of the United States. 33 
view, from that in which it seems to have been hitherto re- 
garded. 
In the first place, the opinion that it is alluvial or deposited 
y the ocean or by rivers, ata comparatively recent period, 
seems quite inadmissible. The eastern shores of continents 
are more liable to lose than gain from the ocean, and there 
are no rivers on that coast which could have deposited such 
an accumulation of sand and marle, and the bills of lime- 
stone which that country contains. 2 
In strict geological language the term alluvial can only be 
applied to the depositions which take place on the banks, or 
at the debouchure of rivers, such as are formed by the 
Ganges, the Nile, the Danube and the Mississippi, the ex- 
tent of which is easily ascertained by a correct map. Small- 
er rivers, such as occur more frequently on the Atlantic 
‘border of the United States, do not in centuries deposit suf- 
ficient sand to alter the geographical features of a country. 
the ‘ ! : ing s ri te = ‘ttt fond near the At- 
lantic are taken partly from my own notes on the few which 
I have seen; from the publications of Mr. Maclure, Dr. 
Mitchell, and Mr. Hayden, and from the personal informa- 
tion of several friends to geological science, amongst whom 
i wish more particularly to mention the names of J. G. Bo- 
gert, Esq. and Major Delafield of New-York, and Major 
Ware of Philadelphia, all of whom are well known in the 
tions in Europe.and those of America, leaving it to abler 
pens to correct the mistakes, and supply the deficiencies of 
the present essay. 
~ Vor. VIL—No. 1. 5 
