THE GEOLOGIST. 
3 
see them flourish as they deserve. By creating more Geologists, 
we are likely to increase rather than diminish the number of their 
readers; we interfere with none, we plough iu no man's furrow, 
but break a new fallow for ourselves. 
We are not so conceited about our workmanship as to think it 
perfect, and are not reluctant to believe that it may be improved, 
as it goes on ; we are ready to listen to reasonable comjolaints, 
eager to receive useful hints and suggestions ; we will do om* 
utmost to discover and remove defects. We wish to make our 
magazine really good and useful ; no personal caprice or individual 
interests shall be allowed to interfere with our efforts to make it 
worthy of the great science which it aspires to represent. 
Geology is a noble science, and holds a dignified position 
amongst natural sciences. It is pursued as a study by a section of 
society which, though not large, is learned. It is wondered at, and 
enquired about by that larger section, who knowing next to nothing 
of its principles, meet with allusions to it in many of the books 
they read ; who cannot help noticing as they walk about the country, 
that the earth is deposited iu layers or strata ; who see fossils dug 
out of Railway cuttings, or who stop to gaze with astonishment, 
blended with incredulity, at the restorations of uncouth antedilu- 
vian creatures in the gardens of the Crystal Palace. This science, 
elevating alike to the rational and moral constitution of man, 
affords to him, whose bent is to contemplate nature, a healthy 
intellectual occupation and a fruitful source of mental enjoy- 
ment; it treats of questions of the deepest interest to every 
reflecting mind ; while its practical benefits are neither few 
nor unimportant. To the careful observer, who trains himself 
to a steady scrutiny of the things and circumstances amongst 
which he lives ; who gazes at the heavens, not to indulge in empty 
musings upon the stars, but to reflect intelligently upon the laws 
which regulate their motions ; who watches living beings, not to 
indulge in vain speculations as to the nature of vital force, but to 
ascertain the plan of their construction and vital actions, and the 
mutual relations of their functions ; who, eschewing vague reveries, 
examines what he sees around him by the only test to be relied 
upon — the test of a sound experimental philosophy; who accus- 
toms himself to trace effects to their causes : searching for sources 
