WILLIAM SMITH. 2^1 



men do not see alike, nor can patiently trudge 

 through the dirt to search for truth among the 

 stubborn rocks where nature has best displayed 

 her. . . . Shall, therefore, describe a number of 

 quarries, cliffs, etc., at a great distance, etc. See 

 Book " 



In what seems to be the continuation of this 

 paper, we see the predominant desire of the author 

 to establish the certainty and generality of the 

 inclination of strata, which he had proved on a 

 limited scale near Bath. 



" If the strata lay horizontal, every part of the 

 sea-shore would present the same beds at the 

 water edge instead of that wonderful variety 

 which is found on the coast and banks of every 

 river and rivulet in the kingdom, especially those 

 that run in an east and west direction, or nearly so. 

 In such situations the young mineralogist may 

 soon be convinced of that wonderful regularity 

 which nature has adopted, especially if the shores 

 are rocky ; he will there find that, independent of 

 partial and local dips which appear in different 

 quarries of the same stone, the outlines, or top and 

 bottom layers of each complete stratum or class 

 of stones or earth, considered as a mass, have a 

 general tendency towards the eastern horizon." 



By the term " dip " is meant the inclination that 

 strata make with the horizon. Mr. W. Smith 

 constantly brought forward his well worked out 

 fact that the strata of England dip from west to 

 east more or less. The oldest strata come to thq 



