331 



attach no just idea to what is either infinitely great or in- 

 finitely small; and that, therefore, our views do not always 

 justly apply in natural events. Of one thing we may rest 

 assured, that no matter how great the periods that may be 

 required for the phenomena of the universe to transpire, 

 there has been, and will be, time enough for their endless 

 repetition.* 



At the conclusion of the paper, 



Professor Phillips congratulated the Society on hearing 

 the result of many years of hard work among the Coal-fields 

 in Yorkshire; and he expressed a hope that Mr. Thorp 

 would publish the result of his experience more at length in 

 the transactions of the Society. 



Dr. BucKLAND, (Dean of Westminster,) ofifered some 

 remarks in favour of the theory that Coal was a vegetable 

 construction. He aflSrmed it to be the unanimous opinion of 

 all competent persons that the Coal-fields of this county were 

 derived from vegetable origin, and composed of vegetables 

 grown upon the spot ; and after seeing Mr. Thorp's sections, 

 he was himself more and more confirmed in that opinion. 

 He concluded by expressing admiration of the labours of Mr. 

 Thorp, and also eulogised the efibrts of Professor Phillips 

 in the same pursuits. 



Sir R. I. MuRCHisoN dissented from the opinion that the 

 Yorkshire Coal-field was a deposit of jungles, forests, peat 

 bogs, and masses of vegetables grown upon the spot. He 

 argued that it was a deposit of matter drifted from a distance ; 

 and he asserted this after having accompanied Mr. Thorp in 

 his travel. To a large portion of the tract under considera- 

 tion, he could bear ample testimony as to its accuracy. The 

 Coal-fields of the North of England, such as Newcastle and 



* The entire paper, of which this is an abstract, will appear in Mr. Thorp's 

 forthcoming volume on the Yorkshire Coal Field. 



