PREFACE. 



Again the pleasant task recurs of thanking mj friends for their 

 encouragement and assistance ; my only regret being, that the num- 

 ber of contributors to thank is less than heretofore. Those who 

 have lightened by their contributions the labour which otherwise 

 would have devolved on myself, have, duriug the past year, done 

 me real service. 



The papers and letters by my friends Mr. Du Noyer, the Eev. 

 Hugh Mitchell, the Eev. Gilbert M. Smith, Mr. Meyer, of Guildford, 

 Mr. Blake, Mr. James Powrie, Mr. Davies, the Eev. W. S. Symonds, 

 Professor Eupert Jones, Mr. Simons, Professor W. King, Mr. Lech- 

 mere Guppy, Mr. T. Grindley, Dr. Leslie, Mr. J. D. Sainter, Mr. 

 James Plant, of Leicester, Mr. S. E. Pattison, Professor Ansted, 

 Eev. O. Fisher, Mr. E. E. Lankester, Mr. Binney, of Manchester, 

 Count Marschall, Mr. S. P. Woodward, Mr. H. C. Sorby, Dr. Black- 

 more, Mrs. Strickland, Lieut. -Colonel Nicolls, Mr. Harrison, of 

 Melbourne, and Mr. Drake, are especially worthy of my best ac- 

 knowledgments. The names of some respected former contributors 

 are absent from this list, but the friendship between them and my- 

 self continuing unbroken, welcome communications from them will 

 most likely grace our future volumes. For my own part, the pres- 

 sure of many important labours prevents such entire devotion to 

 geology as I should like to give ; but as far as my power permits, 



