1 
FIFTH REPORT- 1835 . 
plated by other reporters ; but in the execution of the report it is found 
that a marked peculiarity arises. For the far greater portion of the 
report contains the result of Mr. Rogers’s own reasonings on data, many 
of which appear for the first time in his essay. It has therefore more 
the character of a memoir than of an ordinary report. Were any one 
to adopt this plan in treating of the state of European geology he might 
be blamed, because the value of such a report would consist in the dis¬ 
cussion of a vast mass of published data, and in the comparison of theo¬ 
retical notions proposed by persons of high reputation. But in treat¬ 
ing of America this w 7 as not the case ; because, first, little authentic 
was know'n in Europe on the subject—second, there are few American 
authors of high repute in geology. This character of originality is 
certainly well supported by the author’s own researches, and it is not 
surprising if his work contains some errors, still less remarkable that 
it should have excited some opposition at home. But the writer of the 
report has really taken much pains, has exhibited much patience, and 
has brought to his task a competent knowledge of European geology. 
It has certainly cleared our notions of the general features of American 
geology, and particularly augmented our positive knowledge of the 
more recent deposits, as regards organic remains, mineral characters, 
and geographical features. It is to be continued.” 
The other report w’hich I alluded to, as almost entitled to be called 
a report on foreign science, is the report of the Rev. Mr. Challis on 
the theory of capillary attraction, which is a sequel to that presented at 
Cambridge on the common theory of fluids, and which the author pro¬ 
poses to follow 7 up hereafter by another report on the propagation of 
motion as affected by the development of heat. Mr. Challis remarks, 
that w T hile many questions in physics are to be resolved by unfolding 
through deductive reasoning the consequences of facts actually ob¬ 
served, there is also another class of questions in physical science, in 
which the facts that are to be reasoned from are not phenomena ; for 
example, the fact of universal gravitation for w’hich the evidence is in¬ 
ductive indeed, but yet essentially mathematical, the fact not coming 
itself under the cognisance of any of our senses, although its mathe¬ 
matical consequences are abundantly attested by observations. Mr. 
Challis goes on to say—“ The great problem of universal gravitation, 
which is the only one of this class that can be looked upon as satisfac¬ 
torily solved, relates to the large masses of the universe, to the depen¬ 
dence of their forms on their own gravitation, and the motions result¬ 
ing from their actions on one another. The progress of science seems 
to tend towards the solution of another of a more comprehensive na¬ 
ture, regarding the elementary constitution of bodies and the forces by 
