[dose yve 
LXVII. Notices respecting New Books, 
A Geologicul Survey of the Yorkshire Coast; describing the 
Strataand Fossils occurring between the Humber and the Tees, 
from the German Ocean to the Plain of York. Illustrated 
with numerous Engravings. By the Rev. GkorGE Youne, 
A.M. and Joun Birv, Artist. 4to, pp. 328. Whitby, 1822. 
I, is not a little remarkable, that while philosophers have for 
ages been employed in contemplating those bright orbs which 
bespangle the sky, soaring on the wings of science through the 
regions of immeasurable space, surveying the magnitudes, sta- 
tions and motions of the heavenly bodies, and in studying the 
laws which govern the remotest planets, little attention has been 
devoted to the planet we inhabit. It is true, that viewing the 
features and exploring the depths of the earth on which we tread, 
is not so attractive as the pursuits of astronomy ; but the study is 
neither uninteresting nor unimportant, and has an equal claim 
on our attention. 
That a study of such importance as geology should hitherto 
have had so small a share among scientific pursuits, is the more 
remarkable, since at a very remote period men began to penetrate 
into the bowels of the earth in quest of the shining metals, and 
other valuable products‘of the mineral kingdom; and the attention 
of the learned, both in ancient and modern times, has often been 
directed to the nature and classification of minerals. To these 
objects their pursuits were limited until within the last twenty 
or thirty years, few philosophers attempting to investigate the 
structure of the earth itself; or, if they did, they rather indulged — 
in wild conjectures than entered into a sober and patient exami- 
nation of the facts. Geology has now, however, begun to assume 
its proper rank among the sciences, and, desisting in a great mea- 
sure from the flights of fancy, has been proceeding in the more 
legitimate track of Jaborious research. But although the collec- 
tion of geological facts has been rapidly accumulating, yet, if we 
may judge from the jarring opinions held on the subject, we have 
not obtained sufficient data for establishing a general theory of 
the earth, or satisfactorily explaining the natural causes em- 
ployed by the Creator to bring our globe into its present state ; 
which, as all agree, is widely different from its original. Much 
has however already been achieved by the labours of geologists. 
They have examined the character and form of large and in- 
teresting portions of the crust of the earth in various regions 
of Europe, and particularly in the British Isles; and from a re- 
view of existing facts, they have arrived at some important con- 
clusions, now generally admitted. The chief thing therefore 
to 
