of Berry and Antrim . 115 



know) have borne some part ; I shall look to nature alone., 

 without much reference to opinions, and shall endeavour to 

 trace, by the marks she has left behind her, some of the 

 grayd operations she once executed on the surface of our 

 globe. 



Varro divided 1 the time elapsed since the beginning of the 

 world into three portions, which he distinguished by the 

 names, prolcpticum, fabulosum, and kistoricum. 



The first comprehended the period of absolute darkness; 

 in the second some faint lights were thrown upon the his- 

 tory of its events, by fable and tradition; in the third, the 

 historian had the common aids from which history is usually 

 compiled. 



The natural history of the world seems to admit of a cor- 

 responding division. In the first I include the formation of 

 our strata, their induration, their derangement from the 

 horizontal position in which they seem originally to have 

 been placed, and the operation of cutting them down by so 

 many why'n dykes. 



In the second division, corresponding to Varro's falulo- 

 S7im, I comprehend the operations performed upon our 

 globe, posterior to its final consolidation, and antecedent to 

 all history or tradition ; operations therefore that can be 

 established by the visible effects alone which still exist, 

 written in strong characters. 



The third division contains the period since we acquired 

 some knowledge of natural history, became acquainted with 

 causes and effects, and able to trace the connection between 

 them. 



With the operations performed in the first division (cor- 

 responding with Varro's prolepticum) modern theorists as- 

 sume that they are well acquainted, able to account for every 

 appearance, and to detail the whole process of original for- 

 mation. I however shall decline noticing these early pro- 

 cesses of nature, and limit myself to the second division of 

 natural history, hoping from the prominent features of my 

 country that remain still undefaced, and from its curious 

 facts, to trace and demonstrate the great effects that have 

 been produced upon our surface; and though I do not pre- 



H 2 sume 



