LIBRARY 



UNIVERSITY OF 



CALIFOUXIA. 



FIELD GEOLOGY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



IT may fairly be claimed for Geology that its advance 

 has been more rapid than that of any other science. 

 From the time of William Smith the Father of English 

 Geology until now the number of those who take 

 interest in the subject has been steadily increasing. 

 Every year sees the birth of some new periodical 

 devoted to Geological Science ; every list of new books 

 is sure to contain the name of one or more bearing 

 directly or indirectly on the questions with which it 

 deals, and it possesses already a most comprehensive 

 literature. It plays a prominent part in University and 

 and other public examinations, where, until recently, it 

 was all but unknown; and it guides, as it ought to guide, 

 the direction of mining and other practical operations. 

 "With many the study is taken up as an amusement or 

 a pastime, and is found to possess a fascination pecu- 

 liarly its own ; it opens up to the more philosophical 

 student a fair field of investigation ; and presents to all 

 many interesting physical problems for thought and 

 speculation 



As the number of geological students increases, the 



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