40 
great sects or schools of Geologists, by the active zeal of whose dis- 
ciples most of our present knowledge has been obtained. 
I have often regretted, that the partisans of these several doc- 
trines, in their ardour to jump to a conclusion in favour of their pe- 
culiar principle, have frequently overlooked the assistance which 
their investigations might have derived from the other departments 
of Science. They have often ascribed effects to chemical agency, 
which the present state of our knowledge in that science does not 
warrant us to assume; and others to the mechanical operation of 
water, which the laws of hydraulics enable us positively to pro- 
nounce impossible. And, on the other hand, there seem to be ef- 
fects producible from each of these causes, as well as from the at- 
mospherical or meteoric phenomena and the actions of living be- 
ings, which are in general entirely overlooked. 
Geology however, so far as it is founded on observation, is still 
a science ; and, in the delineation and description of the strata of 
the land, it is daily extending its bounds and its utility. 
I am now about to introduce an application of it to the notice of 
the Academy, which seems never yet to have attracted the atten- 
tion of those most interested in the pursuit ; but from which I con- 
fidently hope, when observations are multiplied, that much public 
advantage may hereafter be obtained. 
Ihave been some time engaged in a survey of the coasts, har- 
bours, and fishing grounds, round this kingdom, with a view to the 
improvement and extension of the Irish fisheries. In this investiga- 
tion, it has become necessary to take numerous soundings of the 
neighbouring sea, as well to discover the habitat of the different 
kinds of fish, as to direct the seamen to avoid dangers in navigating 
our shores. This has led me to consider the subject of soundings 
generally: one which, to the best of my knowledge, has never yet 
