570 HISTORY OF GEOLOGY. 



notions of the Wernerian school ; and there are 

 papers on some of the districts in England most 

 rich in fossils, which, Mr. Conybeare says, well ex- 

 hibit the low state of secondary geology at that 

 period. But a pape* by Mr. Parkinson refers to 

 the discoveries both of Smith and of Cuvier ; and 

 in the next volume, Mr. Webster gives an account 

 of the Isle of Wight, following the admirable model 

 of Cuvier and Brongniart's account of the Paris 

 basin. "If we compare this memoir of Mr. Web- 

 ster with the preceding one of Dr. Berger, (also on 

 the Isle of W T ight,) they at once show themselves 

 to belong to two very distinct eras of science ; and 

 it is difficult to believe that the interval which 

 elapsed between their respective publication was 

 only three or four years 3 ." 



Among the events belonging to the diffusion of 

 sound geological views in this country, we may no- 

 tice the publication of a little volume entitled, The 

 Geology of England and Wales, by Mr. Conybeare 

 and Mr. Phillips, in 1821; an event far more impor- 

 tant than, from the modest form and character of the 

 work, it might at first sight appear. By describing 

 in detail the geological structure and circumstances 

 of one part of England, (at least as far downwards 

 as the coal,) it enabled a very wide class of readers 

 to understand and verify the classifications which 

 geology had then very recently established ; while 

 the extensive knowledge and philosophical spirit of 



3 Conybeare, Report, p. 372. 



