26*8 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



magnesian limestones possess, and ascribed it to an arrange- 

 ment of the particles of the rock which took place in the act 

 of its consolidation. Dr. Daubeny, however, was inclined to 

 ascribe them to the action of atmospheric influences, and to 

 that of water impregnated with carbonic acid. 



REVIEWS, 



The Old Red Sandstone, or new walks in an Old Field, by 

 Hugh Miller, 8vo. 1842. John Johnstone, Edinburgh; 

 R, Groombridge, London, 



" You must inevitably give up the Old Red Sandstone,'" 

 said an ingenious foreigner to Mr. Murchison, when on a 

 visit to England about four years ago, and whose celebrity 

 among his own countrymen rested chiefly on his researches 

 in the more ancient formations, " you must inevitably give 

 up the Old Red Sandstone ; it is a mere local deposit, a 

 doubtful accumulation huddled up in a corner, and has no 

 type or representative abroad.^' " I would willingly give it 

 up, if nature would,'' was the reply, "but it assuredly exists, 

 and I cannot." Mr. Miller introduces this dialogue as one of 

 the main arguments, contained in the excellent volume 

 which he has recently published on that particular formation ; 

 the style of which is attractive both to the Geologist and the 

 general reader. The best example which we could select 

 from the work, as a specimen of the fluency of the style, is 

 a passage which relates more immediately to the impor- 

 tance of the fossil remains of this formation ; and we insert 

 it for the benefit of our readers generally, and as an intro- 

 duction to the subject. " It will be found," says Mr. Mil- 

 ler, " that this hitherto neglected system yields in impor- 

 tance to none of the others, whether we take into account 



