76 Outlines of Geology. 



shall we be able to make up our minds respecting their relative 

 value and merits. I shall, however, dwell upon them, not so 

 much from any conviction of their intrinsic importance, as with 

 the intention of shewing the chief, and indeed real value of these 

 and similar disquisitions, that of awakening in the mind a desire 

 of investigating nature and of collecting facts : for observations 

 accumulate very slowly when unassisted by the influence of 

 system — the observer never proceeds with so much ardour as 

 when he theorizes, and every effort to verify or to disprove parti- 

 cular speculations, necessarily leads to the evolution of new facts, 

 and to the extension of the limits of useful knowledge. It is, 

 therefore, the business of genuine philosophy rather to point out 

 the imperfections, to expose the errors, and to restrain the pre- 

 sumptuousness of the theorist, than to attempt the entire extinc- 

 tion of a spirit which, however incomplete and insufficient the 

 materials on which it has to work, must at least facilitate gene- 

 ralization, smooth the paths of knowledge, and render the ap- 

 proach to truth less rugged and tedious. 



Having now attempted to bring before you a brief account of 

 a few of the principal geological theories, with a view to give 

 some insight into the objects of this branch of science, con- 

 sidered in the abstract, I trust I may recommend this pursuit, as 

 embracing in its secondary applications, a variety of useful and 

 popular information. 



In mining, in the search for coal, in the structure of canals and 

 roads, in building, draining, and in the judicious search for and 

 management of springs, the advantages of practical geology are 

 incalculable. It has frequently happened that materials for roads 

 have been transported at great expense from distant parts, when 

 they might have been abundantly procured in the neighbourhood ; 

 in sinking wells injudicious situations have often been pitched 

 upon, and buildings erected at a distance from copious sources of 

 water. In the fruitless search for metallic veins, millions have 

 been expended upon the delusive promises of ignorant adventurers ; 

 and coal is frequently sought for in places, which even a slight 

 knowledge of the subject indicates as hopeless. 



