Page:A Treatise on Geology, volume 2.djvu/333

 CHAP. XI.

There is, besides, another class of persons to whom these remarks may be useful. The body of mere travellers who now hurry over the globe on the wings of steam, would be converted into valuable pioneers for the yet unexplored wastes of geology, could they be made to see and feel the power which is possessed by every voyager to contribute, though not so abundantly as the prince of travellers, Humboldt, to the stores of natural science. In meteorology, magnetism, zoology, and botany, as well as geology, the officers of the army and navy have begun to distinguish themselves; and it is with a view to extend this honourable love of knowledge, by showing some of the popular and economical applications of geology, that the following remarks and suggestions are written.

Most unjustly has Natural History been accused of favouring merely minute and curious inquiries into the small, parts of creation, and of neglecting the larger views and contemplations which delight the man of taste and refined feeling. Whoever reads the works of Pallas, Humboldt, White, or, to come more nearly to our subject, converses with Sedgwick or examines the pages of Lyell, will acknowledge the error of this misrepresentation. Mr. Murchison in his work now published, has vindicated geology from this aspersion, and, while exploring with extraordinary zeal and minuteness the recesses of the border of Wales, has stopped to admire the feudal ruins and trace the smiling landscapes of that interesting region. Often has it occurred to ourselves, while traversing other districts not less rich in curious geological truth, to rejoice in the new knowledge and deeper love of nature which an investigation into the ancient causes of the present aspect of the land and sea had imparted; the puny hammer has dropped from