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UNIV. OF
CALIFORNIA

GEOLOGY IN
IN 1835;

A POPULAR SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS, LEADING FEATURES,
AND LATEST DISCOVERIES OF THIS RISING

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AIMPOHLIAD

QE26 238

In Demoriain Arthen Eaton

PREFACE.

THE attempt to compress so vast a theme as Geology within the narrow limits of a duodecimo volume of such spare dimensions, will be regarded by those, who, in ponderous tomes, have communicated to the world the result of years of labour in this department of science, as absurd and futile. The author does not address himself to these, nor to that class of readers to whom the subject is familiar, but humbly aims at stimulating the intellectual appetency of those who have enough of curiosity to be anxious to peep into the interior of this portion of the Temple of Science, and to know something of the wonders which it contains, but who lack sufficient ardour to grapple with and surmount the technical difficulties which obstruct their approach. To such persons the substance of the following Sketch was originally addressed in the form of Lectures by the author, whose only apology for the publication is the numerously-expressed wish of his audience.

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UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA

GEOLOGY IN 1835.

GEOLOGY, as the original Greek words from which the term is derived import, is the science or knowledge of the earth. Unlike Geography, which delineates the surface of the globe, and the various tribes of animate beings with which it is peopled; and distinct from Astronomy, which defines the figure, examines the position, and has reference to the external circumstances of our planet as a member of the solar system, the business of Geology is to investigate the internal structure and configuration of this vast mass of matter upon which we dwell—a subject of the highest interest and importance to man. In the character of its results, and the magnitude and sublimity of the objects of which it treats, Geology may be with propriety ranked in the scale of the sciences, next to Astronomy; but while the one has attained a degree of perfection, which appears almost incompatible with the limited capacity of the human mind, the other has only, within a very recent period, assumed the dignified form of a science. It is, however, established on a secure and permanent basis: the intelligence of the age which gave it birth is fast accelerating its growth to maturity: observations are extending and facts accumu

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