INTRODUCTION. 5 



An acquaintance with the leading facts of geology addsgreatly 

 to the interest of the traveller in passing through any country. 

 Whether mountain or plain, hill or valley, solid rock or 

 detached stone, gravel, sand, or alluvial soil presents itself, 

 the mind of the geologist is carried back to former revo- 

 lutions ; in short, to him every part of the earth's surface may 

 be said to speak of its history. How much greater, then, 

 must be the pleasure of the geologist than that of the common 

 observer ! The ploughman, who views in the field of gravel 

 which he turns up the bed of a former ocean, and in that 

 gravel the remains of rocks or mountains of a more remote 

 period, is he not gratified with the mere idea? How many 

 interesting associations are connected with the fossil remains 

 which the labourer turns up in digging drains or ditches, or 

 crushes to pieces in the humble occupation of breaking stones 

 for mending roads ! Geology not only discovers to us the aw- 

 ful revolutions which have in former ages changed the surface 

 of the globe, but it unfolds to our view the forms of strange and 

 unknown animals buried in the different strata, presents us 

 with the zoology and botany of the former world, and even 

 enables us to contemplate the nature of the future revolutions 

 which the globe we inhabit is destined to undergo. 



Some knowledge of meteorology, as it regards the weather, 

 is common to all men without exception; but even to this 

 everyday subject, science has lent additional interest. It is one 

 thing to look at the clouds with a common eye, and another 

 thing to observe them with the eye of a Forster or a Howard. 

 The countryman and the sailor know to expect in March and 

 September the equinoctial gales, but the meteorologist knows 

 the reason of their occurrence at these seasons. When we 

 consider what has been done, or is now doing, by lightning 

 rods, hail protectors, marine barometers, &c., the utility of 

 this science is much greater than at first sight may appear. 



The common phenomena of thunder, lightning, meteors, 

 hail, rain, snow, frost, dew, fog, and vapour, by our taking a 

 little pains to increase our information respecting them, are 

 all capable of affording increased degrees of interest and plea- 

 sure. And let the learner never forget, that in the pursuit of 

 pleasure, as in every other pursuit, the amount of gratification 

 will always be in proportion to the labour employed. 



Notwithstanding the very limited knowledge which exists 

 among country people of the objects of natural history, as 

 a science, it is certain that this must have been one of the 

 earliest subjects of human attention, from the necessary 

 dependence of man on certain plants and animals for food, 

 and from the influence which the weather and climate must 



B 3 



