Professor Haughton's Geology. 199 



PEOFESSOE HAUGHTON'S GEOLOGY. 



A little while ago we had to speak very highly of a publica- 

 tion belonging to " Galbraith "and Houghton's Scientific 

 Manuals " — we mean Dr. Apjohn's Manual of the Metal- 

 loids — and our reason for commending that useful work was, 

 that it formed a good introduction to chemical philosophy, 

 as well as offered to students a compendious collection of 

 well-assorted facts. In all sciences it is easy to discriminate 

 between its philosophy and the real or supposed facts which form 

 its basis, and out of which, the philosophy must be evolved. 

 Facts alone, however carefully collected and verified, do not 

 constitute a science; they are only the bricks or stones with 

 which the edifice must be built : and it is of more importance 

 to acquire a sound method of reasoning, than simply to accu- 

 mulate a large store of particulars, which must remain in the 

 condition of the dry bones of knowledge until a philosophic 

 informing spirit gives them organic relation and life. The 

 more complex the science, the greater need of breadth and 

 clearness of philosophical conception, and the greater need 

 also to cultivate such a habit of prudent doubt, that while cer- 

 tain theories may be employed on the ground of their apparent 

 probability, they may be held so lightly as to be discarded the 

 moment a better theory can be obtained. Geology, as a science 

 of remarkable complexity, stretching its roots on all sides, and 

 making them ramify in all directions, from physics to biology, 

 cannot be decently taught without a careful philosophy to 

 accompany the learner at every step. In no one department 

 does geology — as at present known — present its votaries with 

 a complete cycle of facts. The physics of the globe are yet 

 sadly incomplete, and our information is exceedingly small 

 concerning the condition of the inner portions of our planet. 

 The chemistry of geology is likewise in its infancy, and few 

 questions of importance respecting the chemical formation of 

 rocks have been fairly solved. Equally incomplete is the 

 biology of geology. As former articles in this work have 

 shown, the stone record is exceedingly imperfect, and thus 

 we have nothing approaching to a complete collection of the 

 remains of the organized beings that occupied the globe at any 

 given time, and the physiologist cannot supply us with biolo- 

 gical laws of sufficient generality to justify a wide deductive 

 reasoning capable of explaining the fragmentary groups of 

 facts that we possess. 



Another peculiarity of geology is its rapid growth, by 

 which hypotheses are continually superannuated, and doctrines 

 highly cherished to-day placed in such fresh lights that they 



