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Arr. X. ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 
I. Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales, with an intro- 
ductory Compendium of the General Principles of that Science, 
and comparative Views of the Structure of Foreign Countries, 
illustrated by a coloured Map and Sections. By the Rev. 
W. D. Conybeare, F.R.S., M.G.S., §c.; and William 
Phillips, F.L.S., M.G.S., ge. 
We do not hesitate to pronounce this to be the best geological 
work extant; it presents the reader with a perspicuous state- 
ment of the uses and objects of geology, with a detailed and 
skilful account of the geology of England, and with much mi- 
nute and practical information upon a variety of important 
subjects connected with the applications of the branch of science 
of which it treats. We are not, however, quite satisfied with 
the authors for publishing the first part, “ without waiting for 
the completion of the second ;” for the principal value of their 
work lies in the pleasure and information which it is calculated 
to afford to the geological traveller, who, unless he limit himself 
to the district included in this first volume, will frequently regret 
the necessity of proceeding upon his tour without the instructive 
company of these well-informed guides. It must, at the same 
time, be admitted, that the various members of the subject are, 
to a certain extent, independent of each other; and that one 
series of rocks may very well admit of study, without saying a 
word of those which precede or follow ; so far, therefore, geology 
admits of that breach of continuity, of which Messrs. Conybeare 
and Phillips have availed themselves. 
The part now submitted to the public comprises a descrip- 
tion of all the strata which lie above the oldest rocks, associated 
with the coal district ; and it is proposed, in the second part, to 
descend to the transition and primitive rocks, (as they are 
usually, but improperly, called,) and then to enter upon those 
incidental matters arising out of a general view of the subject, 
such as the history of the derangements which the strata or 
formations have experienced, together with an inquiry into 
their dates and causes ; of the aspects and situations of valleys ; 
and of the origin of those accumulations of pebbles and gravel 
which announce a great aqueous destruction of a former order 
of things. 
In an introductory chapter, Mr. Conybeare has given the 
student some useful preliminary information, concerning the 
general position and arrangement of the strata, with a sketch of 
the rise and progress of geology, and brief notices of the chief 
writers upon the subject. Here we were glad to see justice 
done to Mr. William Smith, to whom we owe the first geological 
map of England, published in 1815, the result, we believe, of 
