72 PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 



December 3rd. — Rev. Mr. Smith's Lecture on Geolngi/. 



The Lecturer commenced his paper, by adverting to the advan- 

 tages proposed by geological research ; descanted briefly on the 

 bearing of local and practical geology, on the useful purposes of 

 life, as agriculture, and mining, the construction of roads and 

 canals; and met some objections which have been raised against 

 theoretic geology. He then endeavoured to fix the exact province 

 of its investigation, distinguishing the science from physical 

 geography, and mineralogy, and proving that it ought not to be 

 identified necessarily with cosmogony. A brief notice of the 

 various theories of the earth was then submitted to the soi;iety, 

 which embraced an examination of the schemes of Woodwark 

 and Hutton, lialley and Burnet, Kepler and Descartes. The 

 lecturer concluded this notice by observing, " these theories will 

 be received for as much as they are worth ; some of them are 

 consigned, by general consent, to the tombs of all the Capulets, 

 and it is not needful to exhume their remains, for the purpose of 

 exhibiting their folly." lie then presented a -sketch of the rise 

 and progress of geological science, observing tliat few traces of 

 its existence are found in the Greek or Roman classics; tiiat it 

 made little progress during the decline of the Roman empire, was 

 somewhat advanced by the Saracens, and that subsequent to the 

 revival of letters in Europe, it alternately progressed by diligent 

 observation, and was retarded by religious bigotry till the present 

 century, since which the principles of the science have assumed 

 a settled character. An epitome of its present state and disco- 

 veries, led the lecturer to speak of formations, which he noticed 

 in the ascending order, and afterward classified and descanted 

 upon the vegetable and animal fossil remains. He then proceeded 

 to deduce certain conclusions from the examined facts, as to the 

 changes which have passed on the surface of the globe. The lec- 

 turer contended, that it is in the highest degree probable, that the 

 strata forming the exterior crust of the earth, have been deposited 

 at different periods, and at vast intervals, and supported the view 

 by the construction and superposition of rocks, and by thedis- 

 tribution of organic remains. He showed the compatability of 

 such a conclusion, with the Biblical record of the Creation, and 

 protested against the temerity of Bugg, Pen, and other writers of 

 that school, who have opposed the Mosaic and mineral geologies 

 to each other, and contended that the sacred record was never 

 intended for such competition. He examined the tl^eory of 

 Lyall, who holds, that all changes on the earth's surface may 'be 



