1830.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



701 



that those forces which are now con- 

 fessedly in operation, constantly work- 

 ing changes, are precisely such as have 

 produced the earliest traceable effects 

 on the earth's surface. The introduc- 

 tory portion of the volume after de- 

 fining the legitimate objects of geology, 

 and tracing the history of its progress 

 through its chief professors from remote 

 antiquity to the days of Werner and 

 Hutton is occupied with the removal 

 of sundry popular, and some speculative 

 objections to the doctrine which he pro- 

 fesses to establish. Among the latter is 

 what may be termed the theory of the 

 progressive development of organic life. 

 The strata of the earth apparently have 

 been deposited successively, at different 

 periods. In the earlier or deeper strata 

 are found, it is said, nothing but vege- 

 tation, and first, of the simplest kind 

 then successively, nearer the surface, 

 come shells, then fishes, then oviparous 

 animals, then birds, then quadrupeds, 

 and finally, .in the gravel and sand, the 

 diluvian formations, quadrumanous ani- 

 mals, and the remains of such species as 

 now people the surface, along with the 

 consummation of organic life, man. This 

 theory, by certain geologists Cuvier, 

 the chief of them -'is maintained as in- 

 disputable ; and this theory, as most 

 conflicting with his own conclusions, 

 Mr. Lyell sets himself earnestly to sub- 

 vert. A very little examination shews 

 on what a very slight foundation this 

 magnificent structure is built. In the 

 lowest strata in which any thing organic 

 has appeared, even vertebrated animals 

 have been found not numerous, it 

 is true, but one undoubted specimen is 

 as good as a thousand for the distinction 

 of the absolute doctrine in question. 

 The simplest vegetation, again, seems 

 the cryptogamic, but even dicotyledons 

 have been found along with them, and 

 these, few though comparatively they 

 may be, are at once fatal to the theory 

 of successive development. Geological 

 facts, in short, do not warrant the now 

 popular notion of a traceable gradation 

 from the simplest to the most complex 

 forms in unison with the successive 

 strata of the earth ; nor will the con- 

 fessedly recent origin of man interfere 

 with the author's doctrine, that the laws 

 of nature now in operation differ not 

 from those which produced the oldest 

 known effects. In his mind, man is not 

 the concluding link, no, nor any link, in 

 the supposed series ; his superiority con- 

 sists not in an\' part of his organization 

 which is in common with animals, but 

 in his intellect his reason, with which 

 there is nothing to compare in animals 

 no gradation, no approach. The in- 

 stincts of animals are unimproveable, or, 

 at all events, the improvement of which 

 they may seem slightly susceptible, is 



not transmissible the race-horse is not 

 more intelligent than the cart-horse. 

 The truth apparently is, that too little 

 is yet known to warrant such broad 

 deductions our acquaintance, geologi- 

 cally, with the globe in its whole 

 circumference, is comparatively insig- 

 nificant ; and facts are continually con- 

 curring to shew how precipitate these 

 speculatists have been. In spite of the 

 eternal babble about the inductive pro- 

 cess, it is for ever lost sight of. Mr. 

 Lyell is a sober inquirer, and as far as 

 the real facts and discoveries of geolo- 

 gists have yet gone, he finds no ground 

 for concluding that the globe has ever 

 been governed by different physical 

 laws. 



The proper object of geology is to 

 investigate the changes which have 

 taken place in the organic as well as in 

 the inorganic portions of nature ; but as 

 the inorganic changes are most apparent, 

 they claim the author's first attention. 

 The great agents of changes are aqueous, 

 rivers, torrents, springs, currents, and 

 tides, and igneous, volcanos and earth- 

 quakes. Both are instruments of de- 

 struction as well as of reproduction, and 

 both, too, may be regarded as antagonist 

 forces. The aqueous are perpetually 

 levelling the inequalities of the earth's 

 surface, while the igneous are as inces- 

 sently active in disturbing the level 

 elevating one portion and depressing 

 another. Two-thirds of Mr. Lyell's 

 interesting volume are taken up with 

 estimating the workings of these potent 

 agencies, describing at the same time all 

 the most memorable effects recorded in 

 every part of the globe. With the same 

 view a glance is taken round the whole 

 of the English coast. The geological 

 changes in the organic kingdoms of 

 nature will occupy another volume, 

 which, from the author's extensive 

 knowledge and sober judgment, will, we 

 doubt not, be looked for with interest. 



Camden, a Tale of the South; 3 vols. 

 12 wo. This is an American tale, pub- 

 lished originally at Philadelphia, and 

 fairly brought into the English market by 

 Mr. Newman, for what it is worth, and 

 not reproduced as ' fresh fish.' To the 

 few who have any knowledge of the 

 military details of the American war of 

 independence, Camden will be recog- 

 nised as the scene of General Gates's 

 defeat in South Carolina, by Lord Corn- 

 wallis, in the year 1780. Success is the 

 criterion of worth with half the world, 

 and Gates's reputation rose as much 

 above his real deserts, by the Convention 

 of Saratoga, as it sunk fathoms deep 

 below them by the disasters of Camden. 

 His best merit in the one case was that 

 he was cool, cautious, and lucky, and his 

 greatest discredit in the other, that he 



