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A Swiss Lake Village of the Bronze Epoch. See p. 249.

Fourteen Weeks

IN

POPULAR GEOLOGY.

BY

J. DORMAN STEELE, Ph.D.,

FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, LONDON, AND AUTHOR OF THE
FOURTEEN-WEEKS SERIES IN NATURAL SCIENCE.

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A. S. BARNES & COMPANY,

NEW YORK, CHICAGO, AND NEW ORLEANS.

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Fourteen Weeks in Natural Philosophy, Price, $1.00

Fourteen Weeks in Chemistry,

1.00

Fourteen Weeks in Descriptive Astronomy,

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A HISTORICAL SERIES,

ON THE PLAN OF STEELE'S 14 WEEKS IN THE SCIENCES.

A Brief History of the United States,

A Brief History of France,

Price, $1.00
1.00

The same publishers also offer the following standard scientific
works, being more extended or difficult treatises than those of
Prof. Steele, though still of Academic grade.

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*The foregoing are the prices at the Publishers' office. Any
volume will be forwarded by mail, on receipt of its price, with
one-sixth additional for postage and mailing fee.

STEELES' GEOL.

Copyright, 1870, 1877, by A. S. Barnes & Co.

PREFACE.

THE present work is based upon the same general plan as the preceding ones of the series. The aim is to make science interesting by omitting the minutia which are of value only to the scientific man, and by presenting alone those points of general importance with which every wellinformed person wishes to become acquainted. The thing is of more value than the name. A pleasant fact will be recollected long after an unpronounceable term has been forgotten. Therefore, only enough geologic nomenclature is used to make the study systematic, to awaken a love for the order of nature, and to afford a plan around which other knowledge may crystallize.

The author is satisfied from his experience as a teacher that pupils take no interest in the fossils which characterize the various geologic epochs, except the few which are typical, unless they have access to a paleontological cabinet; in that case, they learn the names best by association with the objects. If any attempt is made to name and illustrate the fossils of any group, the limits of a small text-book permit but a scanty selection, which is of little value in the

identification of the fossils gathered by a class even within the limits of that group, while to those outside it is useless. Hence a school Geology should give only the general outlines, leaving to the teacher, with a copy of the survey of his own State, and such collections as he may have or can gather, to impart the instruction in local paleontology. The author has sought to develop the following peculiarities: (1) To give the general outlines of each subject, and only enough of the details to interest without burdening the mind; (2) to develop the theories of the science thoroughly, and thus afford a clear idea of the methods of geologic study as a basis for future progress; (3) to give blackboard analyses of each subject for topical recitations; (4) by means of foot-notes to present the pupil with much geologic literature, thus affording the information and culture of an extended range of collateral scientific reading which would otherwise be within the reach of few pupils; (5) to add the benefits of the "question and answer" system to those of the topical method by means of a set of thorough review questions at the close of the book; (6) to lead the pupil to a study of natural objects by treating very fully the stones common in the Drift, and thus giving practical field-work at once; (7) to adapt the book to all sections of our country by means of a clear presentation of the typical New York system, and such modifications in the text or foot-notes as will enable any pupil to make the application to his own State.

It is hoped that this book will render the study of Geology possible to young persons striving after self-education— to men of business, whose leisure allows only a limited acquaintance with books, and to schools where the fresh buoyant spirits of youth are now repelled by cold, formal statements of purely technical truth. The author's most earnest

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