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because it is told in a familiar manner, it need not be either undignified or unattractive.

Discarding technicalities as much as possible, and avoiding the formality of a text-book, I have still arranged the subjects so as to present a connected view of the science; and he who reads them in order, and understands as he reads, will have a fair conception of the scope and bearings of Geology. At the same time, each sketch is complete in itself, and contains, as far as it goes, an outline of our present knowledge of the matter to which it refers. This mode of treatment may lead to an occasional repetition, but a repetition in such cases is rather an advantage, as tending to render the matter more intelligible, and fix it more enduringly on the memory. I may also mention that several of the topics have been repeatedly brought before miscellaneous audiences in the form of popular lectures, and naturally indulge the hope that what was appreciated by them will prove equally inviting and instructive to the miscellaneous reader.

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