THE 



EDINBURGH NEW 

 PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 



On the Diluvial Theory^ and on the Origin of the Valleys of 

 Auvergne. By C. Daubeny, M. D., F. R. S., Professor of 

 Chemistry in the University of Oxford, &c. &c. In a Letter 

 to Professor Jameson. 



Dear Sir, 



It is now more than ten years since I published in your Jour- 

 nal a brief and general account of the volcanos of Auvergne, 

 which, in spite of its many imperfections, of which no one can 

 be more sensible than its author, will perhaps be allowed the 

 humble merit of having contributed to direct the attention of 

 British naturalists to this interesting field of continental geo- 

 logy. 



- Since the appearance of my memoir, Auvergne has been vi- 

 sited by Mr Scrope, Professor Buckland, Messrs Lyell and 

 Murchison, and sundry other scientific travellers ; and through 

 their collective exertions such a mass of information has been 

 brought together, with reference to the phenomena therein ex- 

 hibited, that there is probably no volcanic district in the world 

 now more fully explored, nor perhaps any country out of Great 

 Britain with the geological relations of which we are more fa^- 

 miliar. 



You will easily believe, that I have been far more gratified 

 at seeing so many distinguished naturalists following in my 

 track, than mortified at finding them sometimes arrive at con- 

 clusions different from my own ; and that, under this feeling, I 

 should be the more inclined, even where my confidence in my 

 original views remained unshaken, to waive controversy, and 



JANUARY MARCH 18tJl. O 



