Page:Transactions of the Geological Society, 1st series, vol. 2.djvu/39

II. Mineralogical Account of the Isle of Man,

By J. F. Berger, M.D, M.G.S.

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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.”^[1]

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.^[2]

In enlarging upon the same subject, I hope that I shall not occupy in vain the time and attention of the Geological Society; for

1. Bishop Wilson's Works—Second Edition—Two Vol. fol. Lond. 1782. Vol. I. p. 449.
2. An Account of the Isle of Man, by George Woods, London 1811.