16 



a masterly hand, and replete with the most 

 valuable and interesting information. 



The Geologists of Europe, who had been 

 chiefly occupied with their theories and 

 speculations, and from the phenomena of a 

 mole hill had not unfrequently deduced prin- 

 ciples on which depended the formation of 

 a world, were struck with the simple, yet ~ 

 grand features, presented by this geological 

 map of America. The different sects of Ge- 

 ognosts at first only perceived in this outline, 

 a further confirmation of their peculiar views, 

 but it soon became apparent that the facts 

 there detailed were not strictly in accord- 

 ance with the views of either of the two great 

 parties which at that time divided the Geo- 

 logical world. 



Not the least instructive parts of this es- 

 say are his observations upon the fertility 

 of the soil in different parts of the Union, as 

 connected with the nature of the subjacent 

 rocks, or as dependant upon their decom- 

 position. As an evidence of the accuracy 

 of his deductions on this subject, it may 

 be mentioned that his conjectures respect- 

 ing the nature of the soil in the country 



( 



