SKETCH 
OF THE 
PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY, &c., IN 1843. 
The close of the year 1843 brings witli it tlie duty of a review 
of the past, as the means of instituting the comparison between 
the condition of the science of Geology at the commencement 
and its state at the close ; to elicit what has been done by the 
individual labours of so many un tired naturalists, and the joint 
efforts of so many societies as are now devoted to the cultivation 
of this particular department of science. 
"We are sorry that we cannot give them, either the one or the 
other, any flattering proofs of their having arrived nearer the 
desideratum to be gained ; we have, to be sure, had a printed 
record of many investigations which had been conducted during 
the preceding year, but these came not with the air of novelty, 
or with so much interest as they would have done a twelvemonth 
since, when these particular subjects were quite unexplored, or 
unknown to geologists in this part of the world. We hear that 
much is going on in the way of generalization, but as yet we 
have heard of no results ; we hear of geologists being occupied 
in researches of great interest but there are no tidings of 
their fulfilment. Whence this apathy? whence this seeming 
neglect ? rendering, as has been the case, the year 1843 one of 
but mimic enthusiasm. However, we will not dwell too long on 
regrets ; and leaving this portion (having fulfilled our duty in 
