One word at parting. Mr. C. says a great deal about religion and grace in these volumes. Not having been able perfectly to comprehend his opinions on these subjects, we shall only venture to assure him that virtue is the certain companion of grace, and feeling in no wise incompatible with reason.

Art. XIII. Transactions of the Geological Society, established November 13, 1807. Volume the First. Cadell and Davies. 1811.

No person who has contemplated, with any degree of atten

tion, the progress of science, and the different complexion. it has assumed in the successive periods of its growth, will deny the influence which learned societies have had in furthering the advancement of general knowledge, and divesting truth of the disguises, perversions, and misrepresentations, to which it will ever be liable in the minds of individuals, so long as individuals are liable to prejudice or superstition. The use of these societies in collecting scattered fragments of information, and affording numbers, who would shun the labour of a detached literary performance, an opportunity to communicate to the public their observations and experiments, is undoubtedly great. But to confine their beneficial influence to these advantages would be to estimate them much below their real worth. Our numerous periodical publications are amply sufficient for these purposes, without the assistance of Transactions. The acta' of a society have a higher claim upon attention, and a more extensive effect upon the real state of science, both from the circumstance of their being deemed worthy of preservation, as specimens of the labours of a respectable association of individuals, who must naturally wish to appear in a favourable light; and from that scientific moderation, which the very nature of such a society imposes upon its members. We cannot therefore be surprised, that the different branches of learning which have successively engaged a more or less general degree of interest, should have become the centre of attraction to such as were desirous of promoting their cultivation, or improving their influence. They directly tend to banish that narrow-minded jealousy, which conceals its discoveries under anagrams and mysteries, and to excite an emulation to deserve the fairest reward of science, the consciousness of having promulgated truth to the utmost extent in our power.

The various branches of Natural History are obviously more susceptible of advantage from the union of multifarious ob servation, and a moderated predilection for system, than almost any other divisions of science. And they have enjoyed

these advantages to a very considerable extent, through the medium of the Linnean Society, the transactions of which, for a series of years, have been held in deserved estimation both in Britain and on the continent. The name, as implying the adoption of the opinions of an individual, might perhaps seem liable to objection; but the essential principle of the Linnean system-a nomenclature fixed by diagnostic definitionsis so evidently indispensable in Natural History, that it is far more excusable than the appellation of a similar society from the founder of an hypothesis. The diversity of subjects brought before the Linnean Society is however so great, that though it allows a portion of attention to the progress of those strictly belonging to Natural History, commensurate to their cultivation in this country, it precludes the possibility of noticing the rapid advance of Geology and Mineralogy, with sufficient minuteness, or of duly encouraging the co-operation of the increasing number of observers. A society confining itself to these pursuits became necessary.

A few individuals, who were the founders of the society, met in consequence of a desire of communicating to each other the result of their observations, and of examining how far the opinions maintained by the writers on geology were in conformity with the facts presented by nature, They likewise hoped, that a new impulse might, through their exertions, be given to this science; and with this view, shortly after their establish ment, they drew up and distributed a series of inquiries, calculated in their opinion to excite a greater degree of attention to this important study, than it had yet received in this country; and to serve as a guide to the geological traveller, by pointing out some of the various objects, which it is his province to examine.'

The encouragement and attention which the Association met with, exceeded all expectation. It was soon joined by names of high respectability in the literary world, attracted, we may reasonably suppose, by the promise of usefulness which it manifested; as the paltry gratification of adding F. G. S. to the string of letters attached to their names, can scarcely be thought to have operated on them as a temptation, The commencement of a collection was made, which has already considerably increased, and affords, by its judicious arrangement, every facility of being consulted. Maps, plans, and sections have been liberally contributed by the various members, and already present a most valuable store of information, particularly relating to the geology of this country. This store will probably increase rapidly from the num bers who can, with a trifling degree of trouble, contribute their quota, and the evident importance of an extensive collection. A library must of course be the work of time, or the

application of funds which are seldom at the disposal of a society; a commencement, however, is made by a number of books, either the donation of members, or acquired by purchase. The transactions of the various sittings have been regularly noticed, and, in general, a short extract of the papers given in our Philosophical Journals; and in the short space of three or four years, the society had attained to a regularity and respectability inferior to few. This has been, undoubtedly, owing in a considerable measure, to the unremitting and well directed exertions of the worthy president Mr. G. B. Greenough, whose extensive acquaintance with the phenomena of nature both in Britain and abroad, joined with an unbounded liberality in communicating his knowledge to the lovers of science, most eminently qualify him for the chair. Every friend of geology will wish that he may long continue to fill it, and to maintain that principle of Lord Bacon adopted as the motto of the volume before us :

Quod si cui mortalium cordi et curæ sit, non tantum inventis hærere, atque iis uti, sed ad ulteriora penetrare; atque non disputando adversarium, sed opere naturam vincere ; denique non belle et probabiliter opinari, sed certo et ostensive scire; tales, tanquam veri scientiarum filii, nobis (si infiniti contriverunt, videbitur) se adjungant; ut omissis naturæ atriis, quæ aditus aliquando ad interiora patefiat.'

In the present volume, all attempts to compare, explain, or confute the systems of geology which have been proposed by different authors, are very properly avoided; though every latitude has been allowed to authors, with regard to their theoretical inferences, from the observations which they record.' The state of the science is as yet such, that, though every one who pursues it will probably form or adopt some theory to assist in arranging his ideas, it will probably be long be fore any theory advances so far beyond the dignity of hypothesis, as to deserve the exclusive adoption of a society.

Eighteen papers are presented to the public in this first volume of the Transactions of the Geological Society, of which eleven are, strictly speaking, geological, and the remainder mineralogical.

The first gives some Account of the Structure of the Channel Islands, Alderney, Guernsey, Sercq, and Jersey, by Dr. Mac Culloch, in illustration of three maps, and six views illustrating their geology. They seen to be parts of a chain of granitic rocks, extending from Cape La Hogue to Ushant, and running parallel with the similar chain from Dartmoor to the Scilly Islands. A striking difference is however perceptible in the two ridges; the granite of Cornwall being peculiarly metalliferous, while that of the Channel Islands appears destitute of

metallic substances, with the exception of iron. The greater part of the coasts of all these Islands consists of high rocky cliffs, principally of granite, sienite, and gneiss, though the northern and western parts of Sercq consist of trap, and Alderney of horn stone, porphyry, and a stratified grit, formed of the detritus of the granitic rocks, separated from the porphyry, by alternating beds of black granite. In Port des Moulins, in the Island of Sercq, the author notices the following remarkable occurrence of which a view is also given.

A very large wall of reddish granite, the end of a vein from which the schitose strata have been washed, stands far out on the shore forming a natural arch. Where the arch is formed, a softer cross fissure seems to have existed from which the loose materials have been washed away. This vein intersects the grauwacké, and is nearly perpendicular, running in an east and west direction. Parallel and near to it, is a similar vein, but not standing out from the cliff, and between these two granite veins is contained a vein of argillaceous stone about fifteen feet thick, the whole forming a singular kind of stratified vein lying in the grauwacké.'

Little is therefore to be expected from the mineral riches of these islands but materials for masonry and paving, for which many varieties of granite are admirably adapted, as they are what the workmen call free, that is break in the direction in which the wedges are applied.

The third paper is by Mr. H. Holland, On the natural history of the Cheshire rock-salt district. This gentleman has already given an account of many particulars relating to the immense subterraneous magazines of salt, which the county of Chester possesses, in the Survey published by the Board of Agriculture. He here considers their mineralogical situation and characters. The formation in which they occur, is that termed by Mr. Farey, the great red marle, which is also very constantly attended by gypsum. It appears from Hassenfratz' Memoir in the Annales de Chimie, that the salt beds of Translyvania and Poland resemble those of Cheshire, not only in the attending strata, but also their position in small plains surrounded by hills, while those of Salzburg are at very great elevations. The masses of real rock-salt at Northwich, have been traced in a direction from N. E. to S. W. for a mile and a half, but the breadth seems no where to exceed one thousand four hundred yards. There are two strata one above the other, the upper from twenty to thirty yards thick, the lower lras never been perforated, but a shaft has been sunk in it to the depth of near forty yards; they are separated by a bed of indurated clay of about ten yards. This surface is at least twelve or thirteen yards below the low water mark of the sea at Liverpool,

and they are situated at the termination of a low plain, surrounded on all sides by high ground, except where the riverWeaver pursues its course to join the estuary of the Mersey. Mr. Holland is of opinion, that the deposition of beds of this mineral, from the waters of the sea, admits of little doubt, and the close similarity of the products from sea water, and those from rock salt, is certainly a powerful argument for this idea. He seems also convinced, that the deposition of the Cheshire accumulations took place in the situations which they at present occupy. The strongest objections to this opinion, arise from the extent of the stratum of red marle, and the difficulty of ascribing to it so recent a formation in other places. For the absence of petrifactions, which our author notices, by no means implies that organic bodies did not exist at the time that these beds were formed, but merely that the medium in which they were suspended or deposited, was incapable of preserving them or their forms; as many of the beds in the coal formations shew no figures of vegetables, though it is very evident that vegetable matter in a carbonic or bituminous state is an ingredient in their composition. It may even be suggested, that the gypsum of this formation is the product of the calcareous parts of animals, combined with the sulphuric acid of the suspending menstruum.

In the fourth paper, we have an Account of the Pitch Lake of the Island of Trinidad, by Dr. Nicholas Nugent. The northern chain of mountains of this island seems to be formed of gueiss, and mica slate, and of limestone, while the southern plain consists of alluvial soil, apparently accumulated by the agency of the Orinoco; and the author ascribes the formation of the pitch lake to masses of vegetable matter brought down by that enormous stream, rather than to the destruction of a forest or savannah on the island. The lake is situated above the Point la Brage, which consists of porcelain jasper. It is about three miles in circumference, of unknown depth, and elevated considerably above the level of the sea, and even above the surrounding land. Dr. Nugent gives the following description of his visit to the place.

• We ascended the hill to the plantation where we procured a negro guide, who conducted us through a wood about three quarters of a mile. We now perceived a strong sulphureous and pitchy smell, like that of burning coal, and soon after had a view of the lake, which at first sight appeared to be an expanse of still water, frequently interrupted by clumps of dwarf trees or islets of rushes or shrubs, but on a nearer approach we found it to be in reality an extensive plain of mineral pitch, with frequent crevices and chasms filled with water. The singularity of the scene was altogether so great, that it was sometime before I could recover from my surprize so as to investigate it minutely. The surface of the lake is of the