INTRODUCTION That the name of the Isle of Man should be owing to its situation, does not appear at all improbable. Such is the conjecture of the learned Bishop Wilson in his short but valuable “History of the Isle of Man.” The appellation of the island, says that respectable prelate, is probably derived from “the Saxon word Mang , among, as lying almost at an equal distance between the kingdoms of England, Scotland Ireland and Wales.” * With the exception of the work just mentioned, we scarcely find in the tours that have since been published any information directly bearing on the mineralogy and physical structure of this island till we come to the late publication of Mr. Geo. Woods, where indeed these topics are more fully detailed than is usually the case in general topographical descriptions. † In enlarging upon the same subject, I hope that I shall not occupy in vain the time and attention of the Geological Society: for a minute investigation both of the rocks and simple minerals had never been yet instituted, and the arrangement and examination o the high land , the most conspicuous and extensive part of the isle, still remained a field quite unexplored. The grotesque and unfaithful attempt of Fannin to lay down the mountains in his map of the island published in 1789, can hardly be considered as an improvement upon the much earlier and rough sketches of Collins, Durham and Speed. From the materials and documents which I collected when in