"So ftands the comparison between philofophy and the Gospel And if, after all the proofs above adduced, any one should still affect to think that the portraits here drawn of them are the mere fictions of imagination, there is one means of conviction ftill remaining, which at this very hour forces itself on our obfervations, which in fpeaking on this fubject it is impoffible to pafs over unnoticed, and which it will not be eafy for the most determined incredulity to withstand. Let the man who entertains thefe doubts (if fuch a one there can be) caft his eyes for a moment on each fide of the narrow ftrait, which separates two of the greatest and most powerful nations in Europe. In one of thefe, PHILOSOPHY has ufurped the THRONE of God; in the other, CHRISTIANITY has long eftablished its empire. And it fhould feem as if (among other reafons) Providence had permitted the former to triumph, in a kingdom fo near our own, almost on purpose to contraft together, to fhew in the strongest poffible light, and to force upon the very fenfes of mankind, the different fpirit and the different effects of infidelity and religion. The fcenes that have lately paffed in one of these countries are well known. They are too horrible to relate, and too recent to be forgotten. The bleflings experienced in the other are before our eyes, and I truft engraved on all our hearts. After contemplating both with due attention, let us then fay, whether "the tree (planted on each of thefe neighbouring fhores) is not known by its fruit*:" whether the fruit of PHILOSOPHY is not now, what it always has been, unrelenting cruelty; and the fruit of the GOSPEL unbounded benevolence and univerfal love. Here, then, are the two great moral teachers and guides of life propofed to your choice; and as you approve the temper, and relish the actual ef fects, of the one, or of the other, decide between them.” P.79.

An Appendix is added, containing additional notes, illuftrative of the argument.

This production is diflinguifhed by all the features which characterize the former works of the Bishop of London, a delightful fimplicity of flyle, accompanied with the most impreflive vigour of fentiment, an earneft zeal in the cause of religion, without the fmalleft tincture of bigotry, a frankness and candour which folicits a fair inveftigation of the truth, with no approach to intolerance, and a total abhorrence of violence or perfecution.

May he fill live to enjoy the fruits of his various labours, to contemplate with complacency the numerous fcenes which his benevolence and liberality have cheered and enlightened, and to behold the precepts which he has communicated, produce their wifhed-for effect in improving the religious and moral condition of mankind.

*Matt. xii. 33.”

ART

ART. XI. A Mineralogical Defcription of the County of Dumfries. By Robert Jamefon, Regius Profeffor of Natural Hiftory, c. 8vo. 185 pp. With Plates. 6s. Bell & Bradfute, Edinburgh; Longman & Co. London. 1805.

THE

HE landholders of Dumfries-fhire having, at the fuggeftion of the Duke of Buccleugh, had a map of the county laid down for their own ufe, General Dirom and Colonel White applied to Mr. Jamefon to make a mineralogical furvey of the county, in order to connect a knowledge of its internal ftructure with the land furvey. But, as Mr. Jamefon was then on the eve of setting out for Germany, he declined the task at that time, and Meffrs. Bufby, coal-viewers of Northumberland, made the furvey. The information thus acquired not appearing to General Dirom and Colonel White to be fuch as the landholders of the county expected, Mr. Jamefon was again requested to undertake a more detailed mineralogical defcription of Dumfries-fhire, to accompany the county map.

After fome-common place remarks on the mineral repofitories which may be expected to occur in Scotland, and the facilities which it poffeffes for carrying on with economy and profit the operations of mining, Mr. Jamefon paffes to the neceffary qualifications of a mine-engineer. These qualifications, in Mr. J.'s opinion, are no lefs numerous than thofe required by Vitruvius, in an architect. Nor can they, he fays, be acquired merely by lectures, books, drawings, or models, the mine-engineer muft have affifted for years in all the practices he has mentioned. "When this course of education is finifhed, he should be able confcientiously to take charge of a great mine, or to establish one in a county where there are few to affift him with knowledge or experience." Mr. J. makes many obfervations on the errors committed in the management of the filver mines in South America, and on the importance of geology, or to use his own word, geognofie.

The principal geological obfervation contained in this work, is ftated by Mr. J. himfelf to be the difcovery of an extensive tract of tranfition rocks, although this is a class of rocks hitherto unnoticed in Great Britain.

"I have traced the tranfition rocks from the northern ex-tremity of the Pentland hills, which is about fix miles diftant from the fhore of the firth of Forth, to Lang-robie in DumfriesShire, about three miles from the Solway firth, The fame clafs

of rocks reaches from Langholm to Minihive, and at length terminates near New Galloway, where it is fucceeded by primitive rocks. The Moorfoot hills, near Edinburgh, which form one of the boundaries of the great coal field of the Lothians, are com pofed of transition rocks; and I have every reason to believe that thefe rocks continue nearly to the termination of the mountain range at St. Abb's head on the east coast. Granite is faid to have been found at Faffnett burn, which is in the tract I confider to be tranfition. I fuppofe fyenitic greenstone has been confounded with greenstone.

"Since writing the above, I have examined a fuite of fpeci mens brought from Faffnett burn, and the neighbourhood of St. Abb's head, by Dr. Hope, and find my conjecture, refpecting the extent of the tranfition rocks, and the nature of this fuppofed granite of Faffnett, confirmed." Introd. xix. Note.

These transition rocks, Mr. J. fays, do not prefent all the fpecies of rocks that occur in other parts of the world; he has obferved among them only graywacke, graywackeflate, flintyflate, alumflate, and tranfition greenstone. Transition amygdaloid has not as yet been found, nor have any limeftone beds of any confiderable magnitude been discovered; although great depofitions of limeftone are ufually obferved in other places of fimilar formation. Even in Scotland, as Mr. J. obferves, confiderable flrata have been found in the mountains between Noblehouse and the Crook,

Another particularity obfervable in this county, is a new formation of lead giance (galena) not noticed by Werner, or any other mineralogift, and which is in fact the only particu. lar metallic mineral repofitory of confequence that has been difcovered in the county. This formation lies in the tranfition rocks at Wanlock head and Lead hills. The veinftones (gangue) of the Belton grain vein, at Wanlock head, are cryftallized and granular quartz; the ores are lead glance, manganefe ochre, calamine, green lead ore, white lead ore, ochry brown ironftone, and green copper ore, The ftructure of the Sufanna vein, at Lead hills, which is but a fhort distance from the other, is very fimilar. The veinstones are quartz, lamellar heavy fpar, calc (areous) fpar, brown fpar, and mountain cork. Its ores are not only the fame as in the former (except green copper ore) but alfo lead earth, fparry ironftene, iron pyrites, copper azure, lead vitriol, and brown hematite, Both these veins often contain fragments of graywacke, and graywackeflate. Mr. J. beftows no less than fix pages in delcribing the feveral formations of lead glance (gale a) defcribed by Weiner; and not content with this large portion of matter, which does not at all belong to his

fubje&,

fubject, he further extends the defcription of the various lead ores found in the country to the amount of ten pages

more.

The independent coal formation of this county resembles, in fome refpects, the old red fandftone formation; but it is, nevertheless, very different. The rocks of which it is compofed are fandflone, flateclay, bituminous fhale, limestone, clay-ironftone, coal, and limestone conglomerate. The most ftriking characters are the reddish brown colour of the fandftone, and the great thickness of its ftrata; alfo the paucity of fubordinate beds, and the thinnefs of its beds and ftrata when beds of ironftone occur.

The author imagines that the coal fields of Mid Lothian, and of Dumfries-fhire, belong to the fame formation, although the general character of the one is confiderably dif ferent from that of the other. They both, indeed, contain nearly the fame kinds of ftrata and beds; but those of Dumfries-thire are thick, and thofe in Mid Lothian thin; the fandstone of the latter is gray; clay ironftone occurs abun dantly in Mid Lothian, but fparingly in Dumfries-fhire; beds of greenflone and clayftone alfo occur in Mid Lothian, whereas thefe kinds of rocks have not been observed in Dumfries-fhire.

This occurrence of greenftone, in an independent coal for mation, fills up, Mr. J. fays, a place hitherto vacant in Werner's trap formation fuite, and renders evident the exiftence of floetz-trap of different ages.

"The very interefting fact of the occurrence of greenstone in the coal formation, has not before been noticed by any mineralogift. I fhail therefore take this opportunity of mentioning a few inftances of it I have had an opportunity of examining. On my return from Freyberg to Scotland, the firft object that attracted my attention was the interefting coal field in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. I traverfed it in different directions, and the refult of my first obfervations rendered it rather probable, that Salisbury Craigs, Arthur Seat, Craig Millar, Cliffs at Hawthornden, Craig Lockhart, and fummit of the Pentland hills, belonged to the floetz-trap, and confequently were of pofterior formation to the coal. I had, however, examined thefe appearances too flightly to enable me to judge decifively on fo impor tant and intricate a point; and befides, fome circumstances which I fhall now mention, excited a fufpicion that feveral of thefe appearances might be of different ages, or belong to different for mations. The ftrata and beds of Salisbury Craigs, Craig Millar, and Hawthorden were too numerous, and often too much inclined to be referred to the floetz-trap formation; while on the other hand, the fummit of Arthur Seat, and Craig Lockhart, were unftratified,

unftratified, or when the ftratification could be observed, was very thick and horizontal; characters that strongly indicated a different formation, and one that could be referred to the floetztrap. I continued my researches, with a view of afcertaining this point, when a careful examination confirmed my fufpicions, and I found that Salisbury Craigs, Craig Millar, and the cliffs of Hawthornden belonged to the coal formation; but the fummit of Arthur Seat and Craig Lockhart to the newest floetz-trap formation.

"The most interesting obfervation which I made during this investigation, was that of beds of greenftone in the coal formation; an appearance fo unexpected, that I was for fome time doubtful whether or not the whole feries of ftrata that accompa nied thefe beds, fhould not be referred to the newest floetz-trap formation." P. 169.

It is needlefs to follow Mr. J. through his feveral fections of the country in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh: but we cannot omit noticing, that in mentioning the fection of the coal formation, which is expofed to view below Caroline park, he enumerates among other beds, fome of “ a black flinty foffil resembling flinty flate," and in a note he further informs us, that "this foffil is frequently found in the coal formation. Although very unlike bafalt, it has often been confounded with it.' We think if Mr. J. meant to give his readers the information they might reasonably expect to receive, that he ought to have named and defcribed this doubtful mineral, fo that no further miftake might arife. But it appears from his mineralogy, that Mr. J. is not able, or at leaft willing, to advance one fingle ftep beyond what has been traced by his German mafters, and he is therefore filent on the subject.

Coal blende, or as Mr. J. calls it, flaty glance coal, was confidered as belonging to the primitive rocks, until he found it in the independent coal formation in the ifle of Arran, and it has fince that time been found by Meuder in the fame formation in Bohemia. A very remarkable and new fub- fpecies, which Mr. J. fays may be denominated columnar glance coal, is found a little above Crawick bridge, where it forms a bed about four feet thick, and is traverfed by a vein of greenstone, which produces a fhift in the ftrata. It pafles into graphite, (blacklead) but not fo diftinctly as near Crimnock, in Ayrshire, where it is found in a bed from three to fix feet thick, in which the columns are arranged in rows like bafalt. The graphite that is intermixed, and often forms a great portion of this bed, is either compact, fcaly, or columnar. Mr. J. promises that a description of this laft,