THE 



AMERICAN 



Art. I. — Principles of Geology. 



We presume, that to many of the readers of this Journal, a per- 

 spicuous and condensed account of the principles of geology, must 

 prove both interesting and instructive. 



Such an account as corresponds, in the main, with the views of at 

 least a majority of both British and American geologists, is prefixed 

 by Mr, John Phillips to his Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkshire. 



This excellent work, a quarto of 200 pages, is accompanied by a 

 map, by sections, and by numerous plates of fossil plants and ani- 

 mals, especially of shells, contained in the strata of Yorkshire, which 

 is one of the most interesting districts of Great Britain ; a country 

 which has proved fruitful in geological facts of great value, both in 

 an economical and scientific view. Great Britain contains a large 

 number of gifted and active cultivators of geology, and many of them 

 are not stinted either as to leisure or means. Numerous quarries, 

 gravel pits and mines, and an extensive, and frequently lofty, precip- 

 itous and broken coast, have multiplied the sources of observation in 

 that country, and so well have they been employed, that great pro- 

 gress has been made, chiefly in the present century, in exploring and 

 elucidating the local geology of Britain. Numerous districts have been 

 carefully surveyed, and the Geological Transactions, the Scientific 

 Journals, and separate memoirs and treatises, present an astonishing 

 amount of information, on a subject which is however both unex- 

 hausted and inexhaustible. Among these accounts of local facts, no 

 one, except that of Mr. Mantell on the strata of Sussex, can come 

 into competition with the late work of Mr. Phillips. A very good 

 analysis of it may be found in the Philosophical Magazine for May 

 and June of the present year. It is not our intention to present 

 either an analysis or a critique of this work, but rather to republish, 



Vol. XXL— No. 1. 1 



