16 EXEECISES. 



EXERCISES. 



IT may be necessary to premise, that the exercises contained 

 in the course of the following pages will consist less in the 

 formal arrangement of questions to be proposed, and answers 

 to be returned, than in a recapitulation of the most impor- 

 tant statements contained in each section, with the view of 

 impressing them more strongly on the memory, and enabling 

 the student to apply them in a practical manner. 



It will be obvious that subjects of so general a cha- 

 racter as those contained in the preceding chapter, are little 

 adapted for purposes of this nature, yet a few instances may, 

 perhaps, be transferred to the common-place book of the 

 student. 



1. Vary the definition of geology, by terming it, with Sir 

 C. Lyell, the inquiry into the materials of which the earth 

 is composed, and the arrangement of those materials ; with 

 the collateral investigation into the races of animals and 

 plants which at various periods have inhabited the globe ; 

 or describe it, with Professor Phillips, as the inquiry into the 

 nature of sedimentary deposits, and their disturbance by 

 igneous action, together with the natural history of animals 

 and vegetables, &c., &c. 



2. Collect instances of the practical application and im- 

 portance of geological science, under local circumstances, in 

 addition to the instances here described. 



3. Give individual examples of the influence of geological 

 position on the character of the inhabitants of peculiar 

 districts. The relation of the same causes to the salubrity 

 of particular regions, and the health of their inhabitants, may 

 afford themes of illustration. 



4. Note the relation of geological principles with the 

 art of mining in any district with which you may be ac- 

 quainted. 



5. Seek either in the works of Phillips, Murchison, or 



