32 Finch on the Tertiary Formations 
tific pursuits, none have given a greater impulse to the sci- 
ence of Geology. than the researches of Messrs. Cuvier and 
der 
"Phe m next memoir which elucidated these strata, and gave 
rise to the opinion that they might be found in other coun- 
tries besides France, was published by Mr. Webster, in the 
Transactions of the Geological Society in England; he 
proved the existence of two basins, in the Isle of Wight, 
and near ae ete possessing fossil remains similar to those 
found near Pari 
By fmucesediag Naturalists these formations have been 
found in several parts of Europe, in Asia, and Africa, let 
us endeavour to trace their existence upon this continent. 
e primitive, transition, and secondary rocks obey the 
same laws in America, as in other parts of the world, and 
why should she be supposed to be destitute of the tertiary 
formation, the discove Eg of which has conferred such splen- 
dour on the ge I schools of London and Paris. 
InA an immense tract of country, extending from 
Long-Is -Island to ibe sea of Mexico, and from thirty to two 
hundred miles in width, is called an alluvial formation, by 
most of the geologists who bave written upon the subject and 
by some it appears to be considered as an exception to the 
general arrangement and position of strata, which are found 
to a in other countries 
an examination of fossils brought from that quarter 
of the United sss from a personal inspection. of some of 
