STUDY OF GEOLOGY. J 85 



works of creation, and by imparting colour to other bodies, 

 is made to minister in various ways to our gratification. How 

 diversified are the means which the Creator hath adopted for 

 the promotion of his benevolent designs ! 



Who, not content 

 With every food of life to nourish man, 

 By kind illusions of the wondering sense, 

 Has made all nature beauty to his eye. 

 Or music to his ear. Akenside. 



Questions. — 1. What is zinc and its uses ? 2. Describe manga- 

 nese. 3. For wliat are its oxyds used .? 4. What is antimony and its 

 uses ? 5. Describe arsenic. 6. Give a general account of the seven 

 classes of metals. (See Appendix to Lesson 65.) [Note. The de- 

 scription of the metals properly belongs to the subject of Chemistry, 

 (see Lesson 65) but for the sake of a little more variety it was thought 

 best to insert a brief account of the most important ones after Mine- 

 ralogy.] 



LESSON 83. 



Study of Geology. 



Crude, unconnected, not well digested. 

 Intersec'tion, the point where lines cross each other. 



Geology has for its object the study of the earth in gene- 

 ral, of its plains, hills, and mountains ; and embraces the 

 consideration of the materials of which it is composed, and 

 the circumstances peculiar to its original formation, as well 

 as the different states under which it has existed, and the 

 various changes which it has undergone. Geology has now 

 become an object of the attention and inquiries of many dis- 

 tinguished philosophers. The discoveries of chemists and 

 mineralogists, and the observations of intelligent travellers, 

 have all tended to facilitate these inquiries, and to render 

 them more enlightened and satisfactory ; and, although mo- 

 dern times have produced many visionary theories, and crude 

 conjectures on this subject, they have also given birth to 

 some important acquisitions, and much correct philosophy, 

 which will be highly prized by all who study the history and 

 structure of our globe. The science of geology, indepen- 

 dently of the healthy employment it affords, is of great im- 

 portance in a practical point of view. It very nearly con- 

 cerns the miner, engineer, and drainer, and even the farmer 

 16* 



