422 Geological Inquirlei^ 



the Surveyor, the Engineer, the Collier, the Iron Master, and 

 even the Traveller in search of general information, have all op- 

 portunities of making Geological observations; and whether these 

 relate to the metallic productions, the rocks, the strata, the coal 

 of any district ; or to the appearances and forms of mountains, 

 the directions of rivers, and the nature of lakes and waters, they 

 are worthy of being noticed. 



It is with a view to facilitate and in some measure to direct 

 general research, that the members of the Geological Society have 

 collected from different sources and put together the annexed 

 inquiries ; and, as insulated remarks and local iirformation can 

 be of no avail, unless preserved and arranged, they venture to 

 offer a repository for any facts that may be communicated to 

 them. One great end of their association is to afford means by 

 vrhich this kind of knowledge may be concentred; and they con- 

 ceive that by the labours and talents of many individuals thus 

 united and assisted, several important objects may be easily at- 

 tained ; that Mineralogical maps of districts, which are now so 

 much wanting, may be supplied ; that the nomenclature of the 

 science may be gradually amended by the selection of the most 

 current and significant terms ; that theoretical opinions may be 

 compared with the appearances of Nature, and above all, a fund 

 of practical information obtained applicable to purposes of public 

 improvement and utility. — They address themselves more espe- 

 cially to their countrymen, and they cannot conclude without 

 noticing the extraordinary facility of obtaining Geological in- 

 formation, afforded by the territory of the British Isles, and the 

 peculiar interest which ought to be attached by their inhabitants 

 to such inquiries. In no equal si)ace is so great a surface of 

 the earth laid bare by Nature and by art ; no country is richer 

 in those mineral productions on which some of the most impor- 

 tant of our manufactures, and the most useful of the arts of life 

 depend; and the present time is one in which we are particularly 

 called upon to explore and employ the whole of our native riches 

 and internal resources. 



§ I. Concerning Mountains and Hills. 



1 . Are they solitary, or in groups, or do they form a chain ? 



If Solitary f 



2. The general figure, as conical, pyramidal, &c. — more par- 

 ticularly of the summits ? 



3. The height above their base, and above the level of the 

 sea? 



4. The length, breadth, and general form of a horizontal sec- 



tiou 



