INTRODUCTION. XV 



derived from no other source than the personal observation of the 

 author ; and the general views which it contains, of the geological rela- 

 tions of the district, have been founded upon those details. 



In 1822, a work was published by the Rev. G. Young and Mr. Bird,* 

 of which the object appears to differ very little from mine ; and some apo- 

 logy, perhaps, is due from me for entering upon a field of research which 

 may seem to be already occupied. I take this opportunity of acknowledg- 

 ing the descriptive accuracy of the " Geological Survey of the Yorkshire 

 Coast ;" but that survey differs from my undertaking in many material 

 respects. I have not only given a general section of the coast, but have 

 measured the heights, and have added sections in detail. It has been 

 my object not only to figure the most remarkable fossils, but to describe 

 every ascertained species, and to construct a complete catalogue of all 

 that have been hitherto discovered on the coast, distributed in the order 

 of the strata to which they belong. But the most essential difference 

 between the two undertakings is this, that whilst the authors of the 

 " Survey" have contented themselves with assigning the local relations 

 of the strata, I have considered them also in reference to the general 

 system of geology, and have identified them even in their minute 

 divisions, by a close examination and comparative survey, both of their 

 mineral characters and of their organic contents, with corresponding 

 portions of the same strata in other parts of Great Britain. There are 



* Death, after long illness, has prevented this amiable artist from contributing any more to the 

 illustration of the geology of his native county. The distinction which he acquired was of the most 

 honourable kind, gained without the advantages of a liberal education, by the resolute application of 

 a vigorous and original mind. As a painter, Mr. Bird's talents, more fortunately encouraged, might 

 have raised him to eminence ; as a geological observer, his merit was conspicuous and original ; 

 and his devotion to the subject was proved, by unremitting attention to the phenomena of his 

 neighbourhood during the last fifteen years of his useful life. 



