Vill DEDICATION. 
have thought of the circumstance when, on visiting in my 
native district the birthplace of the author of the Silurian 
System, I found it situated among the more ancient fossilifer- 
ous rocks of the north of Scotland—the Lower Formation 
of the Old Red Sandstone spreading out beneath and around 
it, and the first-formed deposit of the system, the Great Con- 
glomerate, rising high on the neighboring hills. It is unques- 
tionably no slight advantage to be placed, at that early stage 
of life, when the mind collects its facts with greatest avidity, 
and the curiosity is most active, in localities where there is 
much to attract observation that has escaped the notice of 
others. Like the gentleman whom I have now the honor of 
addressing, I too was born on the Old Red Sandstone, and 
first broke ground as an inquirer into geological fact in a for- 
mation scarce at all known to the geologist, and in which 
there still remains much for future discoverers to examine 
and describe. Hence an acquaintance, I am afraid all too 
slight, with phenomena which, if intrinsically of interest, may 
be found to have also the interest of novelty to recommend 
them, and with organisms which, though among the most an- 
cient of things in their relation to the world’s history, will be 
pronounced new by the geological reader in their relation to 
human knowledge. Hence, too, my present opportunity of 
subscribing myself, as the writer of a volume on the Old 
Red Sandstone, 
Honored Sir, 
With sincere gratitude and respect, 
Your obedient humble Servant, 
HUGH MILLER. 
EDINBURGH, May 1, 1841. 
