XIV. On the Rocks in the vicinity of Edinburgh. By 
Tuomas Attan, Esq; F. R.S. Evin. 
[Read March 4. 1811.] 
LTHOUGH {fcience has only within thefe few years ac- 
knowledged the importance of Geology, the eagernefs 
with which it has been cultivated, affords fufficient proof of the 
intereft it is capable of creating. OF this we have a recent ex- 
ample in the laborious undertaking of Sir Gzornce MacKEn- 
zig and his friends, who, notwithftanding all the dangers pre- 
fented by a voyage through the moft tempeftuous ocean, and 
the deprivations to which they were expofed, in a journey 
through a country deftitute of the flighteft trace to guide the 
route of the traveller, were not deterred from exploring the 
inhofpitable fhores of Iceland. - Thefe, and other travellers, 
have extended our knowledge of various diftri@s on the furface 
of the globe; but we have ftill to lament the extreme imper- 
fection of the {cience, which, as yet, has affumed no decided cha- 
racter or form. This appears principally owing to the want of 
- fome fimple method, grounded on clear and intelligible princi- 
ples : 
