* And he indulges the hope that his volume may prove an introduction and incentive to the study of theirs. The author has likewise diligently availed himself of the ample means accumulated in the Ossemens Fossiles of Baron Cuvier, the Philosophical and Geological Transactions, &c. of enlivening the dark catacombs of the earth, by interspersing among his descriptions of its mineral planes, an account of their ancient tenants. By transferring to his pages, systematic exemplars of the analytical science displayed by the great naturalist of France, in restoring antediluvian zoology, he expects to make them peculiarly attractive to the English reader. In a book intended for general perusal, perhaps an apology may be due for the apparent abstruseness of the chapter on Light. But this was a subject of such vital interest to the proposed line of inquiry, that the author would have deemed himself highly culpable, either to have omitted it altogether, or to have treated it in a more superficial manner. He has spared no pains to simplify the disquisition; and he believes that a moderate mental effort will surmount every obstacle to its comprehension. At any rate, the conclusions are perfectly clear and satisfactory. The liberal spirit of the Publishers has enabled him to enrich the work with a series of illustrations in copper and wood, numerous and costly much beyond the general rule of the trade; advantages for which he is truly grateful. Glasgow, Jan. 26th, 1829. * See Dr. Fitton's eloquent Inaugural Address from the President's Chair, to the Geological Society, Feb. 5th, 1828. |