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tive pages in the book of nature, opened by the engineer, 
and presented in an attractive form to the perusal of the 
geologist. Soon, however, the opportunity passes away j 
the silent operations of nature, clothing the rocks and soils 
in grasses, mosses, and lichens, shut the volume to the 
geologist, and open another page for the instruction of 
the botanist — exemplifying to the former the common but 
too often forgotten adage, that "opportunity neglected can 
seldom be regained.'* 
In elucidation of the subject, then, I shall briefly advert 
to the rapid progress of geological science. Within the 
limits of living memory, nothing could be more vague and 
indefinite than the state of geological science, if indeed 
such a term can be applied to the small extent of what 
was then known. The first geological map of this kingdom 
appeared in 1815, and though it is extremely interesting 
and valuable, when considered as the result of the labours 
of a single, and in a great measure unassisted, individual, 
yet a single glance at that map will show, in a manner 
more striking than any verbal description, the vast progress 
made in a quarter of a century. The last edition of Mr, 
Greenough^s Geological Map of England and Wales — 
Mr. Griffith's Map of Ireland— Mr. M'Culloch's Map of 
Scotland, and Mr. Murchison's beautiful Map and Sections 
of the Silurian region — are magnificent examples of what 
has been done, and are in all probability only an earnest 
of the still further advances to be made, in reducing the 
grand phenomena of the structure of the world to such 
practical results as tend to the welfare of its inhabitants. 
As regards general views, nothing can be more satisfactory 
than the rapid improvement here alluded to j the next steps 
are to attend with equal zeal to such details as are of 
practical utility. 
The study of nature is, under all circumstances, a de- 
