* Account of the Bursting of a Dog in Ireland. 251 



with a view of setting aside any of the theories now in use, but 

 only of drawing more attention to the vast and complicated 

 science of meteorology. It is so full of beauty and interest in 

 its details, and requires the aid of the most delicately con- 

 structed instruments for making accurate observations, that 

 those who are desirous of becoming well versed in its minutiae 

 must pay the most unwearied attention to the incessant 

 changes that are constantly taking place in the atmosphere ; 

 and, at the same time, every observation should be registered 

 with the most rigid attention and veracity ; without which 

 meteorological science can make but little advancement. 



But, to bring the science of meteorology to perfection, local 

 observations are not sufficient ; it requires a combination of 

 means in all nations. It is not a few scattered observations in 

 a single district, or kingdom, or even hemisphere, that can 

 sufficiently extend our knowledge on this interesting subject. 

 As the science of meteorology is so intimately connected, not 

 only with the agricultural and commercial interests of a coun- 

 try, but also with the health of its population, I shall be very 

 glad to find more attention paid to it, not by individuals alone, 

 but by societies in all parts of the world, which should all 

 make use of the same instruments, adopt the same form of 

 register, and correspond at least once a month. By such com- 

 parative observations, I feel fully persuaded, meteorological 

 science would make as rapid progress as other sciences have 

 done ; and we might soon be enabled to trace the origin of 

 most of the phenomena that now strike us with astonishment. 



Old Kent Boad, March 11. 1836. 



Art. VII. Some Account of the Bursting of a Bog in the County 

 of Antrim, Ireland, on Sept. 25. 1835; tvith some preliminary 

 Remarks on the Nature, Extent, Origin, fyc, of Peat. By Wm. 

 Perceval Hunter, Esq., Member of the Geological Society of 

 France, &c. 



I was in the westernmost part of the wild, but romantic and 

 picturesque, county of Donegal, when I heard of the bursting 

 of a bog in Antrim. I had read of these " bursts," as they 

 are called, in Lyell, and had determined, if any one took 

 place during my rides in Ireland, to visit wherever it might 

 be, and behold with my own eyes the extent and nature of 

 the ravages committed. For this purpose, as soon as I had 

 completed my geological rambles in Donegal, I hastened, by 

 the Sligo and Belfast mail, to the scene of action ; and shall 

 now proceed to communicate to your readers the results of 



