II 



as it does, all the objects of Natural History, animate and 

 inanimate ; the earth and its rocky basis — its surface, varying 

 in its qualities and fitness for the endless variety of organized 

 beings animal and vegetable, which depend upon it for 

 subsistence ; and capable, as it is, of an indefinite improve- 

 ment in its productive powers under the hands of a well- 

 conducted agriculture — the air we breathe teeming with 

 life, and liable as it is to occurrences pregnant with good 

 and with evil to us, guided in all its movements by laws, 

 the mysteries of which we are yet so ignorant of: and that 

 mainly from the deficiency of facts, on a comprehensive 

 view of -which, and of which alone, we can hope for an 

 insight into the nature and causes of those wonderful pheno- 

 mena which are so perpetually occiu'ring, to the terror of 

 the uninformed ; but tending unequivocally to the well 

 being of the whole. 



This wide range of object, mviting to such an indefinite 

 variety of pursuits, is most happily adapted to the different 

 tastes of individuals, so that each may lay himself out for 

 those inquiries, and furnish those contributions, to which 

 his wish may incline, or his situation adapt him. 



In a communication of this kind it is not possible to 

 notice in detail the objects of peculiar interest; but it is 

 obvious, with reference to inanimate objects, that we are 

 all interested in obtaining information relative to the 

 localities and modifications of the more useful rocks and 

 minerals; of the applicability of the former to building, 

 and to ornamental architecture; to the mason and the 

 millwright. 



Thus it appears that in the township of Broughton a bed 

 of rock is found which will become of the most valuable 

 application, since ii combines durability with a softness 



