156 Bibliographical Notices. 
science, that the high comparative place which we have reached in the 
scale of being has been gained step by step by a conscientious study of 
natural phenomena, and by fearlessly teaching the doctrines to which 
they point. It is by faithfully weighing evidence, without regard to 
preconceived notions, by earnestly and patiently searching for what is 
true, not what we wish to be true, that we have attained that dignity which 
we may in vain hope to claim through the rank of an ideal parentage.” 
The nature of fossils of all sorts, from the microscopic siliceous 
atoms of the lowest plants to the bony remains of Man, their rela- 
tions to the materials in which they are imbedded, the causes of their 
burial, and their distribution in agreement with the terraqueous 
conditions of the earth’s surface at any given time, past or present, 
form matter enough for the always interesting chapters towards the 
conclusion of the work; and they have had their share of amend- 
ment and augmentation. 
In fact, in this elaborate work we have a series of well written 
and philosophical essays on several branches of natural history, 
closely related one to another, to the gradual formation of the exist- 
ing surface of the globe, and to its foregone changes and future mo- 
difications. This is an exhaustive work, complete, and without a 
rival. Elegant in style, perspicuous, and far from pretentious, this 
masterly book is read by many not studying geology as a science ; 
for it gives a clear account of many natural phenomena in which 
Man has a deep and common interest. 
Murchison’s ‘Siluria,’ having almost as wide a circulation as the 
‘Principles,’ is also well known to geologists, amateur and profes- 
sional, though it is more technical, and treats specially of certain 
rock-formations and fossils. The wide extent, however, to which 
Silurian strata reach in the different quarters of the globe—the 
fullness and accuracy with which these strata and their fossils are 
described and delineated—the many elucidations of the bearings 
that these have theoretically on the philosophy of geology, on one 
hand, and practically on the structure and capabilities of different 
hills, plains, and regions, on the other, render this ‘“ unrivalled 
résumé of all that is known about the Lower Paleozoic rocks and 
fossils, all the world over,” indispensable to many and attractive to 
others. It contains also a comprehensive sketch of the Upper 
Paleozoic formations, their history and their relationships, compri- 
sing valuable notices of the geology of several parts of Britain, Ger- 
many, &¢., where such rocks abound. Moreover the interesting 
and practically useful subject of gold and its distribution has a very 
careful and comprehensive chapter devoted to it; and an essay on 
geological succession (showing the very gradual out-coming of the 
higher kinds of animals), and on the intensity of some natural opera- 
tions in former times, complete this grand work. The improvements 
in this new edition are very extensive, and are mainly noticed in the 
author’s preface, where, moreover, as also in the text, he takes care 
to enumerate as far as he can the manifold sources of information 
and aids to knowledge that his contemporaries have supplied him 
