WILLIAM MACLURE. 13 



exercise any one art or profession, should be the last 

 to occupy their attention — is one of those problems 

 perhaps only to be solved by an analysis of the nature 

 and origin of the power of the few over the many." 



Notwithstanding that Mr. Maclure thus felt him- 

 self almost alone in his pursuits in this country, he 

 did not relax his ardour in the cause of science, but 

 continued to extend and complete his Geological sur- 

 vey : which, after receiving his final revisions, was 

 again presented to the Philosophical Society on the 

 lGth of May. 1S17. eight years after their reception 

 of the original draft. The amended memoir was 

 now republished, both in the Society's Transactions 

 and in a separate volume, accompanied by a coloured 

 map and sections: and while it placed its author 

 among the first of living Geologists, excited a thirst 

 for inquiry and comparison which has continued to 

 extend its influence over every section of our country. 



It is not proposed, in this place, to analyze this 

 valuable contribution to American Science. It may 

 be sufficient to remark, that every one conversant 

 with Geology is surprised at the number and accu- 

 racy of Mr. Maclure's observations; for the many 

 surveys which have been recently conducted in 

 almost every state in the Union, have only tended to 

 confirm his correctness as to the extent and relative 

 position of the leading Geological formations of this 



