THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



No. XIX.— JANFAEY, 1866. 



GEOLOGICAL PROGRESS. 

 No. 3.1 



GEOLOGrlSTS assert that the operations of Nature, of whicli they 

 are the expounders, are performed with a slowness that renders 

 their progress almost imperceptible to actual observation. Geology 

 itself, however, has, since its origin as a science — less than a century 

 ago — grown with a rapidity and vigour the very opposite of the 

 gradual movement of physical change. 



But as sudden and rapid growth is seldom altogether healthy, so 

 the exuberance of vitality in the young science has ever and anon 

 originated errors which have, at. times, checked its career. 



Hasty generalizations, and loosely formed theories, advanced by 

 would-be leaders of the science, have occasionally led their followers 

 into wrong trains of thought, whereby they have failed to see the 

 true bearing of facts brought before them, and have ceased, for a 

 time, to advance their knowledge, on account of the incorrectness or 

 insufficiency of their principles of explanation. 



One great means of correcting existing errors and preventing for 

 the future the general adoption of others, is to maintain for the 

 scientific world an easily accessible medium of discussion. 



In order, however, to render the discussion of any Geological 

 topic useful, it must be based in the first instance u]3on accurately 

 recorded observations ; and as every year increases the number of 

 observers, it also becomes important to enlarge the opportunities of 

 preserving the results of their labours. The aim of the Geological 

 Magazine, since its commencement in 1864, has been to supply this 

 need, and to supplement, as far as possible, the authoritative and 

 old-established Journal of the Geological Society. 



But the Geological Magazine has in fact a wider scope, since it 

 is not limited to the sphere of any one society, but opens its pages 

 to all Geologists, in which to record their observations and dis- 

 coveries, and so promote the general progress of the science both at 

 home and abroad. Let us look at one or two points of Geological 

 Progress during the past year. 



' "Geological Progress," Nos. 1 and 2, appeared iu the July and August Nos. of 

 the Geological Magazine, 1865, pp. 289 and 337. 



VOL. III. — NO. XIX. 1 



