181 1.] Scientific Intelligence. SO 7 



from that which lie himself cultivated, could not even be an objec 

 of jealousy. If this be the character, and these the occupations o 

 philosophers, I am obliged to Dr. Gregory for declaring that in hi 

 opinion my name does not deserve to be placed in the infernal list. 



He complains in his paper that I write in a dictatorial style, and 

 have assumed an air of superiority which but ill accords with the 

 palpable mediocrity of my talents and knowledge. I am not 

 conscious to myself of assuming any such superiority; but I consider 

 myself as entitled, as well as others, to give my opinion upon every 

 subject on which I write. I think it my duty, as the editor of a 

 scientific journal, to state my sentiments respecting the various 

 topics discussed in it. Many of my readers, I know, are gratified 

 by this line of conduct ; for I have received various letters on the 

 subject, some of them requesting me to go rather farther than I 

 consider as consistent with the rules of decorum. If Dr. Gregory 

 does not choose to adopt my sentiments, he is at liberty to reject 

 them ; but he must not expect that I am to enter into a controversy 

 respecting every opinion which I happen to give in my Journal. 

 The consequence of this would be that my whole time would soon 

 be taken up in disputing on subjects with most of which I have not 

 the least concern. 



Pray, in the name of common sense, what has Dr. Olinthus 

 Gregory done to entitle him to arrogate to himself the names of 

 mathematician, philosopher, man of knowledge and of talents? 

 Mas he made any addition to any branch of science whatever ? 

 Except his demonstration that an observer cannot possibly commit 

 an error of 4£" in determining the position of fixed stars, which I 

 agree with him cannot be paralleled in the writings of Archimedes 

 or Newton, I myself never heard of any of his investigations or dis- 

 coveries ; though I have looked over, 1 believe, most of the books to 

 which he has attached his name. 



VIII. Transition Granite. 



There seems to exist at present in Germany a great desire to dis- 

 cover transition granite. It' they go on a few years at the present 

 rate the whole granite in existence will probably become transition. 

 Raume'r has published a paper on a portion of the Saxon Erzgc- 

 birge, in which he maintains that it contains granite, gneiss, mica- 

 slate, porphyry, and syenite, all resting on grey-wacke. Von Buch 

 informs us that great tracts of eke country in Switzerland 



contain abundance of gneiss. It is also said that the granite of the 

 Hartz, and of tome districts of Thurihgia, is transition. We must 

 have a little patience before we adopt these sweeping conclusions. 



IX. fcfffl ralogy of the North- East of Scotland. 



Professor Jameson, of Edinburgh, has fately made a mineralo- 



gical tour along the north-e itland. [ shall take the 



liberty of stating from his last letter some of the observations which 



made. In Kincardineshire there are beds of trap and porphyry 



alternating with red sand-stone, just u* in Aryan, the Lothians, 



