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Art. XX.—O/i the Volcanoes of Auvergne. By Charles 
Daubeny, M. D. M. G- S. In a Letter to Professor Ja- 
meson. 
Dear Sir, 
In a late number of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 
you expressed a wish that I would present to your readers some 
account of a Tour which I undertook last summer through cer- 
tain districts in France, generally known by the name of Volca- 
nic. Under ordinary circumstances, I might have felt much 
reluctance in coming before the public on such slender grounds, 
or in appearing to attach importance to observations which Avere 
necessarily of a desultory description ; but, in the present in- 
stance, the absence of any printed acconnt in our language, of a 
country which certainly yields to none in geological interest, 
and is constantly appealed to in all discussions which have refe- 
rence to the supposed origin of rocks of the Trap Family, en- 
courages me to comply with a request so flattering to my vani- 
ty, by offering an account of the Volcanic Rocks of Auvergne, 
which may be of some little assistance to future investigators, 
and which, if it does not satisfy curiosity, may at least contri- 
bute to excite it. 
In stating, however, that no account of this country has ap- 
peared in the English language, I ought not to have forgotten 
‘‘ The Comparison of the Volcanic Rocks in France with those 
of a similar nature found in Scotland^” for which the readers of 
this Journal are indebted to your pupil Dr Boue of Paris ; a 
gentleman from vhom I received myself much useful informa- 
tion, relative to the objects of the tour previous to my visit in 
Auvergne. As, however, the analogies he points out between 
the two classes of - rocks cannot be fully understood by those • 
who are strangers to either of the objects compared, I have de- 
rived from the perusal of his memoir, an additional motive for 
offering such a description of these rocks as may serve to sup- 
ply this deficiency, and better enable your readers to determine 
in what degree the appearances there presented contribute to 
