preface. 
Although the physical 
of the distant and mountainous parts of Russia lia 
from the days of Pallas and Hermann to those of Humboldt and Ro 
the true ideological structure of the country, particularly of her great flat 
regions has never yet been adequately developed. We need not now 
enumerate all those persons who have recently offered contnbu ions to- 
wards this object ; but we must specially notice the early efforts of out 
prltsorStrangways, who, so far bach as the year 18*. after mnrutely 
describing the environs of St. Petersburg!!, prepared a short ene - 
memoir on Russia in Europe ; and essaying the first sketch of g 
gical map of that great portion of the empire, endeavoured to place its 
various lock masses in relation to their equivalents in Engl . 
enterprising effort did not, indeed, result in determining the hue ™ 
cession of The strata ; for no geologist had paved the ^ W^rth 
sification of the most ancient fossiliferous depost s, of j" 6 
of Russia is almost exclusively ZTs t 
sition and imbedded organic remain . ’ rPO -ions 
attempt to unfold the nature of the subsoil of large, undulatmg region > 
necessarily most obscure from being covered over with much detn tu 
the map of Strangways is entitled to the most respectful considerat.o 
from those who were destined to follow him. 
