,,the ,,century ,,science ,,series ,,edited ,,by ,,sir ,,henry ,e4 ,,roscoe1 ,d4,c4,l41 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,r4,s4 ,,charles ,,lyell ,,and ,,modern ,,geology ,the ,century ,science ,series4 ,,edited ,,by ,,sir ,,henry ,e4 ,,roscoe1 ,d4,c4,l41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,m4,p4 99 99 99 99 99 ,john ,dalton and the ,rise of ,modern ,chemistry4 ,by ,sir ,,henry ,e4 ,,roscoe1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,major ,rennell1 ,f4,r4,s41 and the ,rise of ,english ,geography4 ,by ,,clements ,r4 ,,markham1 ,c4,b41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,president of the ,royal ,geographical ,society4 ,justus von ,liebig3 his ,life and ,work 7#ahjc-ahgc74 ,by ,w4 ,a4 ,,shenstone1 ,f4,i4,c41 ,lecturer on ,chemistry in ,clifton ,college4 ,the ,herschels and ,modern ,astronomy4 ,by ,,agnes ,m4 ,,clerke1 ,author of ,a ,popular ,history of ,astronomy during the #aith ,century1 c4 ,charles ,lyell and ,modern ,geology4 ,by ,rev4 ,professor ,t4 ,g4 ,,bonney1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,clerk ,maxwell and ,modern ,physics4 ,by ,r4 ,t4 ,,glazebrook1 ,f4,r4,s41 ,fellow of ,trinity ,college1 ,cambridge4 ,in ,preparation4 ,michael ,faraday3 his ,life and ,work4 ,by ,professor ,,silvanus ,p4 ,,thompson1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,humphry ,davy4 ,by ,t4 ,e4 ,,thorpe1 ,f4,r4,s41 ,principal ,chemist of the ,government ,laboratories4 ,pasteur3 his ,life and ,work4 ,by ,m4 ,,armand ,,ruffer1 ,m4,d41 ,director of the ,british ,institute of ,preventive ,medicine4 ,charles ,darwin and the ,origin of ,species4 ,by ,,edward ,b4 ,,poulton1 ,m4,a41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,hope ,professor of ,zoology in the ,university of ,oxford4 ,hermann von ,helmholtz4 ,by ,a4 ,w4 ,r,ue,c,k,e,r1 ,f4,r4,s41 ,professor of ,physics in the ,royal ,college of ,science1 ,london4 ,,cassell ,,company1 ,,limited1 ,london2 ,paris ,melbourne ,illustration3 ,,hw3 ,charles ,lyell ,,the ,,century ,,science ,,series ,,charles ,,lyell ,,and ,,modern ,,geology ,,by ,,prof4 ,t4 ,g4 ,,bonney ,d4,,sc41 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,,etc4 ,new ,york ,,macmillan ,,co4 #ahie ,,preface4 ,the life of ,charles ,lyell is singularly free from moving accidents by flood and field4 ,though he travelled much1 he never1 so far as can be ascertained1 was in danger of life or limb1 of brigand or beast4 ,at home his career was not hampered by serious difficulties or blocked by formidable obstacles2 not a few circumstances were distinctly favourable to success4 ,thus his biography cannot offer the reader either the excitement of adventure1 or the interest of an unwearied struggle with adverse conditions4 ,but for all that1 as it seems to me1 it can teach a lesson of no little value4 ,lyell1 while still a young man1 determined that he would endeavour to put geology--then only beginning to rank as a science--on a more sound and philosophical basis4 ,to accomplish this purpose1 he spared no labour1 grudged no expenditure1 shrank from no fatigue4 ,for years he was training himself by observation and travel2 he was studiously aiming at precision of thought and expression1 till ,the ,principles of ,geology had been completed and published4 ,but even then1 though he might have counted his work done1 he spared no pains to make it better1 and went on at the task of improvement till the close of his long life4 ,my chief aim1 in writing this little volume1 has been to bring out this lesson as strongly and as clearly as possible4 ,i have striven to show how ,charles ,lyell studied1 how he worked1 how he accumulated observations1 how each journey had its definite purposes4 ,accordingly1 ,i have often given his words in preference to any phrases of my own1 and have quoted freely from his letters1 diaries1 and books1 because ,i wished to show exactly how things presented themselves to his eyes1 and how ideas were maturing in his mind4 ,regarded in this light1 ,lyell's life becomes an apologue1 setting forth the beneficial results of concentrating the whole energy on one definite object1 and the moral grandeur of a calm1 judicial1 truth-seeking spirit4 ,in writing the following pages ,i have1 of course1 mainly drawn upon the ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 edited by ,mrs4 ,lyell2 but ,i have also made use of his books1 especially the ,principles of ,geology1 and the two tours in ,north ,america4 ,i am under occasional obligations to the excellent life1 contributed by ,professor ,g4 ,a4 ,j4 ,cole to the ,dictionary of ,national ,biography1 and have to thank my friend ,professor ,j4 ,w4 ,judd for some important details which he had learnt through his intimacy with the veteran geologist4 ,he also kindly lent the engraving 7executed in ,america from a daguerreotype7 which has been copied for the frontispiece of this volume4 ,t4 ,g4 ,,bonney4 ,,contents4 ,,chapter ,,page ,i4--,,childhood ,,and ,,schooldays #i ,,ii4--,,undergraduate ,,days #ai ,,iii4--,,the ,,growth ,,of ,a ,,purpose #bg ,,iv4--,,the ,,purpose ,,developed ,,and ,,accomplished #dd ,v4--,,the ,,history ,,and ,,place ,,in ,,science ,,of ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,geology #gc ,,vi4--,,eight ,,years ,,of ,,quiet ,,progress #ajj ,,vii4--,,geological ,,work ,,in ,,north ,,america #acj ,,viii4--,,another ,,epoch ,,of ,,work ,,and ,,travel #aeb ,,ix4--,,steady ,,progress #afh ,x4--,,the ,,antiquity ,,of ,,man #ahd ,,xi4--,,the ,,evening ,,of ,,life #ahi ,,xii4--,,summary #bjf ,,charles ,,lyell ,,and ,,modern ,,geology4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,childhood ,,and ,,schooldays4 ,caledonia1 stern and wild1 may be called meet nurse of geologists as well as of poets4 ,among the most remarkable of the former is ,charles ,lyell1 who was born in ,forfarshire on ,november #adth1 #agig1 at ,kinnordy1 the family mansion4 ,his father1 who also bore the name of ,charles1#a was both a lover of natural history and a man of high culture4 ,he took an interest at one time in entomology1 but abandoned this for botany1 devoting himself more especially to the study of the cryptogams4 ,of these he discovered several new species1 besides some other plants previously unknown in the ,british flora1 and he contributed the article on ,lichens to ,smith's ,english ,botany4 ,more than one species was named after him1 as well as a genus of mosses1 ,lyellia1 which is chiefly found in the ,himalayas4 ,later in his life1 science1 on the whole1 was supplanted by literature1 and he became engrossed in the study of the works of ,dante1 of some of whose poems#b he published translations and notes4 ,thus the geologist and author is an instance of hereditary genius4 ,charles was the eldest of a family of ten--three sons and seven daughters1 all of whom grew up4 ,their mother was ,english1 the daughter of ,thomas ,smith1 of ,maker ,hall in ,yorkshire1 a woman of strong sense and tender anxiety for her children's welfare4 ,the front of heaven1 as ,lyell has written in a fragment of autobiography1 was not full of fiery shapes at his nativity1 but the season was so exceptionally warm that his mother's bedroom-window was kept open all the night--an appropriate birth-omen for the geologist1 who had a firmer faith than some of his successors in the value of work in the open air4 ,he has put on record only two characteristics of his infancy1 and as these can hardly be personal recollections1 we may assume them to have been sufficiently marked to impress others4 ,one if not both was wholly physical4 ,he was very late in cutting his teeth1 not a single one having appeared in the first twelvemonth1 and the hardness of his infant gums caused an old wife to prognosticate that he would be edentulous4 ,also1 his lungs were so vigorous and so habitually exercised that he was pronounced the loudest and most indefatigable squaller of all the brats of ,angus4 ,the geologist who so emphatically affirmed the necessity of travel1 early became an unconscious practiser of his own precept4 ,when he was three months old his parents went from ,kinnordy to ,inveraray1 whence they journeyed to the south of ,england1 as far as ,ilfracombe4 ,from this place they removed to ,weymouth and thence to ,southampton4 ,more than a year must have been thus spent1 for their second child--also a son--was born at the last-named town4 ,mr4 ,lyell1 the father1 now took a lease of ,bartley ,lodge1 on the ,new ,forest--some half-dozen miles west of ,southampton1 where the family lived for twenty-eight years4 ,his mother and sisters also left ,kinnordy1 and rented a house in ,southampton4 ,their frequent excursions to ,bartley ,lodge1 as ,lyell observes1 were always welcome to the children1 for they never came empty-handed4 ,kinnordy1 however1 was visited from time to time in the summer1 and on one of these occasions1 when ,charles was in his fifth year1 some of the family had a narrow escape4 ,they were about a stage and a half from ,edinburgh2 the parents and the two boys in one carriage2 two nursemaids1 the cook1 and the two youngest children1 sisters1 in a chaise behind4 ,the horses of this took fright on a narrow part of the road and upset the carriage over a very steep slope4 ,fortunately all escaped unhurt1 except one of the maids1 whose arm was cut by the splintered glass4 ,the parents ran to the rescue4 ,meanwhile1 ,tom and ,i were left in the carriage4 ,we thought it fine pastime1 and ,i am accused of having prompted ,tom to assist in plundering the pockets of the carriage of all the buns and other eatables1 which we demolished with great speed for fear of interruption4#c ,this adventure1 however1 was not quite his earliest reminiscence2 for that was learning the alphabet when he was about three years old4 ,charles was kept at home till he had nearly completed his eighth year1 when he was sent with his brother ,tom to a boarding-school at ,ringwood4 ,the master was the ,rev4 ,r4 ,s4 ,davies2 the lads were some fifty in number1 the ,lyells being about the youngest4 ,they seem1 however1 not to have been ill-treated1 though their companions were rather a rough lot1 and they were petted by the schoolmaster's daughter4 ,the most sensational incident of his stay at ,ringwood was a miniature town and gown row1 a set fight between the lads of the place and of the school1 from which1 however1 the ,lyells were excluded as too young to share in the joys and the perils of war4 ,but the fray was brought to a rather premature conclusion by the joint intervention of foreign powers--the masters of the school and the tradesmen of the town4 ,in those days smuggling was rife on the south coast1 and acting the part of revenue officers and contrabandists was a favourite school game2 doubtless the more popular because it afforded a legitimate pretext for something like a fight4 ,the fear of a ,french invasion also kept this part of ,england on the qui vive1 and ,lyell well remembered the excitement caused by a false alarm that the enemy had landed4 ,he further recollected the mingled joy and sorrow which were caused by the victory of ,trafalgar and the death of ,nelson4 ,the brothers remained at ,ringwood only for about two years1 for neither the society nor the instruction could be called first-class2 and they were sent1 after a rather long holiday at home1 to another school of about the same size1 but much higher character1 in ,salisbury4 ,the master1 ,dr4 ,radcliffe1 an ,oxford man1 was a good classical scholar1 and his pupils came from the best families in that part of ,england4 ,in one respect1 the young ,lyells found it a change for the worse4 ,at ,ringwood they had an ample playground1 close to which was the ,avon1 gliding clear and cool to the sea1 a delightful place for a bathe4 ,in a few minutes' walk from the town they were among pleasant lanes2 in a short time they could reach the border of the ,new ,forest4 ,but at ,salisbury the school was in the heart of the town1 its playground a small yard surrounded by walls1 and1 as he says1 we only walked out twice or three times in a week1 when it did not rain1 and were obliged to keep in ranks along the endless streets and dusty roads of the suburbs of a city4 ,it seemed a kind of prison by comparison1 especially to me1 accustomed to liberty in such a wild place as the ,new ,forest4 ,one can sympathise with his feelings1 for a procession of schoolboys1 walking two and two along the streets of a town1 is a dreary spectacle4 ,but an occasional holiday brought some comfort1 for then they were sent on a longer excursion4 ,the favourite one was to the curious earthworks of ,old ,sarum1 then in its glory as a rotten borough1 one alehouse1 with its tea-gardens attached1 sending two members to ,parliament4 ,on these excursions more liberty seems to have been permitted4 ,the boys broke up the large flints that lay all about the ground1 to find in them cavities lined with chalcedony or drusy crystals of quartz4 ,but the chief interest centred around a mysterious excavation in the earthwork1 a deep1 long subterranean tunnel1 said to have been used by the garrison to get water from a river in the plain below4 ,to this all new-comers were taken to listen to the tale of its enormous depth and subterranean pool4 ,then1 when duly overawed1 they felt their hats fly off their heads and saw them rolling out of sight down the tunnel4 ,an interval followed of blank dismay1 embittered1 no doubt1 by dismal anticipations of what would probably happen when they got back to the school-house4 ,then one of the older boys volunteered to act the sybil and lead the way to the nether world4 ,of course they regained their felt and felt what they regained--literally1 for the hole was dark enough1 though we may set down the many hundred yards 7which ,lyell says that he descended before he recovered his lost hat7 as an instance of the permanent effect of a boyish illusion on even a scientific mind4 ,but the restrictions of ,salisbury made the liberty of the ,new ,forest yet more dear4 ,bartley was an ideal home for boys4 ,it was surrounded by meadows and park-like timber4 ,a two-mile walk brought the lads to ,rufus ,stone1 and on the wilder parts of the ,forest4 ,there they could ramble over undulating moors1 covered with heath and fern1 diversified by marshy tracts1 sweet with bog-myrtle1 or by patches of furze1 golden in season with flowers2 or they could wander beneath the shadows of its great woods of oak and beech1 over the rustling leaves1 among the flickering lights and shadows1 winding here and there among tufts of holly scrub1 always led on by the hope of some novelty--a rare insect fluttering by1 a lizard or a snake gliding into the fern1 strange birds circling in the air1 a pheasant or even a woodcock springing up almost under the feet4 ,the rabbits scampered to their holes among the furze2 a fox now and again stole silently away to cover1 or a stag--for the deer had not yet been destroyed--was espied among the tall brake4 ,those1 too1 it must be remembered1 were the days when boys got their holidays in the prime of the summer1 at the season of haymaking and of ripe strawberries4 ,they were not kept stewing in hot school-rooms all through ,july1 until the flowers are nearly over and the bright green of the foliage is dulled1 until the romance of the summer's youth has given place to the dulness of its middle age4 ,in these days it is our pleasure to do the right thing in the wrong place--a truly national characteristic4 ,we all--young and old--toil through the heat and the long days1 and take holiday when the autumn is drawing nigh and ,nature writes ,ichabod on the beauty of the waning year4 ,at ,salisbury1 ,lyell had two new experiences--the sorrows of the ,latin ,grammar and the joys of a bolster-fight4 ,but his health was not good2 a severe attack of measles in the first year was followed in the second by a general breakdown1 with symptoms of weakness of the lungs4 ,so he was taken home for three months to recruit4 ,this was at first a welcome change from the restrictions of ,salisbury2 but1 as his lessons necessarily were light1 he began to mope for want of occupation2 for1 as he says1 ,i was always most exceedingly miserable if unemployed1 though ,i had an excessive aversion to work unless forced to it4 ,so he began to collect insects--a pursuit which1 as he remarks1 exactly suited him1 for it was rather desultory1 gave employment to both mind and body1 and gratified the collecting instinct1 which is strong in most boys4 ,he began with the lepidoptera1 but before long took an interest in other insects1 especially the aquatic4 ,fortunately his father had been for a time a collector1 and possessed some good books on entomology1 from the pictures in which ,charles named his captures4 ,this was1 of course1 an unscientific method1 but it taught him to recognise the species and to know their habits4 ,there are few better localities for lepidoptera1 as every collector knows1 than the ,new ,forest1 and some of the schoolboy's finds afterwards proved welcome to so well known an entomologist as ,curtis4 ,but when ,charles returned to school he had to lay aside1 for a season1 the new hobby2 for in those days a schoolboy's interest in natural history did not extend beyond birds'-nesting1 and his little world was not less1 perhaps even more frank and demonstrative than now1 in its criticism of any innovation or peculiarity on the part of one of its members4 ,the school at ,salisbury appears to have been a preparatory one1 so before very long another had to be sought4 ,mr4 ,lyell wished to send his two boys to ,winchester1 but found to his disappointment that there would not be a vacancy for a couple of years2 so after instructing them at home for six months1 he contented himself with the ,grammar ,school at ,midhurst1 in ,sussex1 at the head of which was one ,dr4 ,bayley1 formerly an under-master at ,winchester4 ,charles1 now in his thirteenth year1 found this1 at first1 a great change4 ,the school contained about seventy boys1 big as well as little1 and its general system resembled that of one of the great public schools4 ,he remarks of this period of his life3 ,whatever some may say or sing of the happy recollections of their schooldays1 ,i believe the generality1 if they told the truth1 would not like to have them over again1 or would consider them as less happy than those which follow4 ,he was not the kind of boy to find the life of a public school very congenial4 ,evidently he was a quietly-disposed lad1 caring more for a country ramble than for games2 perhaps a little old-fashioned in his ways2 not pugnacious1 but preferring a quiet life to the trouble of self-assertion4 ,so1 in his second half-year1 when he was left to shift entirely for himself1 his life was not a happy one1 for a good deal of the primeval savage lingers in the boys of a civilised race4 ,it required1 as he said1 a good deal to work him up to the point of defending his independence2 thus he was deemed incapable of resistance and was plagued accordingly4 ,but at last he turned upon a tormentor1 and a fight was the result4 ,it was of ,homeric proportions1 for it lasted two days1 during five or six hours on each1 the combatants being pretty evenly matched2 for though ,lyell's adversary was rather the smaller and weaker1 he knew better how to use his fists4 ,strength at the end prevailed over science1 though both parties were about equally damaged4 ,the vanquished pugilist was put to bed1 being sorely bruised in the visible parts4 ,lyell1 whose hurts were mostly hidden1 made light of them1 by the advice of friends1 but he owns that he ached in every bone for a week1 and was black and blue all over his body4 ,still he had not fought in vain1 for1 though the combat won him little honour1 it delivered him from sundry tormentors4 ,the educational system of the school stimulated his ambition to rise in the classes4 ,by this feeling1 he says1 much of my natural antipathy to work1 and extreme absence of mind1 was conquered in a great measure1 and ,i acquired habits of attention which1 however1 were very painful to me1 and only sustained when ,i had an object in view4 ,there was an annual speech-day1 and ,charles1 on the first occasion1 obtained a prize for his performance4 ,every year afterwards1 he continues1 ,i received invariably a prize for speaking1 until high enough to carry off the prizes for ,latin and ,english original composition4 ,my inventive talents were not quick1 but to have any is so rare a qualification that it is sure to obtain a boy at our great schools 7and afterwards as an author7 some distinction4 ,evidently he gave proofs of originality beyond his fellows2 since he won a prize for ,english verse1 though he had written in the metre of the ,lady of the ,lake instead of the ordinary ten-syllabic rhyme4 ,on another occasion he commemorated1 in his weekly ,latin copy1 the destruction of the rats in a neighbouring pond1 writing in mock heroics1 after the style of ,homer's battle of the frogs and mice4 ,the school1 like all other collections of boys1 had its epidemic hobbies4 ,the game of draughts1 coupled unfortunately with gambling on a small scale1 was followed by chess1 and that by music4 ,to each of these ,charles was more or less a victim1 and his progress up the school was not thereby accelerated4 ,birds'-nesting also had a turn in its season4 ,his love for natural history made him so keen in this pursuit that he became an expert climber of trees4 ,but his schooldays on the whole were uneventful1 and he went to ,oxford at a rather early age1 his brother ,tom having already left ,midhurst in order to enter the ,navy4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,born #agfg1 died #ahdi 7also son of a ,charles ,lyell72 educated at ,st4 ,andrew's and at ,st4 ,peter's ,college1 ,cambridge1 where he proceeded to the degree of ,b4,a4 in #agia and ,m4,a4 in #agid4 #b ,in #ahce1 the ,canzoniere1 including the ,vita ,nuova and ,convito2 a second edition was published in #ahdb2 in #ahde a translation of the ,lyrical ,poems of ,dante4 #c ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #c4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,undergraduate ,,days4 ,lyell matriculated at ,exeter ,college1 and appears to have begun residence in ,january1 #ahaf--that is1 soon after completing his eighteenth year4 ,at ,oxford1 though not a hard reader1 he was evidently far from idle1 and wrote for some of the ,university prizes1 though without success4 ,several of his letters to his father have been preserved4 ,in these he talks about his studies1 mathematical and classical2 criticises ,coleridge's ,christabel1 and praises ,kirke ,white's poetry2 describes the fritillaries blossoming in the ,christchurch meadows1 and refers occasionally to political matters4 ,the letters are well expressed1 and indicate a thoughtful and observant mind4 ,while yet a schoolboy he had stumbled upon a copy of ,bakewell's ,geology in his father's library1 which had so far awakened his interest that in the earlier part of his residence at ,oxford he attended a course of ,professor ,buckland's lectures1 and took careful notes4 ,the new study is briefly mentioned in a letter1 dated ,july #bjth1 #ahag4 ,this is written from ,yarmouth1 where he is visiting ,mr4 ,dawson ,turner1 the well-known antiquarian and botanist4 ,he states that1 on his way through ,london1 he went to see the elephant at ,exeter ,change1 ,bullock's ,museum1 and ,francillon's collection of insects4 ,at ,norwich also he saw more insects1 the cathedral1 and some chalk pits1 in which he found an immense number of belemnites1 echinites1 and bivalves4 ,he was also greatly interested by the fossils in ,dr4 ,arnold's collection at ,yarmouth1 particularly by the alcyonia found in flints4#d ,a few days later he again dwells on geology1 and speculates shrewdly on the formation of the lowland around ,yarmouth and the ancient course of the river4 ,in one paragraph a germ of the future ,principles may be detected4 ,it runs thus3 ,dr4 ,arnold and ,i examined yesterday the pit which is dug out for the foundation of the ,nelson monument1 and found that the first bed of shingle is eight feet down4 ,now this was the last stratum brought by the sea2 all since was driven up by wind and kept there by the ',rest-harrow' and other plants4 ,it is mere sand4 ,therefore1 thirty-five years ago the ,deens were nearly as low as the last stratum left by the sea2 and as the wind would naturally have begun adding from the very first1 it is clear that within fifty years the sea flowed over that part4 ,this1 even ,mr4 ,t4 allows1 is a strong argument in favour of the recency of the changes4 ,dr4 ,arnold surprised me by telling me that he thought that the ,straits of ,dover were formerly joined1 and that the great current and tides of the ,north ,sea being held back1 the sea flowed higher over these parts than now4 ,if he had thought a little more he would have found no necessity for all this1 for all those towns on this eastern coast1 which have no river god to stand their friend1 have necessarily been losing in the same proportion as ,yarmouth gains--viz4 ,cromer1 ,pakefield1 ,dunwich1 ,aldborough1 etc41 etc4 ,with ,dunwich ,i believe it is ,fuit ,ilium4#e ,evidently ,lyell by this time had become deeply interested in geology1 for his journal contains several notes made on the road from ,london to ,kinnordy1 and records1 during his stay there1 not only the capture of insects1 but also visits to quarries1 and the discovery of crystallised sulphate of barytes at ,kirriemuir and elsewhere4 ,towards the end of his first long vacation he travelled1 in company with two friends of his own age1 from ,forfarshire across by ,loch ,tay1 ,tyndrum1 and ,loch ,awe1 to the western coast at ,oban1 whence they visited ,staffa and ,iona4 ,with the caves in the former island he was greatly impressed2 and he noted the columns of basalt1 which1 he said1 were pentagonal in form1 quite different from the four-square jointing of the red granite at the south-west end of ,mull4 ,with the ruins of ,iona he was a little disappointed1 for he wrote in his diary that they are but poor after all4 ,the wonders of ,fingal's ,cave appealed to his poetical as well as to his geological instincts1 for in ,october1 after his return to ,oxford1 he sent to his father some stanzas on this subject which are not without a certain merit4 ,but the covering letter was mostly devoted to geology4 ,the next year1 #ahah1 marked an important step in his education as a geologist1 for he accompanied his father1 mother1 and two eldest sisters on a ,continental tour4 ,starting early in ,june1 they drove in a ramshackle carriage1 which frequently broke down1 from ,calais to ,paris1 along much the same route as the railway now takes2 they visited the sights of the capital1 not forgetting either the artistic treasures of the ,louvre or the collections of the ,jardin des ,plantes1 particularly the fossils of the ,paris basin4 ,thence they journeyed by ,fontainebleau and ,auxerre to ,dole1 and he makes careful and shrewd notes on the geology1 for the carriage travelling of those days1 though slow1 was not without its advantages--and in crossing the ,jura he observes the nodular flints in a limestone1 and the contrast between these mountains and the ,grampians of his native land4 ,as they descended the well-known road which leads down to ,gex in ,switzerland1 they had the good fortune to obtain a splendid view of ,mont ,blanc and the ,alps4 ,from ,geneva1 where he notes the most peculiar deep blue colour of the ,rhone1 they visited ,chamouni by the usual route4 ,at this time the principal glaciers were advancing rather rapidly4 ,the ,glacier des ,bossons1 he remarks1 has trodden down the tallest pines with as much ease as an elephant could the herbage of a meadow4 ,some trunks are still seen projecting from the rock of ice1 all the heads being embodied in this mass1 which shoots out at the top into tall pyramids and pinnacles of ice1 of beautiful shapes and a very pure white4444 ,it has been pressed on not only through the forest1 but over some cultivated fields1 which are utterly lost4#f ,at ,chamouni1 ,lyell made the most of his time1 for in three days he walked up to the ,col de ,balme1 climbed the ,brevent1 and made his first glacier expedition1 to the well-known oasis among the great fields of snow and ice which is called the ,jardin4 ,everywhere he notes the flowers1 which at that season were in full beauty2 and the insects1 capturing no less than seven specimens of that rare insect1 ,papilio ,apollo4#g ,he feels all the surprise and all the delight which thrills the entomologist from the ,british ,isles when he first sets foot on the slopes of the higher ,alps1 and sees in abundance the rarities of his own country1 besides not a few new species4 ,but ,lyell does not neglect the rocks and minerals1 or the red snow1 or the wonders of the ice world4 ,chamouni1 we are told1 was then perfectly inundated with ,english1 for fifty arrived in one day4 ,the previous year they had numbered one thousand out of a total of fourteen hundred visitors4 ,since then1 times and the village have changed4 ,returning to ,geneva1 the party travelled by ,lausanne and ,neuchatel to ,bale1 and then followed the picturesque route along the river1 by the tumultuous rapids of ,laufenburg and the grand falls of the ,rhine1 to ,schaffhausen1 whence they turned off to ,zurich4 ,here he writes of the principal inn that it partook more than any of a fault too common in ,switzerland4 ,they have their stables and cow-houses under the same roof1 and the unavoidable consequences may be conceived1 till they can fall in with a man as able--as ',hercules to cleanse a stable4' ,from ,zurich they crossed the ,albis to ,zug4 ,the other members of the party went direct to ,lucerne1 but ,lyell turned aside to visit the spot where twelve years previously an enormous mass of pudding-stone had come crashing down from the ,rossberg1 had destroyed the village of ,goldau1 and had converted a great tract of fertile land into a wilderness of broken rock4 ,he diagnosed correctly the cause of the catastrophe1 and then ascended the ,rigi4 ,here he spent a flea-bitten night at the ,kulm ,hotel1 but was rewarded by a fine sunset and a yet finer sunrise4 ,at ,lucerne he rejoined his relatives1 and they drove together over the ,bruenig ,pass to ,meyringen4 ,from this place they made an excursion to the ,giessbach ,falls1 and saw the ,alpbach in flood after a downpour of rain4 ,this1 like some other ,alpine streams1 becomes at such times a raging mass of liquid mud and shattered slate1 and ,lyell carefully notes the action of the torrent under these novel circumstances1 and its increased power of transport4 ,parting from his relatives at the ,handeck ,falls1 he walked up the valley of the ,aar to the ,grimsel ,hospice1 where he passed the night1 and the next morning crossed over into the valley of the ,rhone to the foot of its glacier1 and then walked back again to ,meyringen4 ,he remarks that on the way to the ,hospice we passed some extraordinary large bare planks of granite rock above our track1 the appearance of which ,i could not account for4 ,this is not surprising1 for he had not yet learnt to read the handwriting on the wall of a vanished glacier4 ,its interpretation was not to come for another twenty years1 when these would be recognised as perhaps the finest examples of ice-worn rocks in ,switzerland4 ,lyell was evidently a good pedestrian2 for the very next day he walked from ,meyringen over the two ,scheideggs to ,lauterbrunnen1 ultimately joining his relatives at ,thun1 from which town they went on to ,berne1 where they were so fortunate as to see1 from the well-known terrace1 the snowy peaks of the ,oberland in all the beauty of the sunset glow4 ,then they journeyed over the pleasant uplands to ,vevay1 and so by the shore of the ,lake of ,geneva and the plain of the ,rhone valley to ,martigny1 turning aside to visit the salt mines near ,bex4 ,they reached ,martigny a little more than seven weeks after the lake1 formed in the valley of the ,dranse by the forward movement of the ,gietroz ,glacier1 had burst its icy barrier1 and they saw everywhere the ruins left by the rush of the flood4 ,the road as they approached ,martigny was even then1 in some places1 under water2 in others it was completely buried beneath sand4 ,the lower storey of the hotel had been filled with mud and debris1 which was still piled up to the courtyard4 ,lyell went up the valley of the ,dranse to the scene of the catastrophe1 and wrote in his journal an interesting description of both the effects of the flood and the remnants of the ice-barrier4 ,before returning to ,martigny he also walked up to the ,hospice on the ,great ,st4 ,bernard1 and then the whole party crossed by the ,simplon ,pass into ,italy1 following the accustomed route and visiting the usual sights till they arrived at ,milan4 ,the next stage on their tour--and this must have been in those days a little tedious--brought them to ,venice4 ,the ,campanile ,lyell does not greatly admire1 and of ,st4 ,mark's he says rather oddly1 ,the form is very cheerful and gay2 but on the whole he is much impressed with the buildings of ,venice1 and especially with the pictures4 ,on their return they went to ,bologna1 and then crossed the ,apennines to ,florence4 ,everywhere little touches in the diary indicate a mind exceptionally observant--such as notes on the first firefly1 the fields of millet1 the festooned vines seen on the plain1 or the peculiar sandy zone on the northern slopes of the hills4 ,he also mentions that shortly after crossing the frontier of ,tuscany they passed near ,coviliajo1 a volcanic fire which proceeded from a neighbouring mountain4#h ,this they intended to visit on their return4 ,but at ,florence the diary ends abruptly1 for the note-book which contained the rest of it was unfortunately lost4 ,we have given this summary of ,lyell's journal in some detail1 but even thus it barely suffices to convey an adequate idea of the cultured tastes1 wide interests1 and habits of close and accurate observation disclosed by its pages4 ,it shows1 better perhaps than any other documents1 the mental development of the future author of the ,principles of ,geology4 ,few things1 as he journeys1 escape his notice2 he describes facts carefully and speculates but little4 ,as he wanders among the ,alpine peaks1 he makes no reference to convulsions of the earth's crust2 as he views the ruin wrought by the ,dranse1 he says naught of deluges4 ,the travellers got back to ,england in ,september1 and at the end of the ,long ,vacation ,lyell returned to ,oxford4 ,there he remained till ,december1 #ahai1 when he proceeded to the degree of ,bachelor of ,arts1 obtaining a second class in ,classical ,honours4 ,considering that he had never been a hard reader1 and that he appears to have spent much of his longs in travel--a practice which1 though good for general education1 counts for little in the schools--the position indicates that he possessed rather exceptional abilities and a good amount of scholarship4 ,though ,oxford had been unable to bestow upon him a systematic training in science1 she had given a definite bias to his inclination1 and had fostered and cultivated a taste for literature which in the future brought forth a rich fruitage4 ,,footnotes3 #d ,probably they were fossil sponges4 #e ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #dc4 #f ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #fi4 #g ,now generally called ,parnassius ,apollo2 but very likely he captured more than one species of the genus4 #h ,probably it was a bituminous shale which had become ignited1 as was the case at ,ringstead ,bay1 ,dorset1 with the ,kimeridge clay4 ,the same often happens with the banks of coal-pits4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,growth ,,of ,a ,,purpose4 ,shortly after he had donned the bachelor's hood ,lyell came to ,london1 was entered at ,lincoln's ,inn1 and studied law in the office of a special pleader4 ,science was not forsaken1 for in ,march1 #ahai1 he was elected a ,fellow of the ,geological ,society1 and about the same time joined the ,linnean ,society4 ,before very long his legal studies were interrupted4 ,his eyes became so weak that a complete rest was prescribed2 accordingly1 in the autumn of #ahbj1 he accompanied his father on a journey to ,rome4 ,during this but little was done in geology1 for the travellers spent almost all their time in towns4 ,on his return1 so far as can be inferred from the few letters which have been published1 ,lyell continued to work at geology1 and at ,christmas1 #ahba1 was seeking in vain for freshwater fossils in the neighbourhood of ,bartley4 ,in the spring of #ahbb he investigated the ,sussex coast from ,hastings to ,dungeness1 and studied the effects of the sea at ,winchelsea and ,rye4 ,in the early summer of #ahbc he visited the ,isle of ,wight1 and in a letter to ,dr4 ,mantell suggested that the blue marl#i in ,compton ,chine is identical with that at ,folkestone1 and compared the underlying strata with those in ,sussex1 clearing up some confusions1 into which earlier observers had fallen1 about the ,wealden and ,lower ,greensand4 ,he was now evidently beginning to get a firm grip on the subject--a thing far from easy in days when so little had been ascertained--and this year he read his first papers to the ,geological ,society--one1 in ,january1 written in conjunction with ,dr4 ,mantell1 ,on the ,limestone and ,clay of the ,ironsand in ,sussex2 the other in ,june1 ,on the ,sections presented by ,some ,forfarshire ,rivers4 ,also1 on ,february #gth1 he was elected one of the secretaries of that ,society1 an office which he retained till #ahbf4 ,this is a pretty clear proof that he had begun to make his mark among geologists1 and was well esteemed by the leaders of the science4 ,no sooner had he returned from the ,isle of ,wight than he started for ,paris1 going direct from ,london to ,calais1 in the ,earl of ,liverpool steam packet1 in #aa hours6 #abj miles6 engines #hj horse-power for #bdj tons4 ,in the last letter written to his father before quitting ,england he refers to our neighbours across the ,channel in the following terms3 ,my opinion of the ,french people is that they are much too corrupt for a free government and much too enlightened for a despotic one4 ,that was written full seventy years ago2 perhaps even now1 were he alive1 he would not be disposed to withdraw the words4 ,at ,paris he was well received by ,cuvier1 ,humboldt1 and other men of science1 attended lectures at the ,jardin du ,roi1 and saw a good deal of society4 ,his letters home often contain interesting references to matters political and social--such as1 for example1 the following remarks which he heard from the mouth of ,humboldt3 ,you cannot conceive how striking and ludicrous a feature it is in ,parisian society at present that every other man one meets is either minister or ex-minister4 ,so frequent have been the changes4 ,the instant a new ministry is formed1 a body of sappers and miners is organised4 ,they work industriously night and day4 ,at last the ministers find that they are supplanted by the very arts by which a few months ago they raised themselves to power4#aj ,lyell more than once expresses a regret1 which1 indeed1 was generally felt in scientific circles1 that ,cuvier had lost caste by dabbling so much with the dirty pool of politics2 and himself works away at geology1 studying the fossils of the ,paris basin in the museums1 and visiting the most noted sections in order to add to his own collection and observe the relations of the strata4 ,he returned to ,england towards the end of ,september1 and no doubt spent the next few months in working at geology as far as his eyes1 which were becoming stronger1 permitted4 ,the summer of #ahbd was devoted to geological expeditions4 ,in the earlier part he took ,mons4 ,constant ,prevost1 one of the leaders of geology in ,france1 to the west of ,england4 ,their special purpose was to examine the ,jurassic rocks1 but they extended their tour as far as ,cornwall4 ,afterwards ,lyell went to ,scotland1 where he was joined by ,professor ,buckland2 and the two friends1 after spending a few days in ,ross-shire1 went to ,brora1 and then returned from ,inverness by the ,caledonian canal4 ,this gave them the opportunity of examining the famous parallel roads of ,glenroy1 which were the more interesting because they had already seen something of the kind near ,cowl1 in ,ross-shire4 ,afterwards they went up ,glen ,spean and crossed the mountains to ,blair ,athol1 visiting the noted locality in ,glen ,tilt1 where ,hutton made his famous discovery of veins of granite intrusive in the schists of that valley1 and then they made their way to ,edinburgh4 ,here much work was done1 both among collections and in the field1 and it was lightened--as might be expected in a place so hospitable--by social pleasures and friendly converse with some of the leading literary and scientific men4 ,four years of comparative rest and frequent change of scene had produced such an improvement in the condition of his eyes that he was able to resume his study of the law1 and was called to the ,bar in #ahbe4 ,for two years he went on the ,western ,circuit1 having chambers in the ,temple and getting a little business4 ,but1 as his correspondence shows1 geology still held the first place in his affections1#aa and papers were read to the ,society from time to time4 ,among them one of the most important1 though it was not printed in their journal1 described a dyke of serpentine which cut through the ,old ,red ,sandstone on the ,kinnordy estate4#ab ,but1 as is shown by a letter to his sister1 written in the month of ,november1 he had not lost his interest in entomology4 ,at that time the collectors of insects in ,scotland were very few in number1 and the ,english lepidopterists welcomed the specimens which ,lyell and his sister had caught in ,forfarshire4 ,the family had left ,bartley ,lodge in the earlier part of the year and had settled in the old home at ,kinnordy4 ,about this time also ,lyell began to contribute to the ,quarterly ,review1 writing articles on educational and scientific topics4 ,this led to a friendship with ,lockhart1 who became editor at the end of #ahbe1 and gave him an introduction to ,sir ,walter ,scott4 ,a ,christmas visit to ,cambridge introduced him to the social life of that university4 ,in the spring of #ahbg his ideas as to his future work appear to have begun to assume a definite form4 ,to ,dr4 ,mantell#ac he writes that he has been reading ,lamarck1 and is not convinced by that author's theories of the development of species1 which would prove that men may have come from the ourang-outang1 though he makes this admission3 ,after all1 what changes a species may really undergo6 ,how impossible will it be to distinguish and lay down a line1 beyond which some of the so-called extinct species have never passed into recent ones6 ,the next sentence is significant3 ,that the earth is quite as old as he ,lamarck supposes has long been my creed1 and ,i will try before six months are over to convert the readers of the ,quarterly to that heterodox opinion4#ad ,a few lines further on come some sentences which indicate that the leading idea of the ,principles was even then floating in his mind4 ,i am going to write in confirmation of ancient causes having been the same as modern1 and to show that those plants and animals1 which we know are becoming preserved now1 are the same as were formerly4 ,hence1 he proceeds to argue1 it is not safe to infer that because the remains of certain classes of plants or animals are not found in particular strata1 the creatures themselves did not then exist4 ,you see the drift of my argument1 he continues2 ergo1 mammalia existed when the oolite and coal1 etc41 were formed4#ae ,the first of these quotations strikes the keynote of modern geology as opposed to the older notions of the science2 what follows suggests a caution1 to which ,darwin afterwards drew more particular attention1 though he turned the weapon against ,lyell himself1 viz4 the imperfection of the geological record4 ,a letter to his father1 also written in the month of ,april1 shows that1 while he has an immediate purpose of opening fire on ,mac,culloch1#af who had bitterly attacked in the ,westminster ,review ,scrope's book upon ,volcanoes1 he has come to the conclusion that something of a more scientific character is wanted1 for which the pages of a periodical are not fitted4 ,he might1 he says1 write an elementary book1 like ,mrs4 ,marcet's ,conversations on ,chemistry1 but something on a much larger scale evidently is floating on his mind4 ,in this letter also he discusses his prospects with his father1 who apparently had suggested that he should cease from going on circuit2 and argues that he gains time by appearing to be engaged in a profession1 for friends have no mercy on the man who is supposed to have some leisure time1 and heap upon him all kinds of unremunerative duties4 ,lyell was not devoid of ,scotch shrewdness1 and doubtless early learnt that when it is all work and no pay men see your merits through a magnifying glass1 but when it comes to the question of a reward1 they shift the instrument to your defects4 ,gradually the plan of the future book assumed a more definite shape in his mind1 as we can see from a letter to ,dr4 ,mantell early in #ahbh4 ,about this time also ,murchison1 with whom he was planning a long visit to ,auvergne1#ag appears among his correspondents4 ,herschel#ah tells him how he and ,faraday had melted in a furnace granite into a slag-like lava2 ,hooker#ai begs him to notice the connection between plants and soils as he travels2 his father urges him to take his clerk with him to act as amanuensis and save his eyes1 which might be affected by the glare of the sun1 and to help him generally in collecting specimens and carrying the barometers4 ,early in the month of ,may he started for ,paris1 where he met ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,murchison1 and the party left for ,clermont ,ferrand in a light open carriage1 with post horses4 ,as far as ,moulins the roads were bad1 but as they receded from ,paris and approached the mountains the roads and the rates of posting improved1 so that we averaged nine miles an hour1 and the change of horses was almost as quick as in ,england4 ,the politeness of the people has much delighted us1 and they are so intelligent that we get much geology from them4 ,clermont ,ferrand became their headquarters for some time1 and ,lyell's letters to his father are full of notes on the geology of the district1 one of the most interesting in ,europe4 ,the great plateau which rises on the western side of the broad valley of the ,allier is studded with cones and craters--some so fresh that one might imagine their last eruptions to have happened during the decline of the ,roman empire2#bj others in almost every stage of dissection by the scalpels of nature4 ,streams of lava1 still rough and clinkery1 have poured themselves over the plateau and have run down the valleys till they have reached the plain of the ,allier1 while huge fragments of flows far larger and more ancient have been carved by the action of rain and rivers into natural bastions1 and now may be seen resting upon stratified marls1 crowded with freshwater shells and other organisms1--the remnants of deposits accumulated in great lakes1 which had been already drained in ages long before man appeared on the earth4 ,the two geologists worked hard1 for who could be idle in such a country as this8 ,they often began at six in the morning and rested not till evening1 though the summers are hot in ,auvergne1 and this one was exceptionally so4 ,lyell writes home1 ,i never did so much real geology in so many days4 ,mrs4 ,murchison also was very diligent1 sketching1 labelling specimens1 and making out shells1 in which last she is a valuable assistant4 ,sometimes they went farther afield1 visiting ,pontgibaud and the gorge of the ,sioul1 where they found a section previously unnoticed1 which gave them a clear proof that a lava-stream had dammed up the course of a river by flowing down into its valley1 and had converted the part above into a lake4 ,this again had been drained as the river had carved for itself a new channel1 partly in the basalt1 partly in the underlying gneiss4 ,here1 then1 was a clear proof that a river could cut out a path for itself1 and that forces still in operation were sufficient1 given time enough1 to sculpture the features of the earth's crust4 ,notwithstanding the hard work1 the outdoor life suited ,lyell1 who writes that his eyes were never in such condition before4 ,murchison1 too1 was generally in good health1 but would have been better1 according to his companion1 if he had been a little more abstemious at table and a worse customer to the druggist4 ,from ,clermont ,ferrand the travellers moved on to the ,cantal1 where they investigated the lacustrine deposits beneath the lava-streams all around ,aurillac4 ,these deposits exhibited on a grand scale the phenomena which ,lyell had already observed on a small one in the marls of the loch at ,kinnordy4 ,thence they went on through the ,ardeche and examined the pet volcanoes of the ,vivarais1 as they had been termed by ,scrope4 ,the ,murchisons now began to suffer from the heat1 for it was the middle of ,july4 ,nevertheless1 they still pushed on southwards1 and after visiting the old towns of ,gard and the ,bouches du ,rhone1 went along the ,riviera to ,nice1 having been delayed for a time at ,frejus1 where ,murchison had a sharp attack of malarious fever4 ,it was an exceptionally dry summer1 and the town in consequence was malodorous2 so after a short halt1 they moved on to ,milan and at last arrived at ,padua1 working at geology as they went along1 and constantly accumulating new facts4 ,from ,padua they visited ,monte ,bolca1 noted for its fossil fish1 the ,vicentin1 with its sheets of basalt1 and the ,euganean ,hills1 where the volcanic phenomena were just ,auvergne over again4 ,then the travellers parted1 the ,murchisons turning northward to the ,tyrol1 while ,lyell continued on his journey southward to ,naples and ,sicily4 ,some four months had now been spent1 almost without interruption1 in hard work and the daily questioning of ,nature4 ,the results had surpassed even ,lyell's anticipations2 they had thrown light upon the geological phenomena of the remote past1 and cleared up many difficulties which1 hitherto1 had impeded the path of the investigators4 ,on the coast of the ,maritime ,alps ,lyell had found huge beds of conglomerate1 parted one from another by laminated shales full of fossils1 most of which were identical with creatures still living in the ,mediterranean4 ,these masses attained a thickness of #hjj feet1 and were displayed in the sides of a valley fifteen miles in length4 ,they supplied a case parallel with that of the conglomerates and sandstones of ,angus1 and indicated that no extraordinary conditions--no deluges or earth shatterings--had been needed in order to form them4 ,if the torrents from the ,maritime ,alps1 as they plunged into the ,mediterranean1 could build up these masses of stratified pebbles1 why not appeal to the same agency in ,scotland1 though the mountains from which they flowed1 and the sheet of water into which they plunged1 have alike vanished8 ,the great flows of basalt--some fresh and intact1 some only giant fragments of yet vaster masses--the broken cones of scoria1 and the rounded hills of trachyte in ,auvergne1 had supplied him with links between existing volcanoes and the huge masses of trap with which ,scotland had made him familiar2 while these basalt flows--modern in a geological sense1 but carved and furrowed by the streams which still were flowing in their gorges--showed that rain and rivers were most potent1 if not exclusive1 agents in the excavation of valleys4 ,the whole tour1 thus he wrote to his father1 has been rich1 as ,i had anticipated 7and in a manner which ,murchison had not71 in those analogies between existing nature and the effects of causes in remote eras which it will be the great object of my work to point out4 ,i scarcely despair now1 so much do these evidences of modern action increase upon us as we go south 7towards the more recent volcanic seat of action7 of proving the positive identity of the causes now operating with those of former times4#ba ,one important result of this journey was a conjoint paper on the excavation of valleys in ,auvergne1 which was written before the friends parted1 and was read at the ,geological ,society in the later part of the year4 ,lyell writes thus to one of his sisters from ,rome1 on his return thither1 in the following ,january#bb3-- ,my letters from geological friends are very satisfactory as to the unusual interest excited in the ,geological ,society by our paper on the excavation of valleys in ,auvergne4 ,seventy persons present the second evening1 and a warm debate4 ,buckland and ,greenough furious1 contra ,scrope1 ,sedgwick1 and ,warburton supporting us4 ,these were the first two nights in our new magnificent apartments at ,somerset ,house4 ,he adds1 ,longman has paid down #ejj guineas to ,mr4 ,ure1 of ,dublin1 for a popular work on geology1 just coming out4 ,it is to prove the ,hebrew cosmogony1 and that we ought all to be burnt in ,smithfield4 ,on the way to ,naples1 ,lyell made several halts3 at ,parma1 ,bologna1 ,florence1 ,siena1 ,viterbo1 and ,rome2 visiting local geologists1 studying their collections of fossil shells1 keeping his eye more especially on the relations which the species exhibited with the fauna still existing in the ,mediterranean1 and losing no opportunity of examining the ancient volcanic vents and the crater lakes1 which form in places such remarkable features in the landscape4 ,the shells in the travertine1 he writes1 are all real species living in ,italy1 so you perceive that the volcanoes had thrown out their ash1 pumice1 etc41 and these had become covered with lakes1 and then the valleys had been hollowed out1 all before ,rome was built1 #b1ejj years and more ago4 ,on reaching ,naples1 he climbed ,vesuvius1 and saw for the first time the lava-streams and piles of scoria of a volcano still active2 while the wonderful sections of the old crater of ,somma furnished a link between the living present and the remote past--between ,italy and ,auvergne4 ,he visited ,ischia1 where another delightful surprise awaited him1 for on its old volcano1 ,monte ,epomeo1 he found1 at a height of #b1jjj feet above the sea1 marine shells which belonged to the same class as those in the lower regions of ,ischia4 ,they were contained in a mass of clay1 and were quite unaltered4 ,this was a great discovery1 for the existence of these fossils had not been dreamt of1 and it showed that the land had been elevated to this extent without any appreciable change in the fauna inhabiting the ,mediterranean4 ,except for this1 the island was an admirable illustration of ,mont ,dore4 ,he made an excursion also to the ,temples of ,paestum1 wonderful from the weird beauty of their ruins1 on the flat plain between the ,apennines and the sea1 but with interest geological as well as archaeological1 because of the blocks of rough travertine with which their columns are built4 ,these he studied1 and he visited the quarries from which they were hewn4 ,his letters frequently contain interesting references to the tyranny of the ,government1 the inquisitorial suppression of all cultivation of science1 whether moral or physical1 the idle1 happy-go-lucky habits of the common people1 the prevalent mendicancy1 universal dishonesty1 and general corruption4 ,one instance may be worth quoting--it indicates the material with which ,united ,italy has had to deal4 ,he wanted to pre-pay the postage of a letter to ,england4 ,the head waiter at his hotel had said to him1 ',mind1 if it is to ,england you only pay fifteen grains' 7sous74 ,i thought the hint a trait of character1 as they are all suspicious of one another4 ,the clerk demanded twenty-five4 ,i remonstrated1 but he insisted1 and1 as he was dressed and had the manners of a gentleman1 ,i paid4 ,when ,i found on my return that ,i had been cozened1 ,i asked the head waiter1 with some indignation1 ',is it possible that the ,government officers are all knaves8' ',sono ,napolitani1 ,signor2 la sua eccellenza mi scusera1 ma io sono ,romano6'#bc ,the old proverb1 what is bred in the bone will out in the flesh1 still holds good2 but we may doubt whether the standard of virtue is quite so high as the speaker intimated in certain other provinces which ,piedmont has acquired at the price of the cradle of the royal house and some of the best blood of the nation4 ,at ,naples1 ,lyell was detained longer than he had expected1 waiting for a ,government steamer4 ,there was1 he says1 no other way of going1 for the pirates of ,tripoli have taken so many ,neapolitan vessels that no one who has not a fancy to see ,africa will venture4 ,but he arrived in ,sicily before the end of ,november1 and succeeded in reaching the summit of ,etna on the first of ,december4 ,he was only just in time1 for the next day bad weather set in1 snow fell heavily1 and the summit of the mountain became practically inaccessible for the winter4 ,but as it was1 he was able to examine carefully another active volcano1 the phenomena of which corresponded with those of ,vesuvius1 though on a grander scale4 ,from ,nicolosi1 where he was delayed a day or two by the weather1 ,lyell went along the ,catanian plain to ,syracuse and southward to the extreme point of the island1 ,cape ,passaro4 ,from this headland he followed the coast westward as far as ,girgenti1 and then struck across the island in an easterly direction till he came within about a day's journey of ,catania1 and then he turned off in a north-westerly direction through the island to ,palermo4 ,in this zigzag journey1 which occupied about five weeks1 he succeeded in obtaining a good general knowledge of the geology of the eastern part of the island2 he examined many sections and collected many fossils1 thus obtaining material for an accurate classification of the little-known deposits of the ,sicilian lowland1 and in addition he lost no opportunity of studying the relations of the volcanic masses1 wherever they occurred1 to the sedimentary strata4 ,as his letters show1 bad roads1 poor fare1 and miserable accommodation made the journey anything but one of pleasure2 but its results1 as he wrote to ,murchison1 exceeded his warmest expectations in the way of modern analogies4 ,by ,december #ajth he was once more back in the ,bay of ,naples4 ,as he returned through ,rome he availed himself of the opportunity of examining the travertines of ,tivoli1 which1 as he remarked1 presented more analogies with those of ,sicily than of ,auvergne1 and welcomed the news that the bones of an elephant had been found in an alluvial deposit which lay beneath the lava of an extinct ,tuscan volcano4 ,his notes also prove that he was beginning to see his way to the classification of the extensive deposits of sand and marl in ,italy and ,sicily1 which were subsequently recognised as belonging to the ,pliocene era4 ,early in ,february ,lyell reached ,geneva on his homeward journey1 after crossing the ,mont ,cenis1 and by the #aith was back in ,paris among his geological friends1 pumping them1 as he says1 and being well pumped in return4 ,some of them1 he finds1 have come by most opposite routes to the same conclusions as myself1 and we have felt mutually confirmed in our views1 although the new opinions must bring about an amazing overthrow in the systems which we were carefully taught ten years ago4 ,the accurate knowledge of ,deshayes1 one of the most eminent conchologists of that day1 was especially helpful in bringing his field work in ,italy and ,sicily into clear and definite order1 and he obtained from him a promise of tables of more than #b1jjj species of ,tertiary shells1 from which 7he writes to his sister ,caroline1 who shared his entomological tastes7 ,i will build up a system on data never before obtained1 by comparing the contents of the present with more ancient seas1 and the latter with each other4#bd ,by the end of ,february he is back in ,london and at the ,geological ,society1 defending his views on the constancy of ,nature's operations--views which seemed rank heresy to the older school1 who sought to solve every difficulty by a convulsion1 and were fettered in their interpretation of the records of geology by supposed theological necessities4 ,in ,april ,lyell writes thus to ,dr4 ,mantel#be3-- ,a splendid meeting at the ,geological ,society last night1 ,sedgwick in the chair4 ,conybeare's paper on ,valley of the ,thames1 directed against ,messrs4 ,lyell and ,murchison's former paper1 was read in part4 ,buckland present to defend the ',diluvialists1' as ,conybeare styles his sect2 and us he terms ',fluvialists4' ,greenough assisted us by making an ultra speech on the importance of modern causes4444 ,murchison and ,i fought stoutly1 and ,buckland was very piano4 ,conybeare's memoir is not strong by any means4 ,he admits three deluges before the ,noachian6 and ,buckland adds ,god knows how many catastrophes besides2 so we have driven them out of the ,mosaic record fairly4 ,again1 in the month of ,june1 he writes to the same correspondent in regard to the second portion of the same paper#bf3-- ,the last discharge of ,conybeare's artillery1 served by the great ,oxford engineer against the ,fluvialists1 as they are pleased to term us1 drew upon them on ,friday a sharp volley of musketry from all sides1 and such a broadside1 at the finale1 from ,sedgwick as was enough to sink the ',reliquiae ,diluvianae'#bg for ever1 and make the second volume shy of venturing out to sea4 ,in a third letter1 written to ,dr4 ,fleming1 he gives a similar account of the battle between the ,diluvialists and ,fluvialists1 and concludes with these words#bh3-- ,i am preparing a general work on the younger epochs of the earth's history1 which ,i hope to be out with next spring4 ,i begin with ,sicily1 which has almost entirely risen from the sea1 to the height of nearly #d1jjj feet1 since all the present animals existed in the ,mediterranean6 ,,footnotes3 #i ,now recognised as gault4 ,the identification named above was soon found to be correct4 #aj ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #abg4 ,some sentences 7for the sake of brevity7 are omitted from the quotation4 #aa ,he was also elected a ,fellow of the ,royal ,society in #ahbf4 #ab ,it appeared in the ,edin4 ,journ4 ,sci41 iii4 7#ahbe7 p4 #aab1 being his first actual publication4 ,its importance consisted in proving that serpentine was1 or rather had been1 an igneous rock4 ,if proper attention had been paid to it1 fewer mistaken statements and hypotheses would have attained the dignity of appearing in print4 #ac ,dr4 ,gideon ,a4 ,mantell1 a surgeon by profession1 at that time resident in ,lewes1 who made valuable contributions to the geology of ,south-,east ,england1 and was also distinguished for his popular lectures and books4 ,he died in #aheb4 #ad ,probably referring to an article on ,scrope's ,geology of ,central ,france1 in which he shows that he fully accepted the ,huttonian doctrine of interpreting the geology of past ages by reference to the causes still at work4 ,it appeared in the ,quarterly ,review1 ,oct4 #ahbg1 vol4 xxxvi4 p4 #dcg4 #ae ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #afi4 #af ,dr4 ,john ,mac,culloch1 author 7among other works7 of the ,highlands and ,western ,isles of ,scotland4 ,he was an excellent geologist on the mineralogical side1 but had little sympathy with palaeontology or with the views to which ,lyell inclined4 ,he died in #ahce4 #ag ,this district had been already explored by ,mr4 ,g4 ,p4 ,scrope1 the first edition of whose classic work1 ,the ,volcanoes of ,central ,france1 was published in #ahbf4 #ah ,sir ,john ,f4 ,w4 ,herschel1 the second of the illustrious astronomers of that name4 #ai ,sir ,w4 ,j4 ,hooker4 #bj ,certain passages in a letter of ,sidonius ,apollinaris1 ,bishop of ,clermont1 dated about #dfj ,a4,d41 and in the works of ,alcimus ,avitus1 ,archbishop of ,vienne1 about half a century later1 have been interpreted as referring to volcanic eruptions somewhere in ,auvergne4 ,this1 however1 is disputed by many authorities4 7,see ,geological ,magazine1 #ahfe1 p4 #bda47 #ba ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #aii4 #bb ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #bch4 #bc ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #bae4 #bd ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #beb4 #be ,ibid4 #bf ,ut supra1 p4 #bec4 #bg ,reliquiae ,diluvianae1 or ,observations on ,organic ,remains contained in ,caves1 ,fissures1 and ,diluvial ,gravel1 and on other ,geological ,phenomena attesting the ,action of an ,universal ,deluge4 ,by ,professor ,buckland4 #ahbc4 #bh ,ut supra1 p4 #bed4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,purpose ,,developed ,,and ,,accomplished4 ,the summer of #ahbi was spent at ,kinnordy1 when the quarries of ,kirriemuir and the neighbouring districts were visited from time to time1 the workmen being encouraged to look out for the remains of plants and the scales of fishes4 ,murchison1 however1 was again travelling on the ,continent1 and1 in company with ,sedgwick1 was exploring the geological structure of the ,eastern ,alps and the basin of the ,danube4 ,they appear to have kept up communication with ,lyell1 who hears with satisfaction of the results of their work1 since these cannot fail to keep ,murchison sound in the ,uniformitarian faith and to complete the conversion of ,sedgwick4#bi ,the latter 7,lyell writes to ,dr4 ,fleming7 was astonished at finding what ,i had satisfied myself of everywhere1 that in the more recent tertiary groups great masses of rock1 like the different members of our secondaries1 are to be found4 ,they call the grand formation in which they have been working sub-,apennine4 ,vienna falls into it4 ,i suspect it is a shade older1 as the sub-,apennines are several shades older than the ,sicilian tertiaries4 ,they have discovered an immensely thick conglomerate1 #ejj feet of compact marble-like limestone1 a great thickness of oolite1 not distinguishable from ,bath oolite1 an upper red sand and conglomerate1 etc4 etc41 all members of that group zoologically sub-,apennine4 ,this is glorious news for me4444 ,it chimes in well with making old red transition mountain limestone and coal1 and as much more as we can1 one epoch1 for when ,nature sets about building in one place1 she makes a great batch there4444 ,all the freshwater1 marine1 and other groups of the ,paris basin are one epoch1 at the farthest not more separated than the upper and lower chalk4 ,a letter to the same correspondent1 written nearly three weeks later1 at the end of ,october1 and after his return to ,london1 refers to the consequences of this journey4#cj ,sedgwick and ,murchison are just returned1 the former full of magnificent views4 ,throws overboard all the diluvian hypothesis2 is vexed he ever lost time about such a complete humbug2 says he lost two years by having also started a ,wernerian4 ,he says primary rocks are not primary1 but1 as ,hutton supposed1 some igneous1 some altered secondary4 ,mica schist in ,alps lies over organic remains4 ,no rock in the ,alps older than lias4#ca ,much of ,buckland's dashing paper on ,alps wrong4 ,a formation 7marine7 found at foot of ,alps1 between ,danube and ,rhine1 thicker than all the ,english secondaries united4 ,munich is in it4 ,its age probably between chalk and our oldest tertiaries4 ,i have this moment received a note from ,c4 ,prevost by ,murchison4 ,he has heard with delight and surprise of their ,alpine novelties1 and1 alluding to them and other discoveries1 he says3 ',comme nous allons rire de nos vieilles idees6 ,comme nous allons nous moquer de nous-memes6' ,at the same time he says3 ',if in your book you are too hard on us on this side the ,channel1 we will throw at you some of old ,brongniart's metric and peponary blocks which float in that general and universal diluvium1 and have been there depuis le grand jour qui a separe1 d'une maniere si tranchee1 les temps ante-des-temps ,post-,diluviens4' ,a short time afterwards1 in a letter addressed to ,mr4 ,leonard ,horner1 ,lyell declines to become a candidate for the ,professorship of ,geology and ,mineralogy at the ,london ,university1#cb which was first opened in the autumn of the previous year4 ,evidently he considers himself to be too fully occupied1 for he writes to ,dr4 ,mantell on ,december #eth that his book has taken a definite shape4#cc ,i am bound hand and foot4 ,in the press on ,monday next with my work1 which ,murray is going to publish--#b vols4--the title1 ',principles of ,geology3 being an ,attempt to ,explain the ,former ,changes of the ,earth's ,surface by ,reference to ,causes now in ,operation4' ,the first volume will be quite finished by the end of the month4 ,the second is1 in a manner1 written1 but will require great recasting4 ,i start for ,iceland by the end of ,april1 so time is precious4 ,the process of incubation was continued throughout the winter4 ,on ,february #crd1 #ahcj1 he had corrected the press as far as the eightieth page1 getting on slowly1 but with satisfaction to himself4 ,how much more difficult it is1 he remarks1 to write for general readers than for the scientific world2 yet half our savants think that to write popularly would be a condescension to which they might bend if they would4 ,he fully expects that the publication of his book will bring a hornet's nest about his head1 but he has determined that1 when the first volume is attacked1 he will waste no money on pamphleteering1 but will work on steadily at the second volume1 and then1 if the book is a success1 at the second edition1 for controversy is interminable work4 ,he felt now that the facts of nature were on his side1 and his conclusions right in the main2 so1 like most strong men1 he adopted the same course as did the founder of ,marischal ,college1 ,aberdeen1 and wrote over the door of his study1 ,lat them say4 ,the plan of a summer tour in ,iceland fell through2 so did another for a long journey from ,st4 ,petersburg by ,moscow to the ,sea of ,azof1 to be followed by an examination of the ,crimea and the ,great ,steppe1 and a return up the ,danube to ,vienna2 but by the middle of ,june the first volume of the ,principles was nearly finished2 and in a letter to ,scrope1#cd to whom advance sheets of the book had been forwarded1 in order that he might review it in the ,quarterly1 ,lyell explains concisely the position which he has taken in regard to cosmology and the earth's history4 ,probably there was a beginning--it is a metaphysical question1 worthy a theologian--probably there will be an end4 ,species1 as you say1 have begun and ended--but the analogy is faint and distant4 ,perhaps it is an analogy1 but all ,i say is1 there are1 as ,hutton said1 'no signs of a beginning1 no prospect of an end4' ,herschel thought the nebulae became worlds4 ,davy said in his last book1 ',it is always more probable that the new stars become visible1 and then invisible1 and pre-existed1 than that they are created and extinguished4' ,so ,i think4 ,all ,i ask is1 that at any given period of the past1 don't stop inquiry when puzzled by refuge to a beginning1 which is all one with 'another state of nature1' as it appears to me4 ,but there is no harm in your attacking me1 provided you point out that it is the proof ,i deny1 not the probability of a beginning4 ,mark1 too1 my argument1 that we are called upon to say in each case1 ',which is now most probable1 my ignorance of all possible effects of existing causes1' or that 'the beginning' is the cause of this puzzling phenomenon8 ,in other parts of the letter he refers to his theory of the dependence of the climate of a region upon the geography1 not only upon its latitude1 but also upon the distribution of land and sea1 and that of the coincidence of time between zoological and geographical changes in the past1 as the most novel parts of the book2 stating also that he has been careful to refer to all authors from whom he has borrowed1 and that to ,scrope himself he is under more obligation1 so far as he knows1 than to any other geologist4 ,the concluding words also are interesting3-- ,i conceived the idea five or six years ago1 that if ever the ,mosaic geology could be set down without giving offence1 it would be in an historical sketch1 and you must abstract mine in order to have as little to say as possible yourself4 ,let them feel it1 and point the moral4 ,the last-named difficulty1 to which ,lyell refers in another part of this letter1 was undoubtedly one of the most formidable rocks ahead in the path of his new book4 ,up to that time the progress of geology had been most seriously impeded by the supposed necessity of making its results harmonise with the ,mosaic cosmogony4 ,it was assumed as an axiom that the opening chapters of ,genesis were to be understood in the strict literal sense of the words1 and that to admit the possibility of misconceptions or mistakes in matters wholly beyond the cognisance of the writers1 was a denial of the inspiration of ,scripture1 and was rank blasphemy4 ,a large number of persons--among whom are the great mass of amateur theologians1 together with some experts--are always very prone to assume the meaning of certain fundamental terms to be exactly that which they desire1 and then to proceed deductively to a conclusion as if their questionable postulates were axiomatic truths4 ,they further assume1 very commonly1 that the possession of theological knowledge--scanty and superficial though it may be--enables them to dispense with any study of science1 and to pronounce authoritatively on the value of evidence which they are incapable of weighing1 and of conclusions which they are too ignorant to test4 ,being thus1 in their own opinion1 infallible1 a freedom of expression is1 for them1 more than permissible1 which1 in most other matters1 would be generally held to transgress the limits of courtesy and to trespass on those of vituperation4 ,lyell had perceived that little real progress could be made till geologists were free to look facts in the face and to follow their guidance to whatever conclusions these might lead1 irrespective of supposed consequences2 or that1 in other words1 questions of science must be settled by inductive reasoning from accurate observations1 and not by an appeal to the opinions of the men of olden time1 however great might be the sanctity of their characters or the honour due to their memories4 ,wisely1 however1 he determined to prefer an indirect to a direct method of attack1 and to avoid1 so far as was possible1 giving needlessly any cause of offence by abruptness of statement or by intemperance of language4 ,in deluges1 the favourite resort of every catastrophic geologist1 ,lyell had long lost faith1 and he laughs in one of his letters at the idea of a ,french geologist1 that a sudden upheaval of ,south ,america may have been the cause of the ,noachian flood4 ,to the breaks in the succession of strata1 a fact upon which the catastrophists much relied1 he attached comparatively little value1 insisting on their more or less local character4 ,in the records of the rocks he finds no trace of a clean sweep of living creatures or of anything like a general clearance of the earth's surface1 and no corroboration of the ,mosaic cosmogony4 ,he is bent on interpreting the work of ,nature in the past by the work of ,nature in the present1 and not by the writings of the ,fathers1 or even by the words of ,scripture itself4 ,some time in the month of ,june the last sheet of the ,principles must have been sent to press2 for on the #beth of that month ,lyell writes from ,havre on his way to ,bordeaux1 through part of ,normandy1 ,brittany1 and ,la ,vendee4 ,this journey took him1 as he says1 through some of the finest countries and most detestable roads he ever saw4 ,on this occasion he was accompanied by a ,captain ,cooke1 a commander in the ,royal ,navy2 a man well informed1 acquainted with ,spain 7the end of their journey71 a botanist1 and not wholly ignorant of geology--in short1 an excellent companion1 whose only fault was being a little too fond of lagging a day for rest1 even in places where nothing is to be done4 ,writing from ,bordeaux to a sister1 ,lyell expresses a hope that at ,bagneres de ,luchon he may hear whether his book is out4#ce ,two passages in his letter are not without a more general interest4 ,one repeats a remark made to him by ,d',aubuisson1 whom he describes as a great gun of the old ,wernerian school1 who 444 thinks the interest of the subject greatly destroyed by our new innovation1 especially our having almost cut mineralogy and turned it into a zoological science4#cf ,d',aubuisson also said1 ,we ,catholic geologists flatter ourselves that we have kept clear of the mixing of things sacred and profane1 but the three great ,protestants1 ,de ,luc1 ,cuvier1 and ,buckland1 have not done so2 have they done good to science or to religion8 ,no1 but some say they have to themselves by it4 ,the other remark is interesting in its reference to ,french politics1 seeing that it is dated on the #ith of ,july1 #ahcj4 ,it runs thus#cg3-- ,the quiet and perfect order and calmness that reigned at ,bourbon1 ,vendee1 and ,bordeaux and ,toulouse during the heat of the elections1 afford a noble example to us--never were people in a greater state of excitement on political grounds than the ,french at this moment1 yet never in our country towns were ,assizes conducted with more seriousness and quiet4 ,there is no occasion to make the rabble drunk4 ,all the voters of the little colleges are of the rank of shopkeepers at least1 those of the highest are gentlemen--only #bj1jjj of them out of the #cj millions of ,french4 ,they are too many for such jobbing as in a ,scotch county1 and too independent and rich to have the feelings of a mob4 ,yet at the end of this month came the three days of ,july2 perfect order and calmness were at an end2 ,charles ,x4 abdicated the throne1 and the ,bourbons again became exiles from ,france4 ,from ,toulouse ,lyell and his companion journeyed by the banks of the ,ariege to the picturesque old town of ,foix1 and from this place to ,ax1 a watering-place on one of the tributaries to that river1 in the heart of the ,pyrenees4 ,his keen eye notes at once the difference between the scenery of this chain and that of the ,alps4 ,apart from the different character of the vegetation--the more luxuriant flora1 the extensive forests of beech and oak at elevations where in ,switzerland only the pines and larches would flourish--the valleys are narrower1 the mountains more precipitous--the scenery1 in short1 is more like that around ,interlaken or in the valley of ,lauterbrunnen1 without the lakes of the one or the grand background of snowy peaks in the other4 ,in the ,pyrenees the inferior height and the more southern position of the chain diminishes the snowfields and curtails the glaciers1 so that the torrents run with purer waters1 like they do in the ,alps about the birthplace of the ,po4 ,in order to acquire a clear idea of the structure of the ,pyrenees the travellers crossed from ,ax to the southern side of the watershed1 though they still remained on ,french territory2 for here1 in the neighbourhood of ,andorre1 the frontier cuts off the heads of one or two valleys which geographically form part of ,spain4 ,into this country they had purposed to descend1 but the obstacles interposed by the reactionary jealousy of local ,dogberries and the possible risks from political complications were so great1 that they judged it wiser to abandon the attempt4 ,so the travellers separated for a time1 ,captain ,cooke1 who feared the heat of the lower country1 going eastwards through the curious little mountain republic of ,andorre to ,luchon2 while ,lyell1 who seems to have been proof against the sun1 recrossed the watershed into the valley of the ,tet and descended it to ,perpignan4 ,information obtained in this town encouraged him to go direct to ,barcelona1 where the ,captain-,general1 the ,conde ,d',espagne1 a distinguished soldier and diplomatist1 gave him a courteous reception1 and did everything in his power to smooth the way for a visit to ,olot1 a region of extinct volcanoes1 which had been one of the chief ends of ,lyell's journey4 ,the expedition was successful2 he did not fall among thieves1 and was only annoyed by the tedious formalities and petty impertinences of the local functionaries of northern ,spain2 and he returned to ,france by a pass on the eastern side of the ,canigou4 ,he was not a little astonished1 as might be expected from the remarks already quoted1 when he found on arriving in that country that the reign of the ,bourbons and the priests was over1 the tricolor flag was hoisted on all the churches1 and the royalist officials had been replaced by the nominees of the ,national ,government4 ,the visit to ,olot amply repaid him for the toil and trouble of the journey4 ,an account of the district was inserted in the concluding volume of the ,principles1 which was afterwards incorporated into the ,elements of ,geology4 ,the following summary is quoted from a letter to ,scrope1 who had suggested the visit1 which was written from ,luchon1 where he arrived a few days after his return into ,france#ch3-- ,like those of the ,vivarais the volcanoes of ,catalonia are all1 both cones and craters1 subsequent to the existence of the actual hills and dales1 or1 in other words1 no alteration of previously existing levels accompanied or has followed the introduction of the volcanic matter1 except such as the matter erupted necessarily occasioned4 ,the cones1 at least fourteen of them mostly with craters1 stand like ,monpezat1 and as perfect2 the currents flow down where the rivers would be if not displaced4 ,but here1 as in the ,vivarais1 deep sections have been cut through the lava by streams much smaller in general1 and at certain points the lava is fairly cut through1 and even in two or three cases the subjacent rock4 ,thus at ,castel ,follet1 a great current near its termination is cut through1 and eighty or ninety feet of columnar basalt laid open1 resting on an old alluvium1 not containing volcanic pebbles2 and below that1 nummulitic limestone is eroded to the depth of twenty-five feet1 the river now being about thirty-five feet lower than when the lava flowed1 though most of the old valley is still occupied by the lava current4 ,there are about fourteen or perhaps twenty points of eruption without craters4 ,in all cases they burst through secondary limestone and sandstone1 no altered rocks thrown up1 as far as ,i could learn1 not a dike exposed4 ,a linear direction in the cones and points of eruption from north to south4 ,until some remains of quadrupeds are found1 or other organic medals found1 no guess can be made as to their geological date1 unless anyone will undertake to say when the valleys of that district were excavated4 ,as to historical dates1 that is all a fudge 444 ,i can assure you that there never was an eruption within memory of man4 ,at ,luchon ,lyell rejoined ,captain ,cooke1 and they visited one or two interesting spots in the more western part of the ,pyrenees1 such as the ,cirque de ,gavarnie and the ,breche de ,roland4 ,the former would afford object-lessons on the erosive action of cascades2 the latter would set him speculating on the causes which could have fashioned that strange portal in the limestone crest of the mountain4 ,they descended some distance on the ,spanish side of the ,breche1 in order to make a more complete investigation of the structure of the chain1 sleeping at a shepherd's hut and returning across the snowfields next day4 ,it is evident that whenever there was a hope of securing any geological information or of seeing some remarkable aspect of nature1 ,lyell was almost insensible either to heat or to fatigue4 ,towards the middle of ,september he had reached ,bayonne1 from which place another very interesting letter is despatched to ,scrope4#ci ,in this he gives suggestions for making a number of experiments in order to produce by artificial means such rock-structures as lamination1 ripple-mark1 and current-bedding1 and describes briefly a series of observations bearing on these questions1 which had been carried out both during his late journey and on other occasions4 ,i have1 he says1 for a long time been making minute drawings of the lamination and stratification of beds1 in formations of very different ages1 first with a view to prove to demonstration that at every epoch the same identical causes were in operation4 ,i was next led in ,scotland to a suspicion1 since confirmed1 that all the minute regularities and irregularities of stratification and lamination were preserved in primary clay-slate1 mica-slate1 gneiss1 etc41 showing that they had been subjected to the same general and even accidental circumstances attending the sedimentary accumulation of secondary and fossil-bearing formations4#dj ,lastly1 ,i came to find out that all these various characters were identical with those presented by the bars1 deltas1 etc41 of existing rivers1 estuaries1 etc4 ,early in ,october ,lyell is back again in ,paris1 to find ,louis ,philippe seated on the throne in the place of ,charles ,x41 and a war party praying night and day for the entry of the ,prussians into ,belgium in the hope of the ,french being drawn into the affair4 ,a finer opportunity1 they say1 could not have happened for resuming our natural limits on the ,rhine4 ,in the midst of political changes and warlike aspirations geology1 he observes1 is not making much progress in ,paris4 ,some of the naturalists have got their heads too full of politics2 others are forced to work as literary hacks in order to live4 ,books on natural history and medicine have no sale2 there is a demand only for political pamphlets4 ,so ,lyell enters into an engagement with ,deshayes1 who1 like so many others1 has to live by his pen lest he should starve by science1 for a private course of fossil conchology1 and for two months' work after ,lyell has returned to ,england1 to be spent in tabulating the species of ,tertiary shells in his own 7,deshayes'7 and the other great collections of ,paris4 ,i shall thus1 ,lyell says1 be giving the subject a decided push by rendering the greater wealth of the ,french collectors available in illustrating the greater experience of the ,english geologists in actual observation2 for here they sit still and buy shells1 and work indoors1 as much as we travel4 ,he also remarks to the same correspondent 7a sister73 ,i am nearly sure now that my grand theory of temperature will carry the day4444 ,i will treat our geologists with a theory for the newer deposits in next volume1 which1 although not half so original1 will perhaps surprise them more4#da ,he was expecting1 as another letter shows1 to prove the gradual approximation of the fauna preserved in the ,tertiary deposits to that which still exists1 and to settle1 as he hopes for ever1 the question whether species come in all at a batch or are always going out and coming in4 ,already he is in a position to affirm that the ,tertiary formations of ,sicily in all probability are more recent than the crags of ,england1 for1 among the sixty-three species which he had collected from the beds underlying ,etna1 only three were not known to be still inhabitants of the ,mediterranean2 and besides this1 between these crags and the ,london clay a series of formations can be intercalated4 ,in the same letter 7to ,scrope7#db he states that ,deshayes has found1 at ,st4 ,mihiel on the ,meuse1 three old needles of limestone1 like those in the ,isle of ,wight1 round which run three distinct lines of perforations1 like those on the columns of the ,temple of ,serapis2 these hollows being sometimes empty1 but thousands of them filled with saxicavas4 ,this1 of course1 was a proof that there had been1 in comparatively recent times1 important changes in the level of the land and sea4 ,early in ,november ,lyell is back in ,london1 at his chambers in ,crown ,office ,row1 ,temple1 to find that ,scrope's review of the first volume of the ,principles has been much admired1 that the book is selling steadily1 and is likely to prove as good as an annuity2 that it has not been seriously attacked by the ,diluvialists1 while it has been highly praised by the bulk of geologists4 ,he is about to move1 he writes1 into chambers in ,raymond ,buildings1 ,gray's ,inn1 which are very light1 healthy and good1 on the same staircase as ,broderip4 ,invitations to dinner are becoming frequent1 but he wisely determines to go but little into society4 ,all my friends1 he says1 who are in practice do this all the year and every year1 and ,i do not see why ,i should not be privileged1 now that ,i have the moral certainty of earning a small but honourable independence if ,i labour as hard for the next ten years as during the last three4 ,i was never in better health1 rarely so good1 and after so long a fallow ,i feel that a good crop will be yielded and that ,i am in good train for composition4#dc ,the second volume1 he hopes1 will be out in six months2 this will include the history of the globe to the beginning of the ,tertiary era1 when the first of existing species appeared4 ,the next year1 #ahca1 was an epoch marked by more than one change4 ,to take the smallest first1 he was made a deputy-lieutenant of the county of ,forfar2 next1 in ,march1 he was elected ,professor of ,geology at ,king's ,college1 ,london1 which had been recently founded by members of the ,church of ,england as an educational counterpoise to the ,university of ,london 7,university ,college74 ,to ,lyell himself the appointment was comparatively unimportant1 but it indicated that wider views on scientific questions and a more tolerant spirit were gaining ground among the higher ranks of the clergy in the ,established ,church4 ,the appointment was in the hands1 exclusively1 of the ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 the ,bishops of ,london and of ,llandaff1 and two strictly orthodox doctors4 ,llandaff1 ,lyell was informed1 hesitated1 but ,conybeare1#dd though opposed to ,lyell's theories1 vouched for his orthodoxy4 ,so the prelates declared that they considered some of my doctrines startling enough1 but could not find that they were come by otherwise than in a straight-forward manner1 and 7as ,i appeared to think7 logically deducible from the facts2 so that whether the facts were true or not1 or my conclusions logical or otherwise1 there was no reason to infer that ,i had made my theory from any hostile feeling towards revelation#de--;a conclusion1 marked by a wise caution1 which representatives of the ,church of ,england would have done well to bear in mind on more than one subsequent occasion--such as1 for example1 when the question of the antiquity of man or that of the origin of species was raised4 ,but supporters of the ,church of ,england may fairly maintain that in difficult crises1 especially in those connected with discoveries in science or in history1 the utterances of her bishops have been generally cautious and far-seeing2 displays of confident ignorance and rash denunciations are more common among the inferior clergy4 ,as a comment on the moderation indicated by his election1 ,lyell says that a friend in the ,united ,states affirms that there he could hardly dare to approve of the doctrines even in a review1 such a storm would the orthodox raise against him4 ,so much for toleration of ,church ,establishment and ,no ,church ,establishment countries4 ,a third event of the year--which also happened in the earlier part of it--was destined to exercise a much more lasting influence upon his life4 ,this was his engagement to ,miss ,mary ,horner1 eldest daughter of ,mr4 ,leonard ,horner1 the younger and hardly less distinguished brother of ,francis ,horner1 who1 while almost as enthusiastic a geologist as his future son-in-law1 took an active interest in educational questions1 and afterwards did public service as ,inspector of ,factories4 ,by the middle of ,june ,lyell had advanced as far as page #aaj in printing the second volume of the ,principles of ,geology1 notwithstanding interruptions1 such as a visit to ,cambridge1 where he took an ad eundem degree1#df and the presence of his father and brother1 as well as of his friend ,conybeare1 in ,london1 all of whom required to be lionised4 ,the letter#dg 7to ,mantell7 which refers to these impediments1 passes abruptly from ,fitton's broken arm to the giant femur of a new reptile1 and incidentally mentions the discovery of a section which has since become a centre of geological controversy4 ,murchison and his wife1 he writes1 are gone to make a tour in ,wales1 where a certain ,trimmer has found near ,snowdon 'crag' shells at a height of #a1jjj feet1 which ,buckland and he convey thither by the deluge4 ,the shells are at an altitude above sea-level considerably higher than ,lyell supposed4 ,moel ,tryfaen is a massive1 rather outlying hill1 about five miles west of the peak of ,snowdon1 and at about the same distance from the nearest part of the sea-coast4 ,its bare summit rises gently to a scattered group of projecting crags1 the highest of which is #a1dja feet above the sea4 ,on the eastern side are extensive slate quarries1 and in working these the shell beds are disclosed a short distance below the summit4 ,they consist of well-stratified sands1 with occasional gravelly beds1 and contain a fair number of shells1 both broken and whole1 the fauna being slightly more arctic than that which still inhabits the neighbouring sea4 ,the deposit is now recognised as more recent than the crags of ,east ,anglia1 for none of the species are extinct1 and is assigned to some part of the so-called ,glacial ,epoch4 ,it was before long regarded as an indication that1 at no very remote date after ,north ,wales had assumed or very nearly assumed its present outlines1 the whole district was depressed for at least #a1chj feet1 so that the sea broke over the summit crags of ,moel ,tryfaen4 ,for many years this interpretation passed unquestioned2 but a modern school of geologists has found it to be such an inconvenient obstacle to certain hypotheses about the former extent of land-ice1 that they maintain these shells were collected from the bed of the ,irish ,sea 7then supposed to be above water7 by an ice-sheet as it was on its way from the north to invade the ,principality1 and were conveyed by it1 with all care1 up the slopes of ,moel ,tryfaen1 till they were finally deposited on its summit1 in beds which somehow or other were stratified4 ,one may venture to doubt whether the hypothesis of a rampant and conchologically-disposed ice-sheet would have found much more favour with the cautiously inductive mind of ,lyell than that of a deluge4 ,shortly after this letter1 ,lyell1 though all the manuscript of his second volume had not yet been sent to the printers1 and proof-sheets followed him1 refreshed himself with a tour of four or five weeks in the volcanic district of the ,eifel4 ,here the cones1 all comparatively low1 are scattered sporadically over a rolling upland which occupies the angle between the ,rhine and the ,moselle4 ,the valleys for the most part are carved out of slaty rocks much of the same age as those of ,devonshire2 and the craters1 strange holes1 each eruption having been almost invariably at some new point1 are now very commonly occupied by quiet pools of water1 such as ,lyell had already seen in the old volcanic districts of the ,papal ,states4 ,among these craters1 composed sometimes of loose and light scoria1 from which no lava-stream ever flowed1 he found fresh evidence--as at the ,rotherberg--against the diluvian hypothesis4 ,it is1 as he writes to his friend1 ,dr4 ,fleming1 one of the ten thousand proofs of the incubus that the ,mosaic deluge has been1 and is1 ,i fear1 long destined to be1 on our science4 ,now1 ,i am fully determined to open my strongest fire against the new diluvial theory of swamping our continents by waves raised by paroxysmal earthquakes4 ,i can prove by reference to cones 7hundreds of uninjured cones7 of loose volcanic scoriae and ashes1 of various and some of great antiquity 7as proved by associated organic remains71 that no such general waves have swept over ,europe during the ,tertiary era--cones at almost every height1 from near the sea1 to thousands of feet above it4#dh ,but early in ,august he was back in ,london1 hard at work in writing and correcting proofs4 ,this business detained him longer than he anticipated1 but his labours were cheered by the news of the eruption of ,graham's ,island4 ,here was another case in support of the thesis which he was ready to maintain against all comers4 ,but a few months since there had been a depth of eighty fathoms1 as was proved by sounding1 on the site of this island4 ,now the cone is #bjj feet above water and is still growing4#di ,here is a hill #fhj feet1 with hope of more1 and the probability of much having been done before the ',britannia' sounded4 ,surely ,nature herself was testifying her approbation of the advocates of modern causes6 ,was the cross which ,constantine saw in the heavens a more clear indication of the approaching conversion of a wavering world8 ,but in the beginning of ,september ,lyell broke away from the emissaries of the press and took passage by sea to ,edinburgh1 there to combine business with a fair amount of both scientific work and social pleasure4 ,this visit afforded him an opportunity of hearing ,chalmers preach4 ,in a letter to ,miss ,horner he gives a brief abstract1 and expresses his general opinion of the sermon#ej3-- ,it was a very long discourse1 but admirable4 ,the subject was 'repentance1' a hackneyed one enough4444 ,he explained the effect of habit1 and its increasing power over the mind1 as a law of our nature1 with as much clearness and as philosophically as he could have done had he been explaining the doctrine to a class of university students in a lecture on the philosophy of the human mind4 ,but then the practical application was enforced by a strain of real eloquence1 of a very energetic1 natural1 and striking description4444 ,but1 unfortunately1 every here and there he seemed to feel that he was sinning against some of the ,calvinistic doctrines of his school1 and all at once there was some dexterous pleading about 'original sin1' which interfered a little with the free current of the discourse4444 ,upon the whole1 however1 judging from this single specimen1 ,i think ,i would sooner hear him again than any preacher ,i ever heard1 ,reginald ,heber not excepted4 ,at this time ,lyell was keeping a journal1 which was forwarded to ,miss ,horner1 then in ,germany1 to serve apparently as a substitute for ordinary letters2 home news1 disturbances arising from the struggle over the ,reform ,bill1 visits of friends1 geological researches1 walks on the hills to search for plants or for insects1 the habits of the ,kinnordy bees1 or the accomplishments of two parrots1 brought from ,africa by his naval brother--all being jotted down just as they occurred4 ,among this farrago--though not of nonsense--geological topics1 since ,miss ,horner had similar tastes1 occupy a considerable space4 ,she1 however1 evidently was1 comparatively speaking1 a beginner1 and in one or two characteristic sentences her lover and preceptor passes from information to counsel3 ,if you are not frightened by ,de la ,beche1 ,i think you are in a fair way to be a geologist2 though it is in the field only that a person can really get to like the stiff part of it4 ,not that there is really anything in it that is not very easy1 when put into plainer language than scientific writers choose often unnecessarily to employ4 ,he also records#ea a piece of advice from his old friend1 ,dr4 ,fleming1 which is enough to make a modern professor of geology sigh for the good old times4 ,he said to ,lyell3 ,if you lecture once a year for a short course1 ,i am sure you will derive advantage from it4 ,a short practice of lecturing is a rehearsal of what you may afterwards publish1 and teaches you by the contact with pupils how to instruct1 and in what you are obscure4 ,a little of this will improve your power1 perhaps as an author4 ,then1 as you are pursuing a path of original and purely independent discovery and observation1 it increases much your public usefulness in a science so unavoidably controversial to have thrown over you the moral protection of being in a public and responsible situation1 connected with a body like ,king's ,college4 ,but then you must stipulate that you are to be free to travel1 and must only be bound to give one short course annually4 ,truly those must have been halcyon days for professors6 ,the journal also proves1 by its brief account of a ,scotch festival1 which accords with little hints dropped elsewhere in it or in letters1 that our forefathers1 not wholly excluding men of science1 some sixty years ago habitually consumed much more strong drink than would be considered correct at the present day3-- ,it was just an ,angus set-to of the old regime4 ,they arrived at half-past six o'clock and waited dinner one hour4 ,gentlemen rejoined the ladies at half-past twelve o'clock6 ,they1 in the meantime1 had had tea1 and a regular supper laid out in the drawing-room4 ,after an hour with the ladies they returned to the dining-room to supper at half-past one o'clock1 and my father left them at half-past two o'clock6 ,the ladies did not go to this supper4 ,the journal1 in short1 like the well-known ,scotch dish1 affords a great deal of confused feeding of a pleasant sort1 but no samples of love-making4 ,the nearest approach to it is in the following passage1 which is worth quoting1 not for that reason1 but as incidentally disclosing the strength of the author's character3-- ,i shall write a few words before ,i get into the steamboat just to tranquillise my mind a little1 after reading several controversial articles by ,elie de ,beaumont and others against my system4 ,if ,i find myself growing too warm or annoyed at such hostile demonstrations ,i shall always retreat to you4 ,you will be my harbour of peace to retire to1 and where ,i may forget the storm4 ,i know that by persevering steadily ,i shall some years hence stand very differently from where ,i now am in science2 and my only danger is the being impatient1 and tempted to waste my time on petty controversies and quarrels about the priority of the discovery of this or that fact or theory4#eb ,friends in plenty were awaiting him in ,london1 which was reached about the first of ,november3 the ,murchisons and ,somervilles1 ,broderip1 ,curtis1 ,basil ,hall1 and ,hooker1 with ,necker from ,switzerland1 and many more4 ,he is also cheered by finding that his ideas are steadily gaining ground among geologists1 converts becoming more confident1 unbelievers more uneasy4 ,he made good progress with his book1 and realised1 before the end of the year1 that his materials could not be compressed into a single volume2 so he determined to issue the part already completed as a second volume1 and to finish the work in a third4 ,from time to time the diary contains references to a recent contest for the ,presidency of the ,royal ,society1 and to political matters such as the ,reform ,bill2 but1 though in favour of the latter1 he is not very enthusiastic on the subject1 for on one occasion he expresses regret at having been absent1 through forgetfulness1 from a meeting of the ,geographical ,society1 where he would have got some sound information instead of hearing politicians discuss the interminable bill4 ,the lectures at ,king's ,college evidently weighed upon his mind as they drew near1 and he was not stirred to enthusiasm by the prospect of teaching2 for towards the close of the year he more than once debated with his friends the question whether or no he should retain the appointment4 ,murchison was in favour of resignation2 ,conybeare took the opposite view4 ,of his advice ,lyell remarks1 ,the fact is1 ,conybeare's notion of these things is what the ,english public have not yet come up to1 which1 if they had1 the geological professorship in ,london would be a worthy aim for any man's ambition1 whereas it is now one that the multitude would rather wonder at one's accepting4#ec ,the ,british public apparently still lags a long way behind the ,conybearian ideal1 and retains its contempt for all those who1 by presuming to teach1 insinuate doubts as to its innate omniscience4 ,lyell1 however1 clearly perceived that it was absolutely necessary that every teacher of professorial rank should be himself a pioneer in his subject--a fact of which government officials1 as a rule1 seem to be totally ignorant4 ,his comments1 a little later in the year1 on the arrangements at the ,university of ,bonn are worth recording4 ,the ,professors have to lecture for nine months in the year--too much1 ,i should think1 for allowing time for due advancement of the teacher4 ,lyell's desires in regard to remuneration seem reasonable enough4 ,he is anxious to earn by his scientific work enough to provide for the extra expenses which this work entails1 and yet to command sufficient time to advance his knowledge and reputation4 ,the fates proved more propitious to him than they are generally to men of science1 for he succeeded in accomplishing both of his desires4 ,little of importance happened during the early part of #ahcb4 ,there was plenty of hard work in collecting facts1 in consulting friends about special difficulties1 and in working at the manuscript for the third volume of the ,principles1 for the second made its appearance almost with the new year4 ,toil was sweetened by occasional pleasures1 such as an evening with the ,somervilles1 or a dinner party at the ,murchisons1 a talk with ,babbage or ,fitton1 or a symposium at the ,geological ,club1 at which it is sometimes evident that good care was taken lest science should become too dry4 ,one passage in his diary indicates that sixty years have considerably changed the habits of life in town and in the country1 for at the present day most people would express themselves in the opposite sense4 ,i have enjoyed parties and two plays this month very much1 because it was recreation stolen from work2 but the difficulty in the country is that1 on the contrary1 one's hours of work are stolen from dissipation4 ,the lectures at ,king's ,college were begun in ,may4 ,lyell evidently was not a nervous man1 but he regarded the near approach of this new kind of work with some trepidation1 and admits that he slept ill before the first lecture4 ,it was1 however1 a decided success in every respect1 and the audience was a large one1 for the ,council1 after some hesitation1 had permitted the attendance of ladies4 ,each lecture was pronounced by the hearers to be better than the last1 and ,lyell uses the opportunity1 as he says1 to fire occasional shots at ,buckland1 ,sedgwick1 and others who are still hankering after catastrophic convulsions and all-but universal deluges4 ,as a further encouragement1 his publisher1 ,murray1 agrees willingly to a reprint of the first volume of the ,principles1 and only hesitates between an edition of #gej or of #a1jjj copies4 ,about this time1 also1 he was asked to undertake the presidency of the ,geological ,society1 but that1 notwithstanding ,murchison's urgency1 he firmly declined for the present2 writing of it to ,miss ,horner1 ,it is just one of those temptations the resisting of which decides whether a man shall really rise high or not in science4 ,for two more years ,i am free from les affaires administratives1 which1 said old ,brochart in his late letter to me1 have prevented me from studying geology d'une maniere suivie1 whereby you have already carried it so far4 ,he was1 however1 soon to be engrossed in an affair of another kind2 one which has proved very detrimental to the progress of many men of science1 but which1 in ,lyell's case1 had the happiest results1 and smoothed rather than it impeded his path to fame2 for in the summer--on ,july #abth--he ceased to be a bachelor4 ,the marriage was celebrated at ,bonn1 where ,miss ,horner's family were still resident4 ,a ,lutheran clergyman seems to have officiated1 and the ceremony was a very quiet one2 the distance from home preventing the attendance of ,english friends or even of relations of the bridegroom4 ,the newly-married couple departed from ,bonn up the ,rhine1 and travelled by successive stages to ,heidelberg1 but they were not forgetful of geology1 even in the first week of the honeymoon1 for they visited as they journeyed more than one interesting section on the western edge of the ,odenwald4 ,then they made excursions to ,carlsruhe and ,baden-,baden1 and ultimately travelled from ,freiburg to ,schaffhausen through the romantic defiles of the ,hoellenthal1 and across the corner of the ,black ,forest4 ,a journal was now needless1 and probably the newly-married couple were too much engrossed with their own happiness to write many letters1 for few details have been preserved about their ,swiss tour4 ,it was1 however1 comparatively a short one1 for they remained less than a fortnight in the country4 ,still ,lyell probably found it useful in refreshing recollections and testing his early impressions by greatly increased knowledge and experience4 ,from the valley of the ,rhone they crossed the ,simplon ,pass into ,italy and followed the usual road to ,milan along the shore of the ,lago ,maggiore4 ,how long they remained in ,italy1 or by what route they returned to ,england1 is not stated2 indeed1 for nearly six months next to nothing is on record concerning ,lyell's movements or work1 but in the beginning of #ahcc he and his wife were settled in ,london at ,no4 #af1 ,hart ,street1 ,bloomsbury1 which became their residence for some years4 ,a state of happiness is not always indicated by much correspondence3 probably it was so with ,lyell2 at any rate1 a single letter1 dated ,january #eth1 gives the only information of his doings between ,september1 #ahcb1 and ,april1 #ahcc4 ,in this letter1 however1 he mentions that the ,council of ,king's ,college had decided that in future ladies should not be admitted to ,lyell's lectures1 and that1 in consequence1 he had received a pressing invitation from the managers of the ,royal ,institution to give1 after ,easter1 a course of six or eight lectures in their theatre1 coupled with the offer of a substantial remuneration4 ,at the end of ,april1 as he tells his old friend ,mantell1 both these courses had been begun4 ,the one at the ,royal ,institution was attended by an audience of about #bej1 that at ,king's ,college1 after the opening lecture1 dropped down to a class of fifteen4 ,the falling-off was entirely due to the above-named resolution4 ,for this the ,council had assigned a reason1 which1 perhaps1 was not a prudent course1 for bodies of that kind1 when they give reasons1 often succeed only in giving themselves away4 ,the presence of ladies was forbidden1 because it diverted the attention of the young students1 of whom1 ,lyell remarks sarcastically1 ,i had two in number from the college last year and two this4 ,had the ,council stated boldly that the ,college did not appoint professors to lecture urbi et orbi1 their policy1 though it would have appeared a little selfish and might have proved shortsighted1 would have been defensible1 because the institution was founded for the education of a particular class4 ,but the reason assigned was open to ,lyell's retort1 and gave the impression of unreality4 ,it is not impossible that the decision was the result of secret wire-pulling1 and represented not so much a fear of the disturbing influence of the fair sex as a dread of the popularity of the subject4 ,geology was still regarded with grave distrust by a very large number of people1 and ,king's ,college1 it must be remembered1 was founded in the supposed interests of the ,church of ,england and in the hope of neutralising the effects of the unsectarian institution in ,gower ,street4 ,many of its supporters may have been characterised rather by the ardour of their dislikes than by the width of their sympathies1 and may have put pressure on the ,council1 so that this body may have considered it safer to risk driving a popular man from their staff than to alienate an important section of their adherents and to expose the ,college to the danger of being charged with lending itself to heretical teaching4#ed ,the preparation of these lectures must have been attended with some difficulty1 for ,lyell writes that1 like all the world1 he and his household--everyone except his wife--had been down with the influenza1 which in that year was even more rampant in ,london than it has been in any of its recent visits4 ,but1 notwithstanding this and any other interruptions1 the third and final volume of the ,principles of ,geology made its appearance in the month of ,may1 #ahcc4 ,,footnotes3 #bi ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #bee4 #cj ,ut supra1 p4 #bef4 #ca ,further work has not verified some of these statements4 ,there can be no question that a great deal of rock in the ,alps is much older than even the ,trias4 ,the apparent superposition of crystalline schists to rocks with fossils is due to over-folding or over-thrust faulting--i4e4 the schists are the older rocks4 ,though the ,secondary rocks of the ,alps have undergone1 in places1 some modification and mineral changes1 these are very different from the metamorphism of those crystalline schists which have a stratified origin4 #cb ,now ,university ,college1 ,london1 having been incorporated by ,royal ,charter under that title in ,november1 #ahcf4 #cc ,ut supra1 p4 #beh4 #cd ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 pp4 #bfi-bga4 #ce ,when he left the publisher had not decided whether it should be issued at once or kept back till ,october4 #cf ,d',aubuisson1 as time has shown1 foresaw a real danger4 ,the neglect of1 if not contempt for1 mineralogy1 which became conspicuous between the years #ahdj and #ahgj1 or thereabouts1 seriously impeded the progress of geology1 at any rate in ,england4 #cg ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #bgf4 #ch ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #bhc4 #ci ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #bif4 #dj ,subsequent experience has shown that1 while the above observations are beyond all question in the case of ordinary sedimentary rocks1 structures curiously resembling lamination and ripple-mark may be produced in certain gneisses and crystalline schists by other causes4 ,still1 in many schists1 they have originated in the way suggested by ,lyell1 and indicate that the rock formerly was deposited by water4 #da ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #cjc4 #db ,ut supra1 p4 #cje4 #dc ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #cac4 #dd ,the ,rev4 ,w4 ,d4 ,conybeare1 afterwards ,dean of ,llandaff1 an eminent geologist1 rather senior to ,lyell4 #de ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #caf4 #df ,it was formerly conceded by the ,universities of ,oxford1 ,cambridge1 and ,dublin that a ,master of ,arts in any one could assume1 under certain conditions1 the same position in the others4 ,this carried with it some privileges1 though not the suffrage and the full rights of the degree4 ,lyell had proceeded to the degree of ,m4,a4 at ,oxford in #ahba4 #dg ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #cah4 #dh ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #cbh4 #di ,ut supra1 p4 #cbi4 ,by the end of ,october it had not only ceased to grow1 but also had been nearly washed away by the sea4 ,now its position is marked by a shoal4 #ej ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #cca4 #ea ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #cdb4 #eb ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #cdg4 #ec ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #ceh4 #ed ,lyell resigned the ,professorship after he had finished the course4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,history ,,and ,,place ,,in ,,science ,,of ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,geology4 ,the publication of the last volume of the ,principles of ,geology formed an important epoch in ,lyell's life4 ,it brought to a successful close a work on which his energies had been definitely concentrated for nearly five years1 and for which he had been preparing himself during a considerably longer time4 ,it placed him1 before his fourth decade was completed1 at once and beyond all question in the front rank of ,british geologists2 it carried his reputation to every country where that science was cultivated4 ,it proved the writer to be not only a careful observer and a reasoner of exceptional inductive power1 but also a man of general culture and a master of his mother tongue4 ,the book1 moreover1 marked an epoch in geology not less important2 it produced an influence on the science greater and more permanent than any work which had been previously written1 or has since appeared--greater even than the famous ,origin of ,species by ,natural ,selection1 for that dealt only with one portion of geology--viz4 with palaeontology1 while the method of the ,principles affected the science in every part4 ,for a brief interval1 then1 we may desert the biography of the author for that of the book--the parent for his offspring--and call attention to one or two topics which are more immediately connected with the book itself4 ,a brief sketch of its future history may be placed first2 for1 as its author was constantly labouring to improve and perfect his work1 it underwent many changes in form and arrangement during the remainder--some two-and-forty years--of his life1 which will be better understood from a connected statement than if they have to be gathered from scattered references in the other chapters of his biography4 ,the first volume of the ,principles of ,geology appeared1 as has been mentioned1 in ,january1 #ahcj2 the second in ,january1 #ahcb2 and the third in ,may1 #ahcc4 ,but a second edition of the first volume was issued in ,january1 #ahcb1 and one of the second volume in the same month of #ahcc2 these were all in #hvo size4 ,a new edition of the whole work was published in ,may1 #ahcd4 ,this1 however1 took the form of four volumes #abmo4 ,this edition was called the third1 because the first two volumes of the original work had gone through second editions4 ,a fourth edition followed in ,june1 #ahce1 and a fifth in ,march1 #ahcg4 ,thus far the ,principles continued without any substantial alteration1 but the author made an important change in preparing the next edition4 ,he detached from it the latter part--practically1 the matter comprised in the third volume of the original work4 ,this he rewrote and published separately as a single volume in ,july1 #ahch1 under the title of ,elements of ,geology2 a sixth edition of the ,principles1 thus curtailed1 appeared in three volumes #abmo1 in ,june1 #ahdj4 ,the effect of the change was to restrict the ,principles mainly to the physical side of geology--to the subjects connected with the morphological changes which the earth and its inhabitants alike undergo4 ,thus it made the contents of the book accord more strictly with its title1 while the ,elements indicated the working out of the aforesaid principles in the past history of the earth and its inhabitants--that is1 the latter book deals with the classification of rocks and fossils1 or with petrology and historical geology4 ,the subsequent history of the ,elements may be left for the present4 ,in ,february1 #ahdg1 the seventh edition of the ,principles appeared1 in which another change was made4 ,this1 however1 was in form rather than in substance1 for the book was now issued in a single thick #hvo volume4 ,the eighth edition1 published in ,may1 #ahej2 and the ninth1 in ,june1 #ahec1 followed the same pattern4 ,a longer interval elapsed before the appearance of the tenth edition1 and this was published in two volumes1 the first being issued in ,november1 #ahff1 and the second in #ahfh4 ,in this interval--more than thirteen years--the science had made rapid progress1 and the process of revision had been in consequence more than usually searching4 ,the author1 as he states in the preface1 had found it necessary entirely to rewrite some chapters1 and recast others1 and to modify or omit some passages given in former editions4 ,many new instances were given to illustrate the effect which forces still at work had produced upon the earth's crust1 and these strengthened the evidence which had been already advanced4 ,into the accounts of ,vesuvius and ,etna much important matter was introduced1 the result of visits which1 as we shall find1 ,lyell made in #aheg and #aheh2 the chapters relating to the vicissitudes of climate in past geological ages were entirely rewritten1 together with that discussing the connection between climate and the geography of the earth's surface2 and a chapter1 practically new1 was inserted1 which considered how far former vicissitudes in climate may have been influenced by astronomical changes2 such as variations in the eccentricity of the earth's orbit1 changes in the obliquity of the ecliptic1 and different phases of the precession of the equinoxes4 ,but the most important change was made in the later part of the book--the last fifteen chapters4#ee ,these either were entirely new1 or presented the original material in a new aspect4 ,in the earlier editions of his work1 ,lyell had expressed himself dissatisfied1 as we have already seen1 with the idea of the derivation of species from antecedent forms by some process of modification1 and had pointed out the weak places in the arguments which were advanced in its favour4 ,but the evidence adduced by ,darwin and ,wallace in regard to the origin of species by natural selection1 strengthened by the support of ,hooker on the botanical side1 had removed the difficulties which the cruder statements of ,lamarck and other predecessors had suggested to his mind1 so that ,lyell now appears as a convinced evolutionist4 ,the question also of the antiquity of man is much more fully discussed than it had been in the earlier editions4 ,considerable changes were introduced into the eleventh edition1 which appeared in ,january1 #ahgb1 but these were chiefly additions which were made possible by the rapidly increasing store of knowledge1 as1 for instance1 much important information concerning the deeper parts of the ocean4 ,on this interesting subject great light had been thrown by the cruises of the several exploring vessels1 notably those of the ,lightning1 the ,bulldog1 and the ,porcupine1 commissioned by the ,british ,government--cruises in the course of which soundings had been taken and temperatures observed in the ,north ,atlantic down to depths of about #b1ejj fathoms2 and in the lowest parts of the western basin of the ,mediterranean4 ,samples also of the bottom had been obtained1 and1 in many cases1 even dredgers had been successfully employed at these depths4 ,thanks to the skill of the mechanician1 the way had been opened which led into a new fairyland of science4 ,this was not1 like some fabled ,paradise1 guarded by mountain fastnesses and precipitous ramparts of eternal snow2 it was not encircled by storm-swept deserts1 or secluded in the furthest recesses of forests1 hitherto impenetrable2 but it lay deep in the silent abysses of ocean--on those vast plains1 which are unruffled by the most furious gale1 or by the wildest waves4 ,in these depths1 beneath the tremendous pressure of so vast a thickness of water1 and far below the limits at which the existence of life had been supposed to be possible1 numbers of creatures had been discovered--many of them strange and novel3 molluscs1 sea-lilies1 glassy sponges of unusual beauty--creatures often of ancient aspect1 relics of a fauna elsewhere extinct2 and the ocean floor1 on and above which they moved1 was strewn with the white dust of countless coverings of tiny foraminifera1 which1 even if none were actually living1 had fallen like a gentle but incessant rain from the overhanging mass of water4 ,similar changes were introduced into the twelfth edition of the ,principles1 upon which the author was engaged even up to the last few weeks of his life4 ,the ,challenger1 it will be remembered1 started on her memorable voyage of exploration at the close of the year in which the eleventh edition had appeared2 and though she did not actually return till after ,lyell's death1 notes of some of her most interesting discoveries had been communicated from time to time to the scientific journals of this country4 ,the edition1 however1 was left incomplete4 ,the first volume had been passed for the press1 but the second was still unfinished2 so that this twelfth edition was posthumous1 the work of revision having been finished by the author's nephew and heir1 ,mr4 ,leonard ,lyell4 ,by such conscientious and unremitting labour1 the scientific value of the ,principles was immensely increased2 it kept always in step with the advance of the science1 but at the same time it lost1 as was inevitable1 a little of that literary charm and that sense of freshness which was at first so marked a characteristic4 ,books1 like children1 are apt to lose some of their beauty as they increase in size and strength4 ,one must compare an early and a late edition1 such as the first or third and the tenth or eleventh1 in order to realise how great were the changes in this passage from childhood to adolescence4 ,new material was incorporated into every part2 it makes its appearance sometimes on every page2 changes are made in the order of the subjects2 many chapters are entirely rewritten2 nevertheless1 a considerable portion corresponds almost word for word in the two editions4 ,lyell was no hurried writer1 or scamper of work2 he paid great attention to composition1 so that when the facts which he desired to cite had undergone no change1 he very seldom found any to make in his language4 ,nevertheless1 here and there1 some small modification1 a slight verbal difference1 a trifling alteration in the order of a sentence1 the insertion of a short clause to secure greater perspicuity1 shows to how careful and close a revision the whole had been subjected4 ,in the substance of the work1 besides the excision of nearly one-third of the material and the complete reconstruction of the part relating to the antiquity of man and the origin of species1 already mentioned1 the following are the most important changes4 ,the chapters which discuss the evidence in favour of past mutations of climate and the causes to which these are due1 are rewritten and greatly enlarged4 ,in the earlier editions1 the effects of geographical changes were regarded as sufficient to account for all the climatal variations that geology requires2 in the later editions1 the possible co-operation of astronomical changes is admitted4 ,great additions also are made to the parts referring to the condition of the bed of the ocean1 and much new and important information is incorporated into the sections dealing with volcanoes and earthquakes2 including many valuable observations which had been made during visits to ,vesuvius and to ,etna in the autumns of #aheg and #aheh4 ,the section on the action of ice is so altered and enlarged as to be practically new2 for when the first edition of the ,principles was published comparatively little was known of the effects of land-ice1 and the art of following the trail of vanished glaciers had yet to be learnt4 ,but1 with this exception1 the part of the book dealing with the action of the forces of ,nature--heat and cold1 rain1 rivers1 and sea--remains comparatively unaltered1 as do the first five chapters1 which give a sketch of the early history of the science of geology4 ,without some knowledge of this history it is hardly possible to appreciate the true greatness of the ,principles1 and its unique value as an influence on scientific thought at the time it appeared4 ,this1 however1 to some extent may be inferred from those chapters which we have mentioned2 but the perspective of half a century enables us to understand it better at the present time2 for the author1 of course1 had to deal with contemporary work and opinion only in a very indirect way4 ,we may dismiss briefly the crude speculations of the earliest observers--those anterior to the ,christian era--of which the author gives a summary in the second chapter of the ,principles2 for at that early date few persons had made any effort to arrange the facts of ,nature in a connected system4 ,these were too scanty and too disconnected for any such effort to be successful4 ,the general result cannot be better summed up than in ,lyell's own words3-- ,although no particular investigations had been made for the express purpose of interpreting the monuments of ancient changes1 they were too obvious to be entirely disregarded2 and the observation of the present course of ,nature presented too many proofs of alterations continually in progress on the earth to allow philosophers to believe that ,nature was in a state of rest1 or that the surface had remained and would continue to remain1 unaltered4 ,but they had never compared attentively the results of the destroying and the reproductive operations of modern times with those of remote eras2 nor had they ever entertained so much as a conjecture concerning the comparative antiquity of the human race1 or of living species of animals and plants1 with those belonging to former conditions of the organic world4 ,they had studied the movements and positions of the heavenly bodies with laborious industry1 and made some progress in investigating the animal1 vegetable1 and mineral kingdoms2 but the ancient history of the globe was to them a sealed book1 and though written in characters of the most striking and imposing kind1 they were unconscious even of its existence4#ef ,the above remarks hold good for the centuries immediately succeeding the ,christian era2 and the influence of the new faith1 when it ceased to be persecuted and became a power in the state1 was adverse on the whole to progress in physical or natural science4 ,with the decline of the ,roman empire a great darkness fell upon the civilised world2 art1 science1 literature withered before the hot breath of war and rapine1 as the northern barbarians swept down upon their enfeebled master on their errand of destruction4 ,it was well nigh eight centuries from the ,christian era before the spirit of scientific enquiry and the love of literature began to awaken from their long torpor2 and it was then among people of an ,eastern race and an alien creed4 ,the caliphs of ,bagdad encouraged learning1 and the students of the ,east became familiar by means of translations with the thoughts and questionings of ancient ,greece and ,rome4 ,the efforts of their earliest investigators have not been preserved1 but in treatises of the tenth century--written by one ,avicenna1 a court physician1 the ,formation and ,classification of ,minerals is discussed1 as well as the ,cause of ,mountains4 ,in the latter attention is called to the effect of earthquakes1 and to the excavatory action of streams4 ,in the same century also1 ,omar the ,learned wrote a book on the retreat of the sea1 in which he proved by reference to ancient charts and by other less direct arguments that changes of importance had occurred in the form of the coast of ,asia4 ,but even among the followers of ,mohammed theology declared itself hostile to science2 the ,moslem doctors of divinity deemed the pages of the ,koran1 not the book of ,nature1 man's proper sphere of research1 and considered these difficulties ought to be settled by a quotation from the one rather than by facts from the other4 ,so progress in science was impeded1 and recantations at the bidding of ecclesiastics are not restricted to the annals of ,christian races4 ,but men seem to have gone on speculating1 and ,mohammed ,kazwini1 in a striking allegory which is quoted by ,lyell1 tells his readers how 7to use the words of ,tennyson7#eg3-- ,there rolls the deep where grew the tree4 ,o ,earth1 what changes thou hast seen6 ,there1 where the long street roars1 hath been ,the stillness of the central sea4 ,in ,europe geological phenomena do not appear to have attracted serious attention till the sixteenth century1 when the significance of fossils became the subject of an animated controversy in ,italy4 ,at that epoch this country held the front rank in learning and the arts1 and an inquiry of that nature arose almost as a matter of course1 because the marls1 sands1 and soft limestones of its lower districts teem in many places with shells and other marine organisms in a singular state of perfection and preservation4 ,it is interesting to remark1 that among the foremost in appealing to inductive processes for the explanation of these enigmas was that extraordinary and almost universal genius1 ,leonardo da ,vinci4 ,he ridiculed the current idea that these shells were formed by the influence of the stars1 calling attention to the mud by which they were filled1 and the gravel beds among which they were intercalated1 as proof that they had once lain upon the bed of the sea at no great distance from the coast4 ,his induction rested on the evidence of sections which had been exposed during his construction of certain navigable canals in the north of ,italy4 ,shortly afterward1 the conclusions of ,leonardo were amplified1 and strengthened on similar grounds by ,frascatoro4 ,he1 however1 not only demonstrated the absurdity of explaining these organic structures by the plastic force of ,nature--a favourite refuge for the intellectually destitute of that and even a later age1 but he also showed that they could not even be relics of the ,noachian deluge4 ,that inundation1 he observed1 was too transient2 it had consisted principally of fluviatile waters2 and if it had transported shells to great distances1 must have strewed them over the surface1 not buried them at vast depths in the interior of mountains4 ,as ,lyell truly remarks1 ,his clear exposition of the evidence would have terminated the discussion for ever1 if the passions of man had not been enlisted in the dispute2 and even though doubts should for a time have remained in some minds1 they would speedily have been removed by the fresh information obtained almost immediately afterwards1 respecting the structure of fossil remains1 and of their living analogues4 ,but the difficulties raised by theologians1 and the general preference for deductive over inductive reasoning1 greatly impeded progress4 ,it was not till the methods of the schoolmen yielded place to those of the natural philosophers that the tide of battle began to turn1 and science to possess the domains from which she had been unjustly excluded4 ,for about a century the weary war went on2 the philosophers of ,italy leading the van1 those of ,england1 it must be admitted1 for long lagging behind them1 before the spectre of plastic force was finally dismissed to the limbo of exploded hypotheses in ,england4 ,for instance1 it was seriously maintained by the well-known writer on county history1 ,dr4 ,plot1 in the last quarter of the seventeenth century1 though its absurdity had been demonstrated by his ,italian contemporaries2 as by ,scilla1 in his treatise on the fossils of ,calabria1 and by ,steno1 in that on ,gems1 crystals1 and organic petrifactions enclosed in solid rocks4 ,the latter had proved by dissecting a shark recently captured in the ,mediterranean1 that its teeth and bones corresponded exactly with similar objects from a fossil in ,tuscany1 and that the shells discovered in sundry ,italian strata were identical with living species1 except for the loss of their animal gluten and some slight mineral change4 ,moreover1 he had distinguished1 by means of their organic remains1 between deposits of a marine and of a fluviatile character4 ,but now1 as the plastic force dogma lost its hold on the minds of men1 its place was taken by that which regarded all fossils as the relics of an universal deluge4 ,the theologians who now entered the field in ,italy1 ,germany1 ,france1 and ,england1 were innumerable2 and henceforward1 they who refused to subscribe to the position that all marine organic remains were proofs of the ,mosaic deluge1 were exposed to the imputation of disbelieving the whole of the sacred writings4 ,scarce any step had been made in approximating to sound theories since the time of ,frascatoro1 more than a hundred years having been lost in writing down the dogma that organised fossils were mere sports of ,nature4 ,an additional period of a century and a half was now destined to be consumed in exploding the hypothesis that organised fossils had all been buried in the solid strata by ,noah's flood4#eh ,into the varying fortunes of this second struggle it is needless to enter at any length4 ,it was the old conflict between theology and science in a yet more acute form2 the old warfare between deductive and inductive reasoning2 between dogmatic ignorance and an honest search for truth4 ,protestants and ,romanists alike seemed to claim the gift of infallibility1 with the right to decide ex cathedra on questions of which they were profoundly ignorant1 and to pronounce sentence in causes where they could not even appreciate the evidence4 ,ecclesiastics scolded2 well-meaning though incompetent laymen echoed their cry2 the more timorous among scientific men wasted their time in devising elaborate but futile schemes of accommodation between the discoveries of geology and the supposed revelations of the ,scriptures2 the stronger laboured on patiently1 gathering evidence1 strengthening their arguments and dissecting the fallacies by which they were assailed1 until the popular prejudice should be allayed and men be calm enough to listen to the voice of truth4 ,it was a long and weary struggle1 which is now nearly1 though not quite1 ended2 for there are still a few who mistake for an impregnable rock that which is merely the shifting-sand of popular opinion1 and cannot realise that the province of revelation is in the spiritual rather than in the material1 in the moral rather than in the scientific order4 ,the outbursts of denunciation aroused by the assertion of the antiquity of man and the publication of the ,origin of ,species1 which many still in the full vigour of their powers can well remember1 were but a recrudescence of the same spirit1 a reappearance of an old foe with a new face4 ,but when ,lyell was young and the idea of the ,principles began to germinate in his mind1 popular prejudice against the free exercise of inquiry in geology was still strong2 this diluvial hypothesis still hampered1 if it did not fully satisfy1 the majority of scientific workers4 ,here and there1 it is true1 some isolated pioneer demonstrated the impossibility of referring the fossil contents of the earth's crust to a single deluge1 or protested against the singular mixture of actual observation1 patristic quotation1 and deductive reasoning which commonly passed current for geological science4 ,chief and earliest among these men1 ,vallisneri1 also an ,italian1 about a century before ,lyell's birth1 was clearsighted enough to see how much the interests of religion as well as those of sound philosophy had suffered by perpetually mixing up the sacred writings with questions in physical science2 indeed1 he was so far advanced as to attempt a general sketch of the marine deposits of ,italy1 with their organic remains1 and to arrive at the conclusion that the ocean formerly had extended over the whole earth and after remaining there for a long time had gradually subsided4 ,this conclusion1 though inadequate as an expression of the truth1 was much more philosophical than that of an universal and comparatively recent deluge4 ,moro and ,generelli1 in the same country1 followed the lead of ,vallisneri1 in seeking for hypotheses which were consistent with the facts of ,nature1 ,generelli even arriving at conclusions which1 in effect1 were those adopted by ,lyell1 and have been thus translated by him3 ,is it possible that this waste should have continued for six thousand and perhaps a greater number of years1 and that the mountains should remain so great unless their ruins have been repaired8 ,is it credible that the ,author of ,nature should have founded the world upon such laws as that the dry land should be for ever growing smaller1 and at last become wholly submerged beneath the waters8 ,is it credible that1 amid so many created things1 the mountains alone should daily diminish in number and bulk1 without there being any repair of their losses8 ,this would be contrary to that order of ,providence which is seen to reign in all other things in the universe4 ,wherefore ,i deem it just to conclude that the same cause which1 in the beginning of time1 raised mountains from the abyss1 has down to the present day continued to produce others1 in order to restore from time to time1 the losses of all such as sink down in different places1 or are rent asunder1 or in other ways suffer disintegration4 ,if this be admitted1 we can easily understand why there should now be found upon many mountains so great a number of crustacea and other marine animals4 ,this attempt at a system of rational geology was a great advance in the right direction1 though many gaps still remained to be filled up and some errors to be corrected2 such for instance as the idea adopted by ,generelli from ,moro1 and maintained in other parts of his work1 that all the stratified rocks are derived from volcanic ejections4 ,nevertheless1 geology1 by the middle of the eighteenth century1 had evidently begun to pass gradually1 though very slowly1 from the stage of crude and fanciful hypotheses to that of an inductive science4 ,but even then the observers had only succeeded in setting foot on the lower slopes of a peak1 the summit of which will not be reached1 if indeed it ever be1 for many a long year to come4 ,during the next half of the century progress was made1 now in this direction1 now in that2 slowly truths were established1 slowly errors dispelled2 and as the close of that century approached1 the foundations of modern geology began to be securely laid4 ,a great impulse was given to the work1 though to some extent the apparent help proved to be a real hindrance1 by that famous teacher1 ,werner of ,freiberg1 in ,saxony4 ,his influence was highly beneficial1 because he insisted not only on a careful study of the mineral character of rocks1 but also on attending to their grouping1 geographical distribution1 and general relations4 ,it was hurtful almost to as great a degree1 because he maintained1 and succeeded by his enthusiasm and eloquence in impressing on his disciples1 most erroneous notions as to the origin of basalts and those other igneous rocks which were formerly comprehended under the name trap4 ,such rocks he stoutly asserted to be chemical precipitates from water1 and1 besides this1 he held views in general strongly opposed to anything like the action of uniform causes in the earth's history4 ,in short1 the ,saxon ,professor was in many respects the exact antithesis of ,lyell1 and the points of essential contrast cannot be better indicated than in the words of the latter4#ei ,if it be true that delivery be the first1 second1 and third requisite in a popular orator1 it is no less certain that to travel is of first1 second1 and third importance to those who desire to originate just and comprehensive views concerning the structure of our globe4 ,now ,werner had not travelled to distant countries2 he had merely explored a small portion of ,germany1 and conceived1 and persuaded others to believe1 that the whole surface of our planet and all the mountain-chains in the world were made after the model of his own province4 ,it became a ruling object of ambition in the minds of his pupils to confirm the generalisations of their great master1 and to discover in the most distant parts of the globe his 'universal formations1' which he supposed had been each in succession simultaneously precipitated over the whole earth from a common menstruum or chaotic fluid4 ,these wild generalisations1 as ,lyell points out1 had not even the merit of being really in accordance with the evidence afforded by some parts of ,saxony itself4 ,werner1 in fact1 was a conspicuous example of a tendency1 which perhaps even now is not quite extinct1 to work too much beneath a roof and too little in the open air2 to found great generalisations on the minute results of research in a laboratory1 without subjecting them to actual tests by the study of rocks in the field4 ,this error on ,werner's part was the less excusable1 because1 even before he began to lecture1 the true nature of basalts and traps generally had been recognised by several observers of different nationalities4 ,in the ,hebrides and in ,iceland1 in the ,vicentin and in ,auvergne1 even in ,hesse and in the ,rheingau1 proof after proof had been cited1 and the evidence in favour of the igneous origin of these rocks had become irresistible1 as one might suppose1 within some half dozen years of ,werner's appointment as professor at ,freiberg4 ,faujas1 in #aggi1 published a description of the volcanoes of the ,vivarais and ,velay1 in which he showed how the streams of basalt had poured out from craters which still remain in a perfect state4 ,desmarest also pointed out that in ,auvergne first came the most recent volcanoes1 which had their craters still entire and their streams of lava conforming to the level of the present river courses4 ,he then showed that there were others of an intermediate epoch1 whose craters were nearly effaced1 and whose lavas were less intimately connected with the present valleys2 and lastly1 that there were volcanic rocks still more ancient without any discernible craters or scoriae1 and bearing the closest analogy to rocks in other parts of ,europe1 the igneous origin of which was denied by the school of ,freiberg4 ,desmarest even constructed and published a geological map of ,auvergne1 of which ,lyell speaks in terms of high commendation4 ,they alone who have carefully studied ,auvergne1 and traced the different lava streams from their craters to their termination--the various isolated basaltic cappings--the relation of some lavas to the present valleys--the absence of such relations in others--can appreciate the extraordinary fidelity of this elaborate work4#fj ,but before the close of the eighteenth century1 two champions had already stepped into the arena to withstand the ,wernerian hypothesis1 which1 like a swelling tide1 was spreading over ,europe1 and threatening to sweep away everything before it4 ,these were ,james ,hutton and ,william ,smith2 the one born north1 the other south of the ,tweed4 ,from the name of the former that of his friend and expositor1 ,john ,playfair1 must never be separated4 ,they were the ,socrates and the ,plato of that school of thought from which modern geology has been developed4#fa ,to quote the eloquent words of ,sir ,archibald ,geikie#fb3-- ,on looking back to the beginning of this century we see the geologists of ,britain divided into two hostile camps1 which waged against each other a keen and even an embittered warfare4 ,on the one hand were the followers of ,hutton of ,edinburgh1 called from him the ,vulcanists1 or ,plutonists2 on the other1 the disciples of ,werner 444 who went by the name of ,wernerians1 or ,neptunists4444 ,the ,huttonians1 who adhered to the principles laid down by their great founder1 maintained1 as their fundamental doctrine1 that the past history of our planet is to be explained by what we can learn of the economy of ,nature at the present time4 ,unlike the cosmogonists1 they did not trouble themselves with what was the first condition of the earth1 nor try to trace every subsequent phase of its history4 ,they held that the geological record does not go back to the beginning1 and that therefore any attempt to trace that beginning from geological evidence was vain4 ,most strongly1 too1 did they protest against the introduction of causes which could not be shown to be a part of the present economy4 ,they never wearied of insisting that to the everyday workings of air1 earth1 and sea1 must be our appeal for an explanation of the older revolutions of the globe4 ,the fall of rain1 the flow of rivers1 the slowly crumbling decay of mountain1 valley1 and shore1 were one by one summoned as witnesses to bear testimony to the manner in which the most stupendous geological changes are slowly and silently brought about4 ,the waste of the land1 which they traced everywhere1 was found to give birth to soil--renovation of the surface thus springing ,phoenix-like out of its decay4 ,in the descent of water from the clouds to the mountains1 and from the mountains to the sea1 they recognised the power by which valleys are carved out of the land1 and by which also the materials worn from the land are carried out to the sea1 there to be gathered into solid stone--the framework of new continents4 ,in the rocks of the hills and valleys they recognised abundantly the traces of old sea-bottoms4 ,they stoutly maintained that these old sea-bottoms had been raised up into dry land from time to time by the powerful action of the same internal heat to which volcanoes owe their birth1 and they pointed to the way in which granite and other crystalline rocks occur as convincing evidence of the extent to which the solid earth has been altered and upheaved by the action of these subterranean fires4 ,such were the leading principles of the ,huttonian theory1 though perhaps they are stated here in a slightly more developed form than when it was first presented by its illustrious author4 ,but it was defective in one important respect1 on a side from which it might have obtained the strongest support1 and have liberated itself from the bondage of deluges2 in other words1 of convulsive action1 by which it was still fettered1 for it took no account of the fossil remains of plants and animals4 ,hence it ignored the long succession of life upon the earth which those remains have since made known1 as well as the evidence thereby obtainable as to the nature and order of physical changes1 such as alternations of sea and land1 revolutions of climate1 and suchlike4 ,this defect was supplied by ,william ,smith4 ,he had learnt1 by patient labour among the stratified rocks of ,england1 to recognise their fossils1 had ascertained that certain assemblages of the latter characterised each group of strata1 and by this means had traced such groups through the country1 and had placed them in order of superposition4 ,so early as #agij1 he published a ,tabular ,view of the ,british ,strata1 and from that time was engaged at every spare moment in constructing a geological map of ,england1 all the while freely communicating the results of his researches to his brethren of the hammer4 ,the execution of his map was completed in #ahae1 and it remains a lasting monument of original talent and extraordinary perseverance2 for he had explored the whole country on foot without the guidance of previous observers1 or the aid of fellow labourers1 and had succeeded in throwing into natural divisions the whole complicated series of ,british rocks4#fc ,a most important step in view of future progress1 at any rate in our own country1 was taken by the foundation of the ,geological ,society of ,london in #ahjg1 the members of which devoted themselves at first rather to the collection of facts than to the construction of theories1 while in ,france the labours of ,brongniart and ,cuvier in comparative osteology1 and of ,lamarck in recent and fossil shells1 smoothed the way toward the downfall of catastrophic geology4 ,those men1 with their disciples1 raised these departments of study to a rank of which they had never before been deemed susceptible4 ,their investigations had eventually a powerful effect in dispelling the illusion which had long prevailed concerning the absence of analogy between the ancient and modern state of our planet4 ,a close comparison of the recent and fossil species1 and the inferences drawn in regard to their habits1 accustomed the geologist to contemplate the earth as having been at successive periods the dwelling-place of animals and plants of different races--some terrestrial1 and others aquatic2 some fitted to live in seas1 others in the waters of lakes and rivers4 ,by the consideration of these topics the mind was slowly and insensibly withdrawn from imaginary pictures of catastrophes and chaotic confusion1 such as haunted the imagination of the early cosmogonists4 ,numerous proofs were discovered of the tranquil deposition of sedimentary matter1 and the slow development of organic life4#fd ,such was the earlier history of ,geology2 such were the influences which had moulded its ideas till within a few years of the date when ,lyell began to make it a subject of serious study4 ,at that time1 namely about the year #ahbj1 the ,geological ,society of ,london had become the centre and meeting-point of a band of earnest and enthusiastic workers1 whose names will always hold an honoured place in the annals of the ,science4 ,among the older members--most of whom1 however1 were still in the prime of life1 were such men as ,buckland1 ,conybeare1 ,fitton1 ,greenough1 ,horner1 ,mac,culloch1 ,warburton and ,wollaston2 among the younger1 ,de la ,beche and ,scrope1 ,sedgwick and ,whewell4 ,murchison1 though a few years ,lyell's senior1 was by almost as many his junior as a geologist1 for he did not join the ,society till the end of #ahbd1 and was actually admitted on the evening when ,lyell1 then one of its honorary secretaries1 read his first paper--on the marl-lake at ,kinnordy4 ,such men also as ,babbage1 ,herschel1 ,warburton1 ,sir ,philip ,egerton1 the ,earl of ,enniskillen 7then ,viscount ,cole71 must not be forgotten1 who were either less frequent visitors or more directly devoted to other studies4 ,at this time geology was passing into a phase which endured for some forty years--the exaltation of the palaeontological1 the depreciation of the mineralogical side4 ,if it be true1 as it has been more than once remarked1 that the father of the geologist was a mineralogist1 it is no less true that his mother was a palaeontologist2 but at this particular epoch the paternal influence obviously declined1 while that of the mother became inordinately strong4 ,wollaston and ,mac,culloch1 indeed1 were geologists of the old school2 excellent mineralogists and petrologists 7to use the more modern term7 as accurate as it was possible to be with the appliances at their disposal1 but among the younger men ,de la ,beche1 accompanied to a certain extent by ,scrope and ,sedgwick1 was almost alone in following their lead4 ,but although palaeontology and stratigraphical geology as its associate were clearly making progress1 the school of thought1 of which ,lyell became the champion1 counted at this time but few adherents1 for the older geologists were almost to a man catastrophists4 ,a few1 like ,mac,culloch1 undervalued palaeontological research1 and thus were doubly prejudiced against the uniformitarian views4 ,buckland1 ,conybeare1 ,greenough1 as we have already seen from incidental remarks in ,lyell's letters1 had put their trust in deluges1 and imagined that by such an agency the earth had been prepared for a new creation of living things and a new group of geological formations4 ,sedgwick even was to a great extent on their side4 ,he had speedily emerged from the waters of ,wernerism1 in which at first he had been for a short time immersed1 but he did not escape so easily from the roaring floods of diluvialists1 and the grandeur of catastrophic changes in the crust of the earth fascinated his enthusiastic1 almost poetic1 nature4 ,even so late as #ahcj1 we find him criticising from the chair of the ,geological ,society the leading argument of ,lyell's ,principles of ,geology in no friendly spirit1 and bestowing high praise on ,elie de ,beaumont's theory of ,parallel ,mountain-chains4 ,a brief summary of the views advocated by this eminent ,french geologist may serve to indicate1 perhaps better than any general statements1 the influences against which ,lyell had to contend at the outset of his career as a geologist4 ,with the omission of certain parts1 to which no exception would be taken1 or which have no very direct bearing upon the immediate question1 they are as follows#fe3 7#a7 ,in the history of the earth there have been long periods of comparative repose1 during which the sedimentary strata have been continuously deposited1 and short periods of paroxysmal violence1 during which that continuity has been interrupted4 7#b7 ,at each of these periods of violence or revolution in the state of the earth's surface1 a great number of mountain-chains have been formed suddenly1 and these chains1 if contemporaneous1 are parallel2 but if not so1 generally differ in direction4 7#c7 ,each revolution or great convulsion has coincided with the date of another geological phenomenon1 namely1 the passage from one independent sedimentary formation to another1 characterised by a considerable difference in organic types4 7#d7 ,there has been a recurrence of these paroxysmal movements from the remotest geological periods2 and they may still be produced4 ,thus the force of authority1 which has to be reckoned with in geology1 if not in other branches of science1 was in the main adverse to ,lyell1 who could count on but few to join him in his attack on catastrophism4 ,one indeed there was1 a host in himself1 who1 though his contemporary in years1 had devoted himself wholly to geology at a slightly earlier date and had already become convinced1 by his field-work in ,italy and ,france1 of the efficacy of existing forces to work mighty changes1 if time were given1 in the configuration of the earth's surface4 ,this was ,george ,poulett ,scrope1 a man of broad culture1 great talents1 and singular independence of thought1 who had convinced himself of the errors of the ,wernerian theory by his studies in ,italy in the years #ahag-ai1 and had thoroughly explored the volcanic district of ,auvergne in #ahba4 ,his work on the ,phenomena of ,volcanoes1 published in #ahbc1 and that on the ,geology of ,central ,france1 published in #ahbf1 had given the coup de grace to ,werner's hypothesis and had made the first breach in the fortress of the catastrophists4 ,for a complete solution of the problem to which ,lyell had addressed himself1 two methods of investigation were necessary4 ,it must be demonstrated that in tracing back the life history of the earth from the present age to a comparatively remote past no breach of continuity could be detected1 and that the forces which were still engaged in sculpturing and modifying this earth's surface were adequate1 given time enough1 to produce all those changes to which the catastrophist appealed as proofs of his hypotheses4 ,to establish the one conclusion1 it was necessary to make a careful study of the ,tertiary formations1 which were still in a condition of comparative confusion2 to arrange them in an order no less clear and definite than that of the ,secondary systems2 and to show1 by working downward from the present fauna1 not only that many living species had been long in existence1 but also that these had appeared gradually1 not simultaneously1 and had in like manner replaced forms which had one after another vanished--to prove1 in short1 that past and present are bound together by an unsevered cord of life1 whose interlacing strands carry us back in orderly change from age to age4 ,to establish the other conclusion it was necessary to show that1 even in historical times1 considerable changes had occurred in the outlines of coasts1 and that heat and cold1 the sea1 or rain and rivers--especially the last--had been agents of the utmost importance in the sculpture of cliffs1 valleys1 and hills4 ,for both these purposes careful study1 not only in ,britain1 but also still more in other regions1 was absolutely necessary1 and it was with them in view that ,lyell undertook his journeys1 from the time when his geological ideas began to assume a definite shape until the last volume of the ,principles was published4 ,by that date1 as has been stated in the preceding chapters1 he had made himself familiar in the course of his geological education with many parts of ,britain1 had laboriously investigated the more important collections and museums of ,france and ,italy1 and had carefully studied in the field the principal ,tertiary deposits not only in these countries but also in ,sicily and in parts of ,switzerland and ,germany4 ,to obtain evidence bearing on the physical aspect of the question on a scale grander than was afforded by the undulating lowlands1 or worn-down highland regions of ,britain and the neighbouring parts of ,europe1 he had rambled among the ,alps and ,pyrenees1 examining their peaks and precipices1 their snowfields1 glaciers1 lakes1 and torrents1 and watching the processes of destruction1 transportation1 and deposition of which crag1 stream1 and plain afford a never-ending object-lesson4 ,in order to study volcanoes still in activity1 he had climbed ,vesuvius and ,etna2 in order to scrutinise more minutely the structure of cones1 craters1 and lava streams1 he had visited ,auvergne1 ,catalonia1 and the ,eifel2 while in all his goings and comings through scenes where ,nature worked more unobtrusively1 he had watched her never-ending toil1 as she destroyed with the one hand and built with the other4 ,he was thus able to write with the authority of one who has seen1 not of one who merely quotes2 of one who knew1 not of one who had learnt by rote4 ,the ,principles of ,geology1 though of course it had to rely not seldom on the work of others1 bore the stamp of the author's experience1 and was redolent1 not of the dust of libraries1 but of the sweetness of the open air4 ,that fact added no little force to its cautious and clear inductive reasoning2 that fact did much to disarm opposition1 and to open the way to victory4 ,,footnotes3 #ee ,strictly speaking1 fifteen out of the last sixteen chapters1 for the final one 7dealing with coral reefs7 is substantially a reprint4 #ef ,principles of ,geology1 vol4 i4 p4 #bf 7eleventh edition74 #eg ,in ,memoriam1 cxxiii4 #eh ,principles of ,geology1 chap4 iii4 p4 #cg4 #ei ,principles of ,geology1 chap4 iv4 #fj ,principles of ,geology1 chap4 iv4 #fa ,hutton's ,theory of the ,earth was first published in #aghh1 and in an enlarged form in #agie4 ,playfair's ,illustrations of the ,huttonian ,theory appeared in the spring of #ahjb4 #fb ,geikie's ,life of ,murchison1 chap4 vii4 #fc ,principles of ,geology1 chap4 iv4 #fd ,principles of ,geology1 chap4 iv4 #fe ,abridged from ,lyell's summary3 ,principles of ,geology1 chap4 vii4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,eight ,,years ,,of ,,quiet ,,progress4 ,both courses of lectures ended#ff and the third volume of the ,principles successfully launched1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,lyell left ,london in ,june1 #ahcc1 for another ,continental tour4 ,during their first halt1 at ,paris1 she was duly introduced to the famous quarries of ,montmartre1 and had an opportunity of collecting a fossil shell or two for the first time4 ,thence they made their way to ,bonn1 which she had left as a bride the previous summer1 and1 after another short halt1 proceeded up the gorge of the ,rhine to ,bingen1 visiting on the way the ironworks at ,sayn1 and examining the stratified volcanic deposits on the plain between the river and that town4 ,the ,tertiary basin at ,mayence was next visited1 and from it they went leisurely to ,heidelberg4 ,from the picturesque old town by the ,neckar they struck off to ,stuttgart and to ,pappenheim1 examining one or two collections at the former place1 and the quarries of ,solenhofen1 near the latter4 ,these were already noted for the abundant and well-preserved fossils obtained in the quarries worked for the well-known lithographic stone1 though the famous ,archaeopteryx had yet to be found2 that strange creature1 feathered and like a bird1 but with teeth in its beak and a tail like a reptile1 which has supplied such an important link in the chain of evidence in favour of progressive development4 ,thence they travelled to ,nuernberg and ,bayreuth1 visiting on their way the noted caves at ,muggendorf1 and returned to ,bonn by way of ,bamberg1 ,wuertzburg1 ,aschaffenberg1 and ,frankfurt4 ,in this journey1 few localities of special interest were investigated1 but1 as ,lyell's letters show1 no opportunity was lost of discussing important questions with local geologists1 or of examining sections in the field4 ,but on the way back to ,england through ,belgium a halt was made at ,liege1 to inspect ,dr4 ,schmerling's grand collection of cave-remains4 ,it is evident1 though but a short notice of it has been preserved1 that this visit kindled an enthusiasm which was to produce important results in later years4 ,lyell writes 7to ,mantell1 after his return to ,england73-- ,i saw at ,liege the collection of ,dr4 ,schmerling1 who in three years has1 by his own exertion and the incessant labours of a clever amateur servant1 cleared out some twenty caves untouched by any previous searcher1 and has filled a truly splendid museum4 ,he numbers already thrice the number of fossil cavern mammalia known when ,buckland wrote his ',idola ,specus'2 and such is the prodigious number of the individuals of some species--the bears1 for example1 of which he has five species1 one large1 one new--that several entire skeletons will be constructed4 ,oh1 that the ,lewes chalk had been cavernous6 ,and he has these1 and a number of yet unexplored and shortly to be investigated holes1 all to himself3 but envy him not--you cannot imagine what he feels at being far from a metropolis which can afford him sympathy2 and having not one congenial soul at ,liege1 and none who take any interest in his discoveries save the priests--and what kind they take you may guess1 more especially as he has found human remains in breccia1 embedded with the extinct species1 under circumstances far more difficult to get over than any ,i have previously heard of4 ,the three coats or layers of stalagmite cited by me at ,choquier are quite true4#fg ,very probably among these human relics was one which was destined to become famous--the skull found in the cave at ,engis--for this was described by ,dr4 ,schmerling in his ,recherches sur les ossements fossiles decouverts dans les cavernes de la ,province de ,liege1 a book published in #ahcc4 ,it was found at a depth of nearly five feet1 hidden under an osseous breccia1 composed of the remains of small animals1 and containing one rhinoceros tusk with several teeth of horses and of ruminants4 ,the earth in which it was lying did not show the slightest trace of disturbance1 and teeth of rhinoceros1 horse1 hyaena1 and bear surrounded it on all sides4#fh ,this relic proved--and since then numbers of similar cases have been discovered--that if the man of ,engis were an antediluvian1 and his corpse had been washed into the cave together with the drowned bodies of rhinoceros1 and other animals1#fi that event1 at any rate1 must have corresponded with a great change in the habits of the larger mammalia1 for they had been unable to return to haunts which once had been congenial4 ,in other words1 the foundation was being laid1 now in #ahcc1 for the next great advance in geological science1 the contemporaneity of man and several extinct species of mammals1 indicating1 of course1 the antiquity of the human race4 ,to this point1 however1 public attention was not directed for nearly twenty years4 ,then various causes1 especially an examination into the evidence discovered in the neighbourhood of ,abbeville and ,amiens by ,m4 ,boucher de ,perthes1 brought the question to the front4 ,but though the controversy was sharp and bitter for a time1 it was speedily over1 and the question which is still agitated--though mildly and in a sense wholly scientific--is whether man appeared in this part of ,europe and in corresponding regions of ,north ,america1 before1 during1 or after the glacial epoch8 ,but the ,engis skull is a relic exceptionally interesting4 ,though the handiwork of primaeval man is common enough--rudely chipped instruments or weapons of flint or other stone1 worked portions of bones and antlers1 and such like--yet his bones are far less common than those of other mammals1 and1 most of all1 skulls are rare4 ,professor ,huxley1 in his work from which we have already quoted1 states that ,dr4 ,schmerling found a bone implement in the ,engis cave1 and worked flints in all the ossiferous ,belgian caves1 yet this was the only skull in anything like a perfect condition1 though another cavern furnished two fragments of parietal bones4 ,yet from the latter numerous bones of the extremities were obtained1 and these had belonged to three individuals4 ,what inferences1 then1 can be drawn from this skull as to the intellectual rank of primaeval man8 ,this question was discussed by its discoverer1 and the evidence has been also considered by ,professor ,huxley4 ,the former thus expressed his opinion1 that this cranium has belonged to a person of limited intellectual faculties1 and we conclude thence that it belonged to a man of a low degree of civilisation2 a deduction which is borne out by contrasting the capacity of the frontal with that of the occipital region4 ,professor ,huxley sums up a careful discussion of the evidence1 in which he calls special attention to points where it happens to be defective1 by stating that the specimen agrees in certain respects with ,australian skulls1 in others with some ,european1 but that he can find in the remains no character which1 if it were a recent skull1 would give any trustworthy clue to the race to which it might appertain4 ,assuredly there is no mark of degradation about any part of its structure4 ,it is1 in fact1 a fair average human skull1 which might have belonged to a philosopher1 or might have contained the thoughtless brains of a savage4#gj ,the winter of #ahcc and the spring of the following year were spent in ,london4 ,it was evidently a busy1 though uneventful1 time3 a new edition of the ,principles was being prepared and printed1 a paper read to the ,geological ,society on a freshwater formation at ,cerdagne in the ,pyrenees1 and information collected for a summer's journey4 ,this was to be in a new direction--to ,scandinavia--with the more especial intent of studying the evidence on which it has been asserted that the shores of the ,baltic had changed their level within recent times4 ,but on this occasion ,mrs4 ,lyell remained at home1 as the travelling might occasionally have been too rough for her so we find1 in a journal written for her perusal1 a full sketch of a tour which proved1 as he had anticipated1 to be fruitful in scientific results4 ,his first halt was at ,hamburg1 where1 on his arrival1 with characteristic energy he dashed off at once in a carriage to examine a section below ,altona which he had marked down on his voyage up the ,elbe4 ,this is his brief summary3 ,cliffs sixty or seventy feet high4 ,filled three pages of note-book4 ,saw the source of the great ,holstein granite blocks4 ,gathered shells thrown ashore by the ,elbe4 ,from ,hamburg he drove to ,luebeck1 along one of the worst of roads4 ,the primary cause of its badness was geological--a loose sand interspersed with granite boulders2 the secondary1 the royal revenues2 for these largely depended on the tolls paid by vessels on entering the sound1 and if a good road had connected the two towns much merchandise would have gone overland1 to the king's loss4 ,at ,luebeck ,lyell for the first time stood upon the shore of the ,baltic1 and utilised the half-hour before his steamer started for ,copenhagen by hunting for shells4 ,as a reward1 he found a well-known freshwater genus 7,paludina7 among common marine forms4#ga ,from ,copenhagen a rapid journey in ,seeland and to ,moeen introduced him to a number of interesting ,sections of the drift1 accounts of which were afterwards worked into his books1 and showed him at ,faxoe and elsewhere limestones overlying the upper chalk1 like those at ,maestricht in ,holland1 and at ,meudon near ,paris4 ,all these limestones possess an exceptional interest1 for they contain a mixture of ,secondary with ,tertiary fossils1 and thus help to fill up the wide gap between these two great divisions in ,britain and the adjacent parts of ,europe4 ,on his return to ,copenhagen ,lyell was very kindly received by the ,crown ,prince1 who was an ardent naturalist1 and allowed him to examine a fine collection of minerals and fossils accumulated by himself4 ,after crossing the ,sound to ,malmoe1 ,lyell spent about a fortnight in driving along an inland route through the southern part of ,sweden to ,norrkoeping1 while a halt at ,lund afforded the opportunity of pleasant talks with the professors of the ,university1 and of seeing some formations of which hitherto he had not had much experience4 ,the terms in which he refers to these indirectly proves what strides geology has taken in the last sixty years4 ,we made an excursion together through a country of greywacke with orthoceratite limestone and schist1#gb containing a curious zoophyte called graptolite in great abundance1 and a few shells4 ,on the journey also he found much to interest a geologist--boulders almost everywhere1 some of huge size1 lying on the surface or scattered in the sand in one place an outcrop of ,cretaceous greensand1 full of belemnites1 which were popularly regarded as witches' candles4 ,then over a picturesque granite region--a country of rock1 fir-wood1 and peasants--till he arrived at ,norrkoeping1 and made his way in a steamer down one fjord and up another until he came into the ,malar ,lake4 ,these last stages introduced him to a kind of scenery of which ,scandinavia affords such striking and innumerable examples--the margin of a submerged mountain land4 ,we entered1 he says1 a passage between an endless string of islets and the mainland1 the water here smooth as a millpond4 ,we passed swiftly on in deep water close to the rocks1 on the barest of which are a few firs in the clefts4 ,these are evidently the summits of submarine mountains4 ,at ,stockholm he found plenty to be done4 ,some of the evidence1 which had been brought forward to prove a rising of the land1 was obviously weak4 ,for instance1 on one of his first visits to a place where the upward movement was said to be comparatively rapid1 he found a fine oak-tree1 perhaps a couple of centuries old1 growing eight feet above high-water mark1 and thus indicating either that oak-trees had recently changed their habits or that the change of level had been slow4 ,in dealing with this question it is necessary1 he writes1 to cross-examine both nature and man4 ,the testimony of the former is strong2 of the latter1 ,i must say1 so weak and contradictory that ,i require to know the men and find how they got their views4 ,a valuable precaution this1 which might be remembered with advantage in days when stay-at-home geologists are far too numerous4 ,if this were done1 the paper currency of the science would be considerably reduced in quantity1 and there would be a closer correspondence between its real and its nominal value4 ,a little scepticism was certainly justifiable1 for one would-be savant stood him out that a bed of ,cardium edule 7the common cockle7 #ajj feet high proves that the fresh water of ,lake ,malar was once that much higher4 ,lyell adds nothing to this remark1 but his silence is eloquent4 ,this expedition1 however--to ,soedertelje--gave results yet more striking than marine shells #ajj feet above the present level of the ,baltic4 ,what think you1 he writes1 of ships in the same formation1 nay1 a house8 ,it is as true as the ,temple of ,serapis4#gc ,i do not mean that ,i discovered all this1 but ,i shall be the first to give a geological account of it4 ,i am in high spirits at the prize4 ,upsala also1 to which he next moved1 increased his stores of knowledge and of fossils4 ,i went to the hill1 a hundred feet high1 on which the tower stands1 to examine marine shells4 ,all of ,baltic species4 ,you remember that in the half-hour between the two steamboats at ,luebeck1 or rather ,travemunde1 ,i collected shells by the quay4 ,not one fossil have ,i found newer than the chalk in ,sweden1 that was not in the number of those found living in that half-hour4 ,more localities for shells were visited1 erratics were examined1 and pilots were questioned closely about the agency of ice1 in which they believe4 ,with their opinion ,lyell inclined to agree2 at any rate1 he was convinced that his observations would quite overset the debacle theory1 and1 as he expected1 bring in ice carriage as the cause4 ,on the coast further north at ,oregrund and ,gefle1 bench-marks had been cut some years previously in order to apply a more exact test to the question of the change in levels4 ,these he visited1 and the former seemed to prove as ,galileo said in a different sense1 that 'the earth moves4' ,the marks near ,gefle afforded similar testimony1 so that he felt now that the main object of his journey was accomplished1 and inserted this pregnant note in his journal3--,i feel now what ,i was very sensible of when correcting my last edition1#gd that ,i was not justified in writing any more until ,i had done all in my power to ascertain the truth in regard to the 'great northern phenomenon1' as the gradual rise of part of ,sweden has been very naturally called4 ,you will see by-and-by how important a point it was1 and how materially it will modify my mode of treating the science1 and how much it will advance the theory of the agency of existing causes as a key to explain geological phenomena4#ge ,but the work at sea-marks was not yet quite ended1 and there was besides another classic spot to be visited--,uddevalla1 between ,lake ,werner and the western coast4 ,here are deposits in which sea-shells are abundant at a height of about two hundred feet above the sea4 ,nothing but a submergence can account for their presence1 for polyzoa and barnacles are found attached to the solid rock4 ,some of the latter1 adhering to the gneiss1 were collected by ,lyell on this occasion4#gf ,fossil shells 7of existing species7 were so numerous that1 he says1 the deposit was worked for making lime1 and he compares it with a well-known bed in the ,tertiaries of the ,paris ,basin4 ,the shells1 however1 at ,uddevalla1 as he points out1 are not of that brackish-water character peculiar to the ,baltic1 but such as now live in the ,northern ,ocean4#gg ,on reaching the coast he made an expedition by boat1 and saw the bench-mark at ,gullholmen1 and rocks which had emerged from the sea within the memory of people still living4 ,here1 by way of completing his work1 he hired the services of a smith to make a mark at the water's edge3-- ,c4 #ah4 ,l4 ------ #ah4 #g4 #cd4 ----------- ,so he brought his journey in ,scandinavia to a close1 and by the end of ,july had reached ,kinnordy1 where ,mrs4 ,lyell awaited his coming4 ,then he set to work to prepare a brief sketch of his investigations for the approaching meeting of the ,british ,association in ,edinburgh1 and a more elaborate paper1 to be communicated to the ,royal ,society in ,london1 in which he set forth the reasons which had convinced him that in ,sweden1 both on the ,baltic and ocean side1 part of that country is really undergoing a gradual and insensibly slow rise4 ,it affects an area measuring about one thousand miles north and south1 and is believed to reach a maximum at the ,north ,cape4 ,there it is said1 but the statement needs verification1 to amount to five feet in a century2 at ,gefle1 ninety miles north of ,stockholm1 it cannot be more than two or three feet in the same time2 while at ,stockholm itself it can hardly exceed six inches4 ,further south1 in ,scania proper1 as at ,malmoe1 ,skanoer1 ,trelleborg1 and ,ystad1 the movement is distinctly in an opposite direction4#gh ,this paper was afterwards accepted by the ,royal ,society as the ,bakerian lecture for the year4 ,but the preparation of this was not ,lyell's only occupation4 ,in ,october he had begun fossil ichthyology1 was attending lectures in chemistry1 and had made some progress1 as he writes to ,mantell1 in a single volume which two years ago ,i promised ,murray1 a purely elementary work for beginners in geology1 and which ,i find more agreeable work than ,i had expected4 ,so his hands were pretty full4 ,a pleasant surprise came in the closing months of the year1 namely the award of one of the ,royal ,medals by that ,society in acknowledgment of the merits of his ,principles of ,geology4 ,in the earlier part of #ahce ,lyell accepted the presidency of the ,geological ,society1 an office which1 it will be remembered1 he had virtually refused a couple of years before1 when he was busy with his great book4 ,with this exception1 nothing worthy of record appears to have happened in the first six months of the year1 but in ,july ,mrs4 ,lyell and he left ,england for a journey to ,france1 ,germany1 and ,switzerland4 ,by that date1 as he mentions in a letter to a friend1 #a1gej copies of the last edition of the ,principles had been sold1 a demand that puts him in good heart as to the future of the book1 and proves that his labours on it had not been in vain4 ,but he did not permit himself to be idle4 ,as a letter written to ,sedgwick from ,paris shows1 he was still working away at the classification of the ,tertiary deposits2 for in this letter he discusses the relation of the coralline and the red1 or shelly ,crag of ,suffolk4 ,mr4 ,charlesworth1 subsequently well known as a collector1 had been obtaining a number of fossil shells from the former deposit1 and the character of these suggested that it was distinctly the older of the two1 as is now universally admitted4 ,in discussing this question ,lyell lays down a principle of classification the soundness of which has been proved by experience1 namely1 that the age of a ,tertiary deposit is to be determined by the proportion of recent species and the relation of these to the forms still living in the neighbouring seas4 ,if1 for instance1 the recent shells in a formation1 amounting to one-half1 or even as few as one-third1 of the total number can be thus found1 the formation will be ,pliocene in age1 while the recent shells of the ,miocene have a more exotic and tropical form4 ,to this conclusion he had been led1 by an examination1 with the help of ,deshayes1 of a typical collection of ,crag fossils which he had carried with him to ,paris4 ,as to other matters1 the leading ,french geologists were still warring vigorously in defence of deluges1 and none of his numerous heresies1 he remarks1 appears to have excited so much honest indignation as his recent attempt to convey some of the huge ,scandinavian blocks to their present destination by means of ice4 ,he had proved1 he reminds ,sedgwick1 that some of the great blocks near ,upsala must have travelled to their present destination since the ,baltic was a brackish water sea1 so that those who maintain that there was one1 and one only1 rush of water1 which scattered all the blocks of ,sweden and the ,alps1 must make out this catastrophe to be1 as it were1 an affair of yesterday4 ,geology1 even at that date1 had advanced far enough for this admission to have landed the diluvialists in some awkward dilemmas1 to say nothing of the physical difficulties which they would find in accounting for the existence of waves or currents potent enough to bowl the ,pierre a bot from the aiguilles round the ,trient glacier to the slopes of the ,jura1 or to fling the erratics of ,scandinavia broadcast over the lowlands around the ,baltic4 ,this1 however1 was not the only lost cause over which the ,french geologists were holding their shield4 ,lyell goes on to write1 with a touch of quiet sarcasm3 ,as to the elevation crater business1 ,von ,buch1 de ,beaumont1 and ,dufresnoy are to write and prove that ,somma and ,etna are elevation craters1 and ,von ,buch himself has just gone to ,auvergne to prove that ,mont ,dore is one also4 ,lyell's special intention in visiting the ,alps was to obtain evidence as to the relation of the metamorphic and sedimentary rocks4 ,geologists of the ,wernerian ,school1 with sundry others who hardly went so far as the ,freiberg professor1 maintained that the crystalline schists1 including gneiss1 had been produced1 often as precipitates1 in a primaeval ocean1 the waters of which were far too hot to allow of the existence of life4 ,at a later time1 as the temperature fell1 the great masses of slightly altered slates and grits were deposited--the region of greywacke1 the transitional rocks as they were commonly called4 ,these for the most part were unfossiliferous1 at any rate in their earliest stages4 ,to this view1 of course1 the ,huttonian dictum1 which ,lyell sought to establish1 was diametrically opposed1 viz4 that the earth showed no signs of a beginning4 ,now he had been informed that in the ,alps certain slaty rocks contained fossils which indicated an age corresponding generally with the chalk of ,england1 and that in other parts of that chain even crystalline schists could be found interbedded with fossiliferous strata of ,secondary age4 ,to settle the former question he intended to visit the famous quarries of ,glarus1 but was ultimately compelled to leave this for another year1 as he took the latter point first in order of time1 and the investigation of it involved more work than he had anticipated4 ,in regard to this1 the most important sections were to be found on the precipitous northern slopes of the ,jungfrau and in the upper part of the ,urbach-thal1 a lonely glen which descends into the main valley of the ,aar at ,imhof1 above ,meyringen4 ,in both these localities gneiss appears to overlie fossiliferous limestone1 and ,lyell1 after visiting them1 returned satisfied that he had seen alternations of the gneiss with limestone of the lias or something newer in the highest regions of the ,alps4 ,that undoubtedly he saw1 but he did not suspect that the appearance was illusory4 ,this was not in the least surprising2 the ,alps were still almost a terra incognita2 the processes of mountain making as yet were unknown2 many statements in common currency as to the passage of sedimentary into crystalline rocks were erroneous and distinctly misleading4 ,only by degrees was it discovered that this superposition of gneiss or crystalline schist to ,secondary rock was due to folding on a scale so gigantic that the older had been doubled over upon the younger rock and the apparent order of succession was the converse of the true one4 ,the intercalation also of the gneiss and the ,jurassic limestone was a result of a similar action1 but carried1 if possible1 to an even greater extreme1 for here the hard gneiss had been thrust in wedge-like slabs between the softer masses of sedimentary rock1 like a paper-knife between the leaves of a book2 that is to say1 the gneiss and crystalline schists in both cases were vastly more ancient than the fossiliferous limestone4 ,it is only of late years that this startling fact has been established beyond question2 and even now there are many geologists who do not appear to recognise how seriously the ,huttonian dictum there is no sign of a beginning has been shaken by the collapse of this evidence4 ,at the present time the question is in this position2 all the attempts to prove crystalline schists to be of the same age as1 or younger than1 fossiliferous sedimentary rocks either have been complete failures or have proved to be very dubious1 while in many cases these schists are demonstrably earlier than the oldest rocks of the district to which a date can be assigned4 ,hence1 though possibly it may turn out that the disciples of ,hutton were right1 and that1 as ,lyell thought1 a metamorphic rock may be of almost any geological age1 his hypothesis not only is unproved1 but also the evidence which has been brought forward in its favour has turned out after a strict scrutiny to be exceedingly dubious1 if not absolutely contrary4 ,in regard to this question we may feel a little surprise that one difficulty did not occur to ,lyell's sceptical mind1 namely3 what could be the nature and cause of a process of metamorphism which could convert one sediment into a crystalline schist--changed practically past recognition--and leave its neighbour so far unaltered that its characteristic fossils could be readily recognised8 ,but though he was unable to investigate the question of ,secondary or perhaps early ,tertiary fossils in the transition-like rock of ,glarus1 his study of the sedimentary deposits of the ,bernese ,oberland1 which had formed a necessary preliminary to the other inquiry1 raised some difficulties in his mind as to the origin of slaty cleavage4 ,at a meeting of the ,geological ,society in the month of ,march1 ,professor ,sedgwick had read his classic paper#gi on this subject1 in which he established the independence of cleavage and bedding4 ,this paper laid the foundation for the discovery of the true cause of the former structure1 though its author was unable1 with the information then at his command1 to do more than suggest an hypothesis1 which afterwards proved to be incorrect4 ,he had shown that both the strike and the dip of cleavage-planes were persistent over large areas1 and that while the one might gradually change its direction and the other its angle of inclination1 if they were followed far enough1 yet this angle usually remained unaltered for considerable distances1 and appeared to be quite unaffected by any variation in the slope of the strata4 ,from these observations it followed that the planes of cleavage ought not to be coincident with those of bedding4 ,lyell1 however1 writes to tell ,sedgwick#hj3-- ,i found the cleavage or slaty structure of fine drawing slate in the great quarry of the ,niesen1 on the east south side of the ,lake of ,thun1 quite coincided with the dip of the strata ascertained by alternate beds of greywacke4444 ,as it is the best description of drawing slate1 and as divisible almost as mica into thin plates1 ,i cannot make out how to distinguish such a structure from any which can be called slaty1 and such an attempt would1 ,i fear1 involve the subject in great confusion4 ,the observation was perfectly correct1 and many like instances could be found in the ,alps2 nevertheless1 ,sedgwick was right in his generalisation1 and the two structures are perfectly independent1 though the difficulty raised by ,lyell did not disappear till the true cause of slaty cleavage was recognised--viz4 that it is a result of pressure4 ,thus1 in a region like the ,alps1 where the strata often have been so completely folded as to be bent1 so to say1 back to back1 the planes of cleavage1 which are produced when the rocks can no longer yield to the pressure by bending1 necessarily coincide with those of bedding4 ,still1 even in these cases1 if careful search be made in the vicinity1 some minor flexure generally betrays the secret1 and exhibits the cleavage structure cutting across that of bedding4 ,the next year1 #ahcf1 flowed on1 like the last1 quietly and uneventfully2 a fifth edition of the ,principles was passing through the press2 the ,elements of ,geology was making progress1 though slowly2 and ,lyell's duties as ,president of the ,geological ,society1 which involved the delivery of an address in the month of ,february and the preparation of another one for the same season in the following year1 occupied a good deal of his time4 ,the summer was spent in a long visit to his parents at ,kinnordy1 after which he and ,mrs4 ,lyell made some stay in the ,isle of ,arran before they returned to ,london4 ,the latter seemingly had been rather out of health1 and this may have been the reason why a longer journey was not undertaken1 but she must have found the ,scotch air a complete restorative1 for after her return to ,london in the autumn ,lyell writes to his father that everyone is much struck with the improvement in ,mary's health and appearance4 ,but one letter1 of the few which have been preserved from those written in #ahcf1 possesses a special interest1 for it expresses his ideas1 at this epoch1 in regard to the question of the origin of species1 and indicates his freedom from prejudice and the openness of his mind4 ,it is addressed to ,sir ,john ,herschel1 then engaged in his memorable investigations at the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 who had favoured him with some valuable comments and criticisms on the ,principles of ,geology1 and in the course of these had corrected a mistake which ,lyell had made in regard to a rather difficult physical question4 ,in referring to this1 the latter remarks that the clearness of the mathematical reasoning 7to quote his words7 made me regret that ,i had not given some of the years which ,i devoted to ,greek plays and ,aristotle at ,oxford1 and afterwards to law and other desultory pursuits1 to mathematics4 ,doubtless there is hardly any better foundation for geology than a course of mathematics2 at the same time1 classical studies did much to give ,lyell his lucidity and elegance of style1 and thus to ensure the success of the ,principles of ,geology4 ,it will be best to give ,lyell's own words1 for the document forms an appendix or lengthy postscript4 ,as is incidentally mentioned1 it was not in his own handwriting1#ha and thus probably was drawn up with rather more than usual care4 ,in regard to the origination of new species1 ,i am very glad to find that you think it probable it may be carried on through the intervention of intermediate causes4 ,i left this rather to be inferred1 not thinking it worth while to offend a certain class of persons by embodying in words what would only be a speculation4444 ,when ,i first came to the notion--which ,i never saw expressed elsewhere1 though ,i have no doubt it had all been thought out before--of a succession of extinction of species1 and creation of new ones1 going on perpetually now1 and through an indefinite period of the past1 and to continue for ages to come1 all in accommodation to the changes which must continue in the inanimate and habitable earth1 the idea struck me as the grandest which ,i had ever conceived1 so far as regards the attributes of the ,presiding ,mind4 ,for one can in imagination summon before us a small part#hb at least of the circumstances which must be contemplated and foreknown1 before it can be decided what powers and qualities a new species must have in order to enable it to endure for a given time1 and to play its part in due relation to all other beings destined to coexist with it1 before it dies out4 ,it might be necessary1 perhaps1 to be able to know the number by which each species would be represented in a given region #aj1jjj years hence1 as much as for ,babbage to find what would be the place of every wheel in his new calculating machine at each movement4 ,it may be seen that unless some slight additional precaution be taken1 the species about to be born would at a certain era be reduced to too low a number4 ,there may be a thousand modes of ensuring its duration beyond that time2 one1 for example1 may be the rendering it more prolific1 but this would perhaps make it press too hard upon other species at other times4 ,now1 if it be an insect it may be made in one of its transformations to resemble a dead stick1 or a lichen1 or a stone1 so as to be less easily found by its enemies2 or if this would make it too strong1 an occasional variety of the species may have this advantage conferred upon it2 or if this would be still too much1 one sex of a certain variety4 ,probably there is scarcely a dash of colour on the wing or body1 of which the choice would be quite arbitrary1 or what might not affect its duration for thousands of years4 ,i have been told that the leaf-like expansions of the abdomen and thighs of a certain ,brazilian ,mantis turn from green to yellow as autumn advances1 together with the leaves of the plants among which it seeks for its prey4 ,now if species come in in succession1 such contrivances must sometimes be made1 and such relations predetermined between species1 as the ,mantis for example1 and plants not then existing1 but which it was foreseen would exist together with some particular climate at a given time4 ,but ,i cannot do justice to this train of speculation in a letter1 and will only say that it seems to me to offer a more beautiful subject for reasoning and reflecting on1 than the notion of great batches of species all coming in1 and afterwards going out at once4 ,early in ,october ,charles ,darwin1 for whose return from his noted voyage on the ,beagle ,lyell had more than once expressed an earnest desire1 arrived in ,england1 bringing with him a large collection of specimens and almost innumerable facts1 geological and biological1 the fruits of his travels4 ,the biological observations slowly ripened in ,darwin's mind till they had for their final result the ,origin of ,species4 ,the geological stirred ,lyell to immediate enthusiasm1 for they afforded a valuable support to some of the ideas which he had put forward to the ,principles4 ,the idea of the ,pampas going up1 he writes to ,darwin1 at the rate of an inch a century1 while the ,western ,coast and ,andes rise many feet and unequally1 has long been a dream of mine4 ,what a splendid field you have to write upon6 ,the enthusiasm evidently was not confined to words1 for ,darwin himself says in writing to ,professor ,henslow1 ,mr4 ,lyell has entered in the most good-natured manner1 and almost without being asked1 into all my plans4#hc ,the letter to ,darwin1#hd which is quoted above1 also contains a characteristic piece of advice4 ,don't accept any official scientific place if you can avoid it1 and tell no one ,i gave you this advice1 as they would all cry out against me as the preacher of anti-patriotic principles4 ,i fought against the calamity of being ,president of the ,geological ,society as long as ,i could4 ,all has gone on smoothly1 and it has not cost me more time than ,i anticipated2 but my question is1 whether the time annihilated by learned bodies 7'par les affaires administratives'7 is balanced by any good they do4 ,fancy exchanging ,herschel at the ,cape for ,herschel as ,president of the ,royal ,society1 which he so narrowly escaped being1 and ,i voting for him too6 ,i hope to be forgiven for that4 ,at least1 work as ,i did1 exclusively for yourself and for ,science for many years1 and do not prematurely incur the honour or the penalty of official dignities4 ,there are people who may be profitably employed in such duties1 because they would not work if not so engaged4 ,not very altruistic advice1 it may be feared1 but nevertheless bearing the stamp of practical wisdom4 ,committee-work and other official duties are terrible wasters of time1 and thus1 although often necessary and inevitable1 are rightly regarded as evils4 ,many men1 as ,lyell intimates1 have been seriously hindered in researches for which they were exceptionally fitted by allowing themselves to be at everyone's beck and call1 and getting their days cut to shreds by meetings4 ,so far has this gone in some cases1 that the high promise of early days has been very inadequately fulfilled1 and some great piece of work has been never completed4 ,if the spirit in which ,lyell writes were more frequent1 the common illusion that workers in science belong to some inferior branch of the public service would be dispelled1 and the business of scientific societies would sometimes run more smoothly2 at any rate1 it would be finished more quickly1 because no one would care to waste time over splitting hairs1 and hunting for knots in a bullrush4#he ,the year #ahcg1 like the preceding one1 was spent in quiet work1 though three months of the summer were devoted to a journey on the ,continent4 ,as regards the former1 it is evident that the book on which he was engaged had caused him more than ordinary difficulty1 for it appears to have progressed more slowly than can be explained either by the duties of the ,presidential chair1 which he resigned in the month of ,february of this year1 or by any distraction caused by other scientific work4 ,but a sentence in a letter written to one of his sisters at the beginning of ,may throws some light on the cause of the delay4 ,he says1 ,i have at last struck out a plan for the future splitting of the ',principles' into ',principles' and ',elements' as two separate works1 which pleases me very much1 so now ,i shall get on rapidly4 ,the summer journey was to ,denmark and the south of ,norway1 and this time ,mrs4 ,lyell was able to bear him company4 ,they left ,london early in ,june for ,hamburg1 crossing ,holstein to ,kiel1 and travelling thence to ,copenhagen4 ,here he set to work at once with ,dr4 ,beck to study fossil shells1 in the ,crown ,prince's cabinet and in the other museums of the city4 ,questions had arisen as to the nomenclature of various fossil species to which ,lyell had referred in his book1 on which ,dr4 ,beck differed from ,deshayes1 so that ,lyell was anxious to investigate some of the points for himself1 and to see the original type-specimens in ,linnaeus' collection1 since these1 in some cases1 had been wrongly identified by ,lamarck and other palaeontologists4 ,during a drive with the ,crown ,prince1 he had the opportunity of examining an interesting section of the drift a few miles from ,copenhagen1 where it was composed to a great depth of innumerable rolled blocks of chalk with a few of granite intermixed4 ,fossils were numerous in the chalk4444 ,prince ,christian set four men to work1 while the horses were baiting1 to clear away the talus1 by which ,i saw that the boulders of chalk were in fact in beds1 with occasional layers of sand between4 ,on reaching ,norway ,lyell made several expeditions from ,christiania1 in the course of which he examined a clay which occupies valleys and other parts of the granite region4 ,this1 which sometimes is found more than #fjj feet above sea-level1 he states is a marine deposit containing recent species of shells1 such as now inhabit the fjords of ,norway4 ,this visit to ,norway gave ,lyell the opportunity of dispelling some erroneous ideas as to the relation of the granite to the transition 7or lower ,palaeozoic7 strata4 ,this granite he found to be intrusive into these rocks1 and into the much more ancient gneiss on which they rested4 ,the sedimentary rocks near the junction were much altered1 the limestones being changed into marble1 the shale into micaceous schists2 the fossils being more completely obliterated in the latter than in the former case4 ,some remarks which he makes as to the relations of the granite and gneiss indicate the closeness and carefulness of his observations4 ,this gneiss 444 this most ancient rock is so beautifully soldered on to the granite1 so nicely threaded by veins large and small1 or in other cases so shades into the granite1 that had you not known the immense difference in age1 you would be half-staggered with the suspicion that all was made at one batch4#hf ,from ,copenhagen1 on their return1 they went to ,luebeck and drove thence to ,hamburg1 across the sand and boulder formation of the ,baltic1 and so through the north of ,germany4 ,among these boulders ,lyell recognised the red granite1 which he had seen in ,norway sending off veins into the orthoceratite limestones and associated ,silurian rocks4 ,this had been carried1 with small gravel of the same1 by ice of course1 over the south of ,norway1 and thence down the south-west of ,sweden1 and all over ,jutland and ,holstein down to the ,elbe1 from whence they come to the ,weser1 and so to this or near this 7,wesel-on-the-,rhine74 ,but it is curious that about ,muenster and ,osnabruck1 the low ,secondary mountains have stopped them2 hills of chalk1 ,muschelkalk1 old coal1 etc41 which rise a few hundred feet in general above the great plain of north and north-west ,germany1 effectually arrest their passage4 ,this then was already dry land when ,holstein1 and all the ,baltic as far as ,osnabruck or the ,teutoberger ,waldhills1 was submerged4#hg ,at the end of ,september they returned to ,london through ,paris and ,normandy1 and the rest of the year was mainly devoted to the completion of the ,elements of ,geology4 ,little seems to have happened in the earlier part of the next year 7#ahch72 and in the summer ,lyell went northward1 halting on the way1 at ,newcastle-on-,tyne1 to attend the meeting of the ,british ,association4 ,here he was made ,president of the ,geological ,section1 which appears to have been very successful1 for he writes that the section was crowded--from #a1jjj to #a1ejj persons always present4 ,the meeting1 altogether1 was a large one2 but as the total number of tickets issued only amounted to #b1djj1 it seems probable that the general public was admitted more freely than is the custom at the present day4 ,sedgwick also on one occasion attracted a large crowd1 for we are told that he delivered a most eloquent lecture to #c1jjj people on the ,sea-shore4 ,geology1 no doubt1 has made great advances since that day1 little more than half a century ago1 but at the cost of much loss of attractiveness4 ,it was then simple in its terminology1 and fairly intelligible to people of ordinary education2 now these are frightened away by papers bristling with technical terms and ,greek-born words1 and nothing but the prospect of a scrimmage would draw together #ejj people to a meeting of ,section ,c at the present day4 ,commonly the audience hardly amounts to one-fifth of that number4 ,geologists1 perhaps1 might consider with advantage whether a little abstinence from long words might not make the science more generally intelligible1 and thus more attractive1 without any loss of real precision4 ,the ,elements of ,geology was finally published a few weeks before the ,newcastle meeting1 and the work of recasting the ,principles went on at intervals in preparation for the sixth edition1 which appeared in #ahdj4 ,if1 in accordance with the maxim1 a nation is happy which has no history1 ,lyell ought to have passed almost a year in a state of felicity1 for nothing is recorded between ,september #fth1 #ahch1 when he writes to ,charles ,darwin from ,kinnordy1 and ,august #ast1 #ahci1 when he writes to ,dr4 ,fitton from the same place4 ,both these letters are interesting4 ,the former discusses the relation of ,darwin's theory of the formation of coral islands with ,e4 de ,beaumont's idea of the contemporaneity of parallel mountain chains1 which has been already mentioned4 ,one passage also throws light upon the difficulties with which the ,british ,association in its earlier days had to contend4 ,some of the most influential newspapers had set themselves to write it down--needless to say1 without success4 ,good sense sometimes is too strong even for newspapers4 ,but ,lyell thus urges ,darwin#hh3-- ,do not let ,broderip1 or the ,times or the ,age or ,john ,bull1 nor any papers1 whether of saints or sinners1 induce you to join in running down the ,british ,association4 ,i do not mean to insinuate that you ever did so1 but ,i have myself often seen its faults in a strong light1 and am aware of what may be urged against philosophers turning public orators1 etc4 ,but ,i am convinced--although it is not the way ,i love to spend my own time--that in this country no importance is attached to any body of men who do not make occasional demonstrations of their strength in public meetings4 ,it is a country where1 as ,tom ,moore justly complained1 a most exaggerated importance is attached to the faculty of thinking on your legs1 and where1 as ,dan ,o',connell very well knows1 nothing is to be got in the way of homage or influence1 or even a fair share of power1 without agitation4 ,far-reaching words1 the truth of which has been demonstrated again and again during the years which have elapsed since they were written4 ,lyell lays his finger on the weakest spot in the nature of the true-born ,briton3 he is deaf to quiet reasoning1 and frightened by loud shoutings4 ,the second letter1 that of #ahci1 is addressed to ,dr4 ,fitton1 who had written for the ,edinburgh ,review a criticism of the ,principles of ,geology1 in which he had expressed the opinion that ,lyell had insufficiently acknowledged the value of ,hutton's work4 ,from this charge ,lyell defends himself1 pointing out that1 valuable as were ,hutton's contributions to the philosophy of geology1 he was by no means the first in the field--that there were also mighty men of old to whom he felt bound to do justice1 even at the risk of seeming to undervalue the great ,scotchman4 ,he points out that ,hutton's work occupies a fair amount of space in the section of the ,principles which is devoted to an historical sketch of the earlier geologists3-- ,in my first chapter1 he writes1 ,i gave ,hutton credit for first separating geology from other sciences1 and declaring it to have no concern with the origin of things2#hi and after rapidly discussing a great number of celebrated writers1 ,i pause to give1 comparatively speaking1 full-length portraits of ,werner and ,hutton1 giving the latter the decided palm of theoretical excellence1 and alluding to the two grand points in which he advanced the science--first1 the igneous origin of granite2 secondly1 that the so-called primitive rocks were altered strata4#ij ,i dwelt emphatically on the complete revolution brought about by his new views respecting granite1 and entered fully on ,playfair's illustrations and defence of ,hutton4444 ,the mottoes of my first two volumes were especially selected from ,playfair's ',huttonian ,theory' because--although ,i was brought round slowly1 against some of my early prejudices1 to adopt ,playfair's doctrines to the full extent--,i was desirous to acknowledge his and ,hutton's priority4 ,and ,i have a letter of ,basil ,hall's1 in which1 after speaking of points in which ,hutton approached nearer to my doctrines than his father1 ,sir ,james ,hall1 he comments on the manner in which my very title-page did homage to the ,huttonians1 and complimented me for thus disavowing all pretensions to be the originator of the theory of the adequacy of modern causes4#ia ,in the following month ,lyell attended a meeting of the ,british ,association at ,birmingham1 and was invited1 together with several of the leading men of science there present1 to dine and spend the night at ,drayton ,manor1 the residence of ,sir ,r4 ,peel1 near ,tamworth4 ,in a letter to one of his sisters1 ,lyell gives an interesting sketch of his impressions of the great statesman3-- ,some of the party said next day that ,peel never gave an opinion for or against any point from extra-caution1 but ,i really thought that he expressed himself as freely1 even on subjects bordering on the political1 as a well-bred man could do when talking to another with whose opinions he was unacquainted4 ,he was very curious to know what ,vernon ,harcourt the ,president for that year had said on the connection of religion and science4 ,i told him of it1 and my own ideas1 and in the middle of my strictures on the ,dean of ,york's pamphlet#ib ,i exclaimed1 ',by-the-bye1 ,i have only just remembered that he is your brother-in-law4' ,he said1 ',yes1 he is a clever man and a good writer1 but if men will not read any one book written by scientific men on such a subject1 they must take the consequences4' 444 ,if ,i had not known ,sir ,robert's extensive acquirements1 ,i should only have thought him an intelligent1 well-informed country gentleman2 not slow1 but without any quickness1 free from that kind of party feeling which prevents men from appreciating those who differ from them1 taking pleasure in improvements1 without enthusiasm1 not capable of joining in a hearty laugh at a good joke1 but cheerful1 and not preventing ,lord ,northampton1 ,whewell1 and others from making merry4 ,he is without a tincture of science1 and interested in it only so far as knowing its importance in the arts1 and as a subject with which a large body of persons of talent are occupied4#ic ,the next year 7#ahdj7 appears to have slipped away uneventfully1 for only a single letter serves as a record for the twelvemonth1 and that is but a short one addressed to ,babbage asking him to look up one or two geological matters during a journey through ,normandy to ,paris4 ,as it is dated from ,london on the #aath of ,august1 this looks as if ,lyell did not go during the summer farther than ,scotland1 where he presided over the ,geological ,section at the meeting of the ,british ,association4#id ,the earlier part of #ahda appears to have been equally uneventful2 but the summer of that year saw the beginning of a long journey and the opening of a new geological horizon1 for ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,lyell crossed the ,atlantic on a visit to ,canada and the ,united ,states4 ,,footnotes3 #ff ,at ,king's ,college and at the ,royal ,institution4 ,see pp4 #ga1 #gb4 #fg ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #dja4 #fh ,huxley1 ,man's ,place in ,nature1 p4 #aba4 #fi ,only the skull was found1 and that imperfect2 moreover1 the missing part could not be discovered4 ,the same is true of the other animal remains1 so that they could hardly have been victims of the ,deluge4 #gj ,man's ,place in ,nature1 p4 #aef4 #ga ,turbo littoreus1 ,mytilus edulis1 ,cardium edule4 #gb ,the term1 of course1 is used here in the sense of either a slaty rock or a hard shale4 #gc ,the ruins of which 7in the ,bay of ,baiae7 gradually sank after the middle of the fifth century until 7probably towards the end of the fifteenth century7 the floor was more than twenty feet under water4 ,since then it has risen up again4--,principles of ,geology1 chap4 xxx4 #gd ,he had expressed his doubts1 in this and the former editions1 as to the validity of the proofs of a gradual rise of land in ,sweden4 #ge ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #dcf4 #gf ,lyell's specimens appear to have come from ,kured1 two miles north of ,uddevalla1 and only one hundred feet above the sea1 but barnacles were obtained by ,brongniart at two hundred feet4--,principles of ,geology1 chap4 xxxi4 #gg ,antiquity of ,man1 chap4 iii4 #gh ,principles of ,geology1 ch4 xxxi4 ,antiquity of ,man1 ch4 iii4 #gi ,on the ,structure of ,large ,mineral ,masses1 etc4 ,trans4 ,geol4 ,soc4 ,lond41 iii4 p4 #dfa4 #hj ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #dfj4 #ha ,the weakness of his eyes was always more or less of a trouble4 #hb ,it is past in the text 7,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #dfh71 but ,i think this an obvious misprint4 #hc ,life of ,charles ,darwin1 vol4 i4 p4 #bgc4 #hd ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 i4 p4 #dge4 #he ,it is but rarely that1 so far as the writer has seen1 this remark applies to the committees of scientific societies in ,london1 but the amount of time thus wasted in the universities1 judging from his own experience of one of them1 is really melancholy4 #hf ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bb4 #hg ,ibid41 vol4 ii4 p4 #bj4 #hh ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 ii4 p4 #de4 #hi ,though undoubtedly this severance of geology and cosmogony was very helpful at the time to the progress of the former1 the justice of it may be questioned2 and ,lyell's approval would not be endorsed by every geologist at the present day1 though probably it would still commend itself to the majority4 #ij ,while this is true of many of the so-called primitive rocks1 it is now generally believed that no inconsiderable portion are really abnormal or modified igneous rocks4 #ia ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dh4 #ib ,the ,very ,reverend ,w4 ,cockburn1 ,d4,d41 who testified against the ,association in a pamphlet entitled ,the ,dangers of ,peripatetic ,philosophy 7published in #ahch74 ,when the ,association met at ,york in #ahdd1 he read a paper before the ,geological ,section1 criticising that science1 and propounding a cosmogonical theory of his own4 ,he was severely handled by ,professor ,sedgwick1 but published his paper under the title1 ,the ,bible defended against the ,british ,association4 ,this1 though an exceptionally silly production1 had a large sale4 7,life and ,letters of ,sedgwick1 vol4 ii4 p4 #gf47 #ic ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ea4 #id ,held at ,glasgow1 beginning ,september #agth4 ,an allusion1 however1 during his ,american journey seems to imply a visit to ,france this year4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,geological ,,work ,,in ,,north ,,america4 ,this is a summary of their doings on the opposite side of the ,atlantic in ,lyell's own words3 ,in all1 we were absent about thirteen months1 less than one of them being spent on the ocean1 nearly ten in active geological field work1 and a little more than two in cities1 during which ,i gave by invitation some geological lectures to large and most patient audiences4 ,to this may be added three dozen boxes of specimens1 and a mass of notes on the raised beaches of the ,canadian lakes1 the glacial drift1 the falls of ,niagara1 and other questions of post-tertiary geology1 as well as on the tertiary1 cretaceous1 coal1 and older rocks4 ,these afterwards produced a crop of about twenty papers1 which appeared in various scientific periodicals4 ,the principal results and the general impressions of the journey were worked up into a book entitled ,travels in ,north ,america1 which was published in #ahde4 ,a geologist who has been trained among the scenery of ,britain finds his first view of the ,alps to be the beginning of a new chapter in the ,book of ,nature1 but a visit to ,america more like the beginning of a new volume4 ,there almost everything is on a colossal scale--rivers1 lakes1 forests1 prairies1 distances1 such as cannot be matched1 at any rate in the more accessible parts of ,europe4 ,one may read of plains where the sun rises and sets as from a sea2 of lakes1 like ,superior1 as big as ,ireland2 of falls1 like ,niagara1 where the neighbouring ground never ceases to quiver with the thud of the precipitated water2 of rivers well nigh half a league wide while their waters still are far from the sea4 ,but such things must be seen to be realised4 ,in our own island ,nature seems to be working at the present time on a scale comparatively puny2 she must be watched as she puts forth her full strength before the adequacy of modern causes can be duly appreciated1 and the history of the past can be understood by comparing it with that of the present4 ,the invitation to cross the ,atlantic hardly could have reached ,lyell at a more opportune epoch of his life4 ,in his forty-fourth year1 he was in full vigour both of mind and of body4 ,a long course of study and of travel in ,europe had trained him to be a keen observer1 had enabled him to appreciate the significance of phenomena1 and had supplied him with stores of knowledge on which he could draw for the interpretation of difficulties4 ,america also offered a splendid field for work4 ,much of the country had been settled and brought under cultivation at no distant date2 new tracts were being made accessible almost daily4 ,geologists of mark were few and far between1 so that large areas awaited exploration1 and in many places the traveller found a virgin field4 ,the ,geological ,survey of ,canada was just then being organised1 the labours of the ,national ,survey in the ,united ,states had not yet begun1 though ,state surveys were at work1 and had already borne good fruit4 ,indeed1 while ,lyell was in the country1 the third meeting of the ,association of ,american ,geologists was held at ,boston1 and among those present were several men whose names will always occupy an honoured place in the history of the science4 ,still1 at almost every step the observer might be rewarded by some discovery or by some fascinating problem which would give a direction to his future work4 ,the ,lyells left ,liverpool on ,july #bjth1 #ahda1 and reached ,halifax on the #cast of the month1 whence they went on to ,boston1 arriving there on ,august #bnd4 ,the close resemblance of the shells scattered on the shore at the latter place to those in a similar situation in ,britain was one of the first things which ,lyell noted2 for he found that about one-third were actually identical1 a large number of the remainder being geographical representatives1 and only a few affording characteristic or peculiar forms4 ,for this correspondence1 which1 as he writes1 had a geological significance1 he was not prepared4 ,the drifts around ,boston1 good sections of which had been exposed in making cuttings for railways1 resembled very closely the deposits which he had seen in ,scandinavia4 ,were it not1 he says1 for the distinctness of the plants and of the birds1 he could have believed himself in ,scotland1 or in some part of ,northern ,europe4 ,these masses of sand and pebbles1 derived generally from the more immediate neighbourhood1 though containing sometimes huge blocks which had travelled from great distances1 occasionally exceeded #bjj feet in depth4 ,commonly1 however1 they were only of a moderate thickness1 and were found to rest upon polished and striated surfaces of granite1 gneiss1 and mica-schist4 ,the latter effects1 at any rate1 would now be generally attributed to the action of land ice1 but ,lyell thought that the great extent of low country1 remote from any high mountains1 made this agent practically impossible1 and supposed that the work both of transport and of attrition had been done during a period of submergence by floating ice and grounding bergs4 ,after a few days' halt at ,boston1 they moved on to ,newhaven1 where ,professor ,silliman showed him dykes and intrusive sheets of columnar greenstone altering red sandstone1 their general appearance and association recalling ,salisbury ,crags and other familiar sections near ,edinburgh4 ,in this district ,lyell found the grasshoppers as numerous and as noisy as in ,italy1 watched the fireflies sparkling in the darkness1 and had his first sight of a humming-bird1 and of a wildflower hardly less gorgeous1 the scarlet lobelia4 ,from ,newhaven they went to ,new ,york1 and up the ,hudson ,river in one of the great steamers1 past the noble colonnade of basalt called the ,palisades1 and along the winding channel through the gneissic hills to ,albany4 ,here a geological survey had been established by the ,state1 and its members had already done good work1 which1 however1 was not altogether welcome to its employers1 for they had dispelled all hopes of finding coal within the limits of the ,state4 ,this1 as ,lyell says1 was a great disappointment to many2 but it did good in checking the rashness of private speculation1 and in preventing the waste of the large sums of money which had been annually squandered in trials to find coal in strata which really lay below the ,carboniferous system4 ,the advantage to the revenues of the state by the stoppage of this outlay and the more profitable direction given to private enterprise were sufficient1 ,lyell remarks1 to indemnify the country1 on mere utilitarian grounds1 for the sum of more than two hundred thousand dollars so munificently expended on geological investigation4 ,from ,albany ,lyell travelled to ,niagara4 ,the journey was planned in order to give him an opportunity of examining a connected series of formations from the base of the ,palaeozoic1 where it rested on the ancient gneiss1 to the coalfield of ,pennsylvania2 and he had the great advantage of being accompanied by one of the most eminent of ,american geologists1 ,mr4 ,james ,hall4 ,in the course of this third tour1 ,lyell writes1#ie ,i became convinced that we must turn to the ,new ,world if we want to see in perfection the oldest monuments of the earth's history1 so far as relates to its earliest inhabitants4 ,certainly in no other country are these ancient strata developed on a grander scale1 or more plentifully charged with fossils2 and as they are nearly horizontal1 the order of their relative position is always clear and unequivocal4 ,they exhibit1 moreover1 in their range from the ,hudson ,river to the ,niagara some fine examples of the gradual manner in which certain sets of strata thin out when followed for hundreds of miles2 while others1 previously wanting1 become intercalated in the series4 ,he observed1 also1 that while some species of the fossils contained in these rocks were common to both sides of the ,atlantic1 the majority were different2 thus disproving the statement which at that time was often made--namely1 that in the rocks older than the ,carboniferous system the fossil fauna in different parts of the globe was almost everywhere the same1 and showing that1 however close the present analogy of forms may be1 there is evidence of the same law of variation in space as now prevails in the living creation4 ,lyell made a thorough study of the ,falls of ,niagara1 to which he paid a second visit before his return to ,england4 ,the first view of these ,falls1 like the first sight of a great snow-clad peak1 is one of those epochs of life of which the memory can never fade4 ,it stirred ,lyell to an unwonted enthusiasm4 ,at the first view1 from a distance of about three miles1 with not a house in sight--it would be impossible1 we think1 to find such a spot now2 nothing but the greenwood1 the falling water1 and the white foam--he thought the falls more beautiful but less grand than he had expected2 but1 after spending some days in the neighbourhood1 now watching the river sweeping onwards to its final plunge1 here in the turmoil of the rapids1 there in its gliding1 so smooth but so irresistible2 now gazing at that mighty wall of 'shattered chrysoprase' and rainbow-tinted spray1 which floats up like the steam of ,etna2 now looking down from the brink of the crags below the fall upon those rapids1 where the billows of green water roll and plunge like the waves of the ocean1 he at last learned by degrees to comprehend the wonders of the scene1 and to feel its full magnificence4 ,but1 keenly as he might be impressed with the poetic grandeur of the falls1 he could not forget the scientific questions which were ever present to his mind4 ,the gorge of ,niagara offered a problem for solution which had for him a special fascination4 ,not only did it illustrate on a grand scale the potencies of water in rapid motion1 but also it furnished data for estimating the period during which this agent had been at work4 ,the gorge has been carved in a plateau of ,silurian rock1 which terminates1 seven miles below the falls1 in a precipitous escarpment overhanging ,queenstown4 ,there was a time when that gorge did not exist1 when the river first took its course along the plateau on its way from ,lake ,erie1 and plunged over the brink of the escarpment4 ,the valley at first was nothing more than a shallow trench excavated in the drift which covers the surface of the country--such an one as may still be seen between ,lake ,erie and the falls--but the river1 slowly and steadily1 has cut its way back through the rocky plateau from the first site of the falls near ,queenstown to their present position4 ,the upper part of this plateau consists of a thick bed of hard limestone1 but beneath this the deposits become softer2 and the lowest bed is the most perishable4 ,the water1 as it plunges down1 undermines the overlying rock4 ,the gorge began at once to be developed1 and it has ever since continued to retreat towards ,lake ,erie4 ,every year makes some slight change4 ,this becomes more marked when old histories are consulted and old drawings compared with the present aspect of the scene4 ,father ,hennepin's sketch1 of which ,lyell gives a copy1#if rude and incorrect as it is1 proves beyond all question that the changes in the neighbourhood of ,table ,rock have been very considerable1 for it shows that on this side a third and much narrower cascade fell athwart the general course of the main mass of water4 ,this cascade1 by the time of ,kalm's#ig visit in #agea1 had ceased to be conspicuous1 and had quite disappeared before the date of ,lyell's visit4 ,the ,horseshoe ,fall also at the present time is less worthy of the name than it was at that date1 for its symmetry has been seriously marred by a deep notch which the northern stream has cut in the more central part of the curve4#ih ,careful inquiry convinced ,lyell that the slow recession of the falls was an indubitable fact1 and that its rate1 on an average1 was about a foot a year4 ,as the gorge is about seven miles long1 this would fix its beginning about #ce1jjj years ago4#ii ,from ,niagara ,falls they travelled1 still in ,mr4 ,hall's company1 by ,buffalo to ,geneva1 examining on the way some red1 green1 and bluish-grey marls1 with beds of gypsum and occasional salt springs1 which1 though older than the coal measures of ,england1 closely resembled in appearance the upper part of the ,new ,red ,sandstone of ,britain4 ,finally1 after crossing the outcrops of the ,devonian system1 they reached ,pennsylvania1 where ,lyell obtained his first view of the coal measures of ,north ,america1 and was no less interested than surprised to find how closely the whole series corresponded with that of ,britain4 ,he saw sandstones such as are used for building in ,newcastle or ,edinburgh1 dark shales often full of ferns 'spread out as in a herbarium1' beds and nodules of clay-ironstone1 seams of bituminous coal1 varying in thickness from a few inches to some yards1 and1 beside these1 an underlying coarse grit1 passing down into a conglomerate1 which was very like the millstone grit of ,england4 ,the underclays beneath the seam of coal were full of stems and rootlets of ,stigmaria1 and the sight of these confirmed him in the opinion that the coal was formed of the remains of plants which had grown upon the spot4#ajj ,after examining the district1 they returned to ,albany1 and went thence to ,new ,york and ,philadelphia1 picking up on the way as much geological information as was possible4 ,new ,jersey afforded some highly interesting sections of rocks belonging to the ,cretaceous system1 for these1 though in mineral character resembling the greensands on the eastern side of the ,atlantic1 contained fossils which corresponded more closely with those of the white chalk1 some species being actually identical4 ,this fact was another proof that1 though there had been in past ages a general similarity in the fauna of any period1 geographical provinces had existed no less than they do at the present time4 ,lyell had examined1 as mentioned above1 the bituminous coals in the undisturbed region of ,pennsylvania1 the next step was to study the beds of anthracite1 with the associated strata1 in the folded and broken ridges of the ,alleghany ,mountains4 ,in this part of his work he had the inestimable advantage of being guided by ,professor ,h4 ,o4 ,rogers1 whose name is inseparably connected with the geology of that classic region4 ,the ,alleghanies or ,appalachians consist of a series of ,silurian1 ,devonian1 and ,carboniferous strata in orderly sequence1 folded 7to use ,lyell's words7 as if they had been subjected to a great lateral pressure when in a soft and yielding state1 large portions having afterwards been removed by denudation4 ,the long uniform1 parallel ridges1 with intervening valleys like so many gigantic wrinkles and furrows1 are in close connection with the geological structure1 and the rocks are most disturbed on the south-eastern flank of the chain1 where the folds sometimes bend over to the west2 in other words1 the greatest disturbances are on the side nearest to the fundamental gneiss and the basin of the ,atlantic--facts which probably stand in the relation of effect and cause4 ,it was a surprise to ,lyell1 on reaching the anthracite district around ,pottsville on the ,schuylkill1 to see a flourishing manufacturing town with the tall chimneys of a hundred furnaces1 burning night and day1 yet quite free from smoke4 ,special contrivances1 of course1 are requisite to secure the combustion of anthracite1 especially in household fireplaces1 but he had no hesitation in declaring that he preferred the use of it1 notwithstanding the stove-like heat produced1 to that of the bituminous coal consumed in ,london1 with the penalty of living in an atmosphere dark with smoke and foul with smuts4 ,the seams of anthracite in this district are sometimes worked in open-air excavations1 but as the strata have been bent into a vertical position the beds above and below1 when the anthracite has been quarried out1 are left like the walls of a fissure1 and thus can be examined with the greatest ease4 ,here also the roof of the seam proved to be a dark shale full of the usual plant-remains1 among which were some ,british species of ferns1 and the floor was an underclay containing the stems and rootlets of ,stigmaria4 ,lyell also observed that the beds of detrital materials--sandstones1 shales1 etc4--were less persistent than those of coal1 and that the way in which the former became thicker towards the south-east indicated that this was the direction of the ancient land region from which they had been derived4 ,the result of his examination satisfied him that the anthracite of the ,appalachians was identical in age1 generally speaking1 with the bituminous coal which he had previously examined1 and was merely a fragment of the great continuous coalfield of ,pennsylvania1 ,virginia1 and ,ohio1 which lies about forty miles away to the westward4 ,after returning to ,philadelphia ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,lyell went1 via ,new ,york1 to ,boston1 where he had been engaged to deliver a course of twelve lectures on geology at the ,lowell ,institute4 ,to the courses here admission was free1 but the tickets were given under certain restrictions4 ,for ,lyell's lectures about #d1ejj were issued1 and the class1 he states1 usually consisted of more than #c1jjj persons4 ,it had therefore to be sub-divided and each lecture to be repeated4 ,the audience was composed of persons of both sexes1 of every station in society1 from the most affluent and eminent in the various learned professions to the humblest mechanics1 all well-dressed1 and observing the utmost decorum4 ,at the conclusion of the lectures the ,lyells travelled southwards1 so that he might take advantage of the more genial climate and continue his geological work in the open air4 ,he first halted at ,richmond in ,virginia1 and from that place visited the ,tertiary deposits in the vicinity of the ,james ,river4 ,the more interesting of these are of ,miocene age1 and he observed that the fossils of ,maryland and ,virginia resembled those of ,touraine and the neighbourhood of ,bordeaux more closely than those from the coralline ,crag of ,suffolk1 especially in the presence of genera indicative of a warm climate4 ,from this place they travelled across the pine barrens--where their train was stopped for the night by the slippery condition of the rails--to ,weldon in ,north ,carolina4 ,here ,lyell saw the ,great ,dismal ,swamp1 a morass which extends for about forty miles from the neighbourhood of this town to ,norfolk in ,virginia4 ,like the bogs of ,ireland1 this marshy plain1 some five-and-twenty miles across1 is rather higher at the middle than at the edges4 ,its surface is carpeted with mosses1 and densely covered with ferns and reeds1 above which many evergreen shrubs and trees flourish1 especially the white cedar 7,cupressus thyoides71 which stands firmly supported by its long tap-roots in the softest parts of the quagmire4 ,over the whole1 the deciduous cypress 7,taxodium distichum7 is seen to tower with its spreading top1 in full leaf1 in the season when the sun's rays are hottest1 and when1 if not interrupted by a screen of foliage1 they might soon cause the fallen leaves and dead plants of the preceding autumn to decompose1 instead of adding their contributions to the peaty mass4 ,on the surface of the whole morass lie innumerable trunks of large and tall trees1 blown down by the winds1 while thousands of others are buried at various depths in the black mire below4 ,they remind the geologist of the prostrate position of large stems of ,sigillaria and ,lepidodendron1 converted into coal in ancient ,carboniferous rocks4#aja ,at ,charleston they had practically passed beyond the southern limit of the winter snowfall1 the greatest enemy of the field-geologist1 and could carry on work without fear of interruption4 ,here they found flowers at the end of ,december still lingering in the gardens1 and were in the region of the palmetto palm4 ,few things during this rather lengthy journey impressed ,lyell more than the facility of locomotion in a district which1 comparatively speaking1 was a new settlement1 and was still in places thinly peopled1 together with the general good quality of the accommodation for travellers4 ,in this respect they had fared much worse during the previous year1 when they were travelling through some of the more populous parts of ,france1 such as ,touraine and ,brittany4 ,after a journey through the pinewoods1 they reached ,augusta in ,georgia1 where another group of ,tertiary deposits invited a halt4 ,those belonging to the ,eocene period lie further down the ,savannah ,river1 so that a journey was made for the purpose of examining them1 in the course of which1 near the town of the same name as the river1 ,lyell also saw the clay in which remains of the mastodon and of other extinct mammals had been found4 ,the muddy beach1 with the tracks of racoons and opossums1 gave him some hints as to the history of fossil footprints1 so that on the whole very much interesting geology was the reward of a three weeks' stay in ,south ,carolina4 ,then they once more turned their faces northward1 and made their way1 working at geology as they went1 to ,philadelphia1 where they found themselves again in the region of colder winters at the present1 and of erratic boulders as memorials of the past4 ,six weeks were spent in ,philadelphia1 but ,lyell's time was largely taken up by the delivery of a short course of lectures on geology4 ,pennsylvania1 however1 added to his experiences in another way1 for the state had passed through a commercial crisis1 and was unable to pay the interest on its funded debt4 ,the soreness produced by this repudiation will not be readily forgotten1 for nearly two-thirds of the stock--the whole amount of which was eight millions sterling--was held by ,british owners1 so that the loss was felt heavily on this side of the ,atlantic4 ,in his ,travels ,lyell gives a brief history of this transaction1 and discusses the political causes of a crisis which had been hardly less disastrous in ,america than in ,england4 ,they reached ,new ,york in the month of ,march1 and spent several weeks there1 for in that neighbourhood both the ancient crystalline rocks and the modern drift1 with its erratics1 afforded ,lyell ample materials for study1 each of these being then reckoned 7and they have not ceased to be so counted7 among the most difficult questions of geology4 ,towards the middle of ,april he proceeded northward1 in order to examine the perplexing schists and less altered sedimentary deposits of the ,taconic range1 rocks which from that time to this have given ample employment to geologists4 ,after this he found an opportunity of making use of the lessons learnt on the flats by the ,james ,river1 for he went to ,springfield and examined the famous footprints in the sandstone of ,connecticut4 ,as the deposit was referred to the ,trias1 and the footprints to birds1 they were supposed to indicate the existence of this class of the animal kingdom at the beginning of the ,secondary era4 ,they have1 however1 now lost their special interest1 since they are generally assigned to reptiles4 ,after the middle of ,april was past1 the travellers again reached ,boston1 from which city an excursion was made in order to study the ,tertiary deposits of the island called ,martha's ,vineyard1 off the coast of ,massachusetts4 ,returning to ,philadelphia early in ,may1 they went by ,baltimore westward to the valley of the ,ohio1 in order to examine the undisturbed country beyond the folded district of the ,alleghany ,mountains4 ,by this journey another section was1 in fact1 run across the great coalfield of the ,eastern ,states1 but considerably to the south of that which had been examined in the autumn of the preceding year4 ,this proved no less interesting than the former one4 ,at ,brownsville1 to take one instance only1 a seam of bituminous coal1 ten feet in thickness1 was seen cropping out in the river cliff by the side of a large tributary of the ,ohio1 where it was worked by horizontal galleries4 ,pittsburg and other interesting localities in the neighbourhood were also visited1 and then the ,lyells descended the ,ohio ,river to ,cincinnati4 ,he had thus traversed in descending order the succession of strata from the ,carboniferous to the ,lower ,silurian or ,ordovician system1 which is exposed in the neighbourhood of that town4 ,this1 however1 was not the only attraction offered by ,cincinnati4 ,some two-and-twenty miles distant is the famous ,big ,bone ,lick in ,kentucky4 ,here some saline springs break out on a nearly level and boggy river plain1 which are still attractive to wild animals1 and often in past time lured them to their death in the adjacent quagmires4 ,here the bones of the mastodon and the elephant1 of the megalonyx1 stag1 horse1 and bison1 have all been found1 some in great numbers2 and the last-named animals had frequented the springs within the memory of persons who were living at the time of ,lyell's visit4 ,these bones are generally embedded in a black mud1 at a depth of about a dozen feet below the surface of the creek4 ,lyell suggests that very probably the heavy mastodons and elephants were lost by shoving one another off the tracks and into the more marshy ground as they struggled to satisfy themselves at the springs2 just as horses1 cattle1 and deer get pushed into the stream in thronging to the rivers on the pampas of ,south ,america4 ,from ,cincinnati the travellers struck northward to ,cleveland on ,lake ,erie1 going across a region which at that time was still being cleared and settled1 and getting an experience of that ,american form of travellers' torture called a corduroy road4 ,the lake-ridges--curious mounds or terraces of water-worn materials--in the neighbourhood of ,cleveland afforded a new subject for an investigation which was continued in the vicinity of ,ontario4 ,but before reaching this lake ,lyell spent a week at the ,falls of ,niagara1 revising and enlarging the work already done4 ,during the time he investigated the buried channel which appears to lead from the whirlpool to ,st4 ,davids1 a league or so to the west of ,queenstown4 ,this was supposed by ,lyell and many subsequent geologists to indicate part of an old course of the ,st4 ,lawrence1 which had afterwards been blocked up by glacial drifts4 ,it is1 however1 according to ,professor ,j4 ,w4 ,spencer1 only a branch of a buried valley1 outside the ,niagara canyon and much shallower than it1 which has been cut through by the present ,st4 ,lawrence1 and has merely produced an elongation of the chasm at the ,whirlpool4#ajb ,another series of lake-ridges was examined in the neighbourhood of ,toronto4 ,here ,lyell traced them to a height of #fhj feet above the level of ,ontario1 seeing in all no less than eleven1 some of them much reminding him of the oesar which he had examined in ,sweden4 ,in regard to these lake-ridges he writes thus3-- ,with the exception of the parallel roads or shelves of ,glenroy and some neighbouring glens of the ,western ,highlands in ,scotland1 ,i never saw so remarkable an example of banks1 terraces1 and accumulations of stratified sand and gravel1 maintaining1 over wide areas1 so perfect a horizontality1 as in the district north of ,toronto4#ajc ,leaving ,toronto on ,june #ahth1 they descended the ,st4 ,lawrence to ,montreal and ,quebec4 ,the neighbourhood of either town afforded opportunities for much interesting work1 especially in the drift deposits2 the underlying ice-worn surfaces of crystalline or ,palaeozoic rock reminding ,lyell of what he had seen in ,scandinavia4 ,at ,montreal1 the great hill1 which gives its name to the town built upon its lower slopes1 affords some highly interesting sections4 ,it is composed of ,palaeozoic limestone1 which has been pierced by more than one mass of coarsely crystalline intrusive rock and cleft by many dykes of a more compact character4 ,near the junction with the larger intrusive masses the limestone becomes conspicuously crystalline1 and the fossils disappear1 just as in the cases which ,lyell had already seen about the border of granite in ,scandinavia4 ,some also of the igneous rocks now possess a further interest1 for they contain nepheline1 a mineral not very common4 ,this1 however1 had not been recognised at the time of ,lyell's visit4 ,the limestone in some of the quarries is wonderfully ice-worn1 and the overlying drifts are in many ways remarkable4 ,of these drifts1 ,lyell examined various sections1 at heights of from #fj to #bjj feet above the ,st4 ,lawrence1 finding plenty of sea-shells1#ajd the common mussel being in one place especially abundant4 ,he also examined some sections of stratified drifts between ,montreal and ,quebec1 but without obtaining any fossils1 though they had been found by ,captain ,bayford and others4 ,the drifts1 however1 near the latter city were more prolific4 ,with their shells1 indeed1 he was already1 to some extent1 familiar1 for in the year #ahce he had received a collection from ,captain ,bayford4 ,this happened to reach ,london at a time when ,dr4 ,beck of ,copenhagen was with him1 and great was our surprise1 he writes1 on opening the box to find that nearly all the shells agreed specifically with fossils which1 in the summer of the preceding year1 ,i had obtained at ,uddevalla in ,sweden4 ,the most abundant species were still living in northern seas1 some in those of ,greenland and other high latitudes2 while in ,sweden they were found fossil between latitudes #eh deg4 and #fj deg4 ,n41 and here in latitude #dg deg4 ,these fossil shells occur at ,beaufort1 about a league below ,quebec1 and about a quarter of a mile from the river1 in deposits which have filled an old ravine in the ,palaeozoic rock4 ,a laminated clay forms the lowest bed1 above which comes a stratified sand1 and this is followed by a clay containing boulders1 each of these deposits being about twenty-five feet thick4 ,they are without fossils1 which begin with the next bed1 a stratified mass of pebbly sand and loam1 and become more frequent1 till at last this passes into a mass nearly twelve feet thick1 consisting almost wholly of the well-known bivalve ,saxicava rugosa4 ,this deposit was about #aej feet above the level of the sea4 ,afterwards1 in travelling southwards from ,montreal1 whither he returned from ,quebec1 ,lyell found marine shells on the border of ,lake ,champlain1 about eighty miles from the former town4 ,here they occurred in a loam1 which was covered by a sand1 and rested on a clay about thirty feet thick1 containing boulders1 some of them nine feet in diameter4 ,lyell sums up the results of his investigations by stating that1 in his opinion1 the shells certainly belong to the same geological period as do the boulders1 and occur both above and below beds containing erratics2 while the fundamental rocks below the drift are smoothed and furrowed on the surface by glacial action4 ,this effect ,lyell at that time attributed to the friction of bergs grounding as they floated1 but it is now referred by the majority of geologists to the action of land ice4 ,be this1 however1 as it may1 the shell-bearing beds must have been deposited in the sea2 so that either the land must have sunk as the ice retreated1 or the latter at the time of its greatest extension must have trespassed on the domain of the sea1 as it still does around parts of the ,antarctic continent4 ,from ,montreal they went1 by way of ,lake ,champlain and over the ,green ,mountains1 to ,boston1 where they arrived about the middle of ,july1 and proceeded by steamer to ,halifax4 ,here began the last stage of ,lyell's journey1 the examination of the ,carboniferous system in ,nova ,scotia1 to which work a full month was devoted4 ,after studying the gypsum1 red marl1 and sandstone of the lower part of that system1 which bears some resemblance to the ,upper ,trias 7,keuper7 of ,britain1 he crossed the ,bay of ,mines to ,minudie1 in the heart of the ,nova ,scotian coalfield4 ,the cliffs by the sea-shore exhibit a fine series of sections1 from the gypseous rocks up to the coal measures1 uninterrupted by faults1 the beds dipping steadily at an angle of nearly #cj deg4 ,sandstones1 shales1 and seams of coal could be seen alternating in the usual manner2 and from the last-named1 stumps of trees1 sometimes two or three yards high1 were seen in places1 as at ,south ,joggins1 projecting at right angles to the surface of the bed4 ,of such stems he observed at least seventeen at ten different levels4 ,the stumps never pierced a coal-seam1 but always terminated downwards either in it or in shale1 and never in sandstone1 thus indicating that they were a part of the vegetation from which the coal had been formed1 and that it1 like a peat-bog in ,england1 required a subsoil impervious to water4 ,lyell also mentions that ,mr4 7now ,sir7 ,j4 ,w4 ,dawson1 who was his companion for part of the time1 had found a bed of calamites in a similar position of growth4 ,but1 in addition to much interesting work in various parts of the ,nova ,scotian coalfield1 ,lyell had the opportunity of witnessing the noted tides of the ,bay of ,fundy1 where the difference between high and low water is as great as1 if not greater than1 anywhere else on the globe4 ,on the muddy flats thus left bare he had another opportunity of studying the tracks left by various animals1 marine and terrestrial2 and in watching how these were hardened by the action of the sun1 if they had been made near the high-water mark of spring-tides1 he gained further hints for interpreting the fossil footprints of ,connecticut and other countries4 ,on the #ahth of ,august the ,lyells left ,halifax for ,england1 thus bringing to a close a year of assiduous field-work1 long journeys1 and varied experiences4 ,it was a period of the most continuous outdoor labour1 and thus the most fruitful in the acquisition of knowledge which he had spent since his marriage and the publication of the ,principles of ,geology--a period comparable only with his journey1 between ,may1 #ahbh1 and ,february1 #ahbi1 in ,france1 ,italy1 and ,sicily1 though it was still longer and more fruitful1 were this possible1 in varied geological experiences4 ,he had not1 indeed1 seen in this part of ,america any volcanoes1 active or extinct--of which1 however1 he had already examined plenty2 but he had studied good and characteristic sections of almost every formation which occurred in the more eastern states of ,america1 from the most ancient crystalline masses1 the foundation stones of the continent1 to the most recent fossiliferous drifts4 ,he had travelled from a region which resembled ,scandinavia to one where the climate was more like that of the north coast of ,africa1 and had enlarged his conceptions of the scale on which ,nature worked4 ,but1 in addition1 he had been afforded an opportunity of studying the social and political condition of a young and vigorous nation as it was developing1 unfettered by antiquated laws and hereditary customs4 ,to this aspect of the tour a brief reference will be made in a later chapter2 now it is enough to say that the long journeying of the twelvemonth had been happily ended1 without illness1 without the slightest accident1 without anything that could be called an adventure4 ,this good fortune followed them to the very end1 for even the homeward passage is dismissed with the brief remark that it took nine days and sixteen hours2 so that it may be supposed to have been prosperously uneventful4 ,then in eight hours after leaving ,liverpool the travellers were back once more in ,london4 ,,footnotes3 #ie ,travels in ,north ,america1 chap4 i4 #if ,travels in ,north ,america1 chap4 ii4 #ig ,see the plate in the ,gentleman's ,magazine1 #agea4 #ih ,see map in ,man and the ,glacial ,period1 by ,dr4 ,g4 ,f4 ,wright 7,international ,scientific ,series71 p4 #cch4 #ii ,the estimates made by geologists have varied from #ee1jjj years 7,ellicott1 in #agij7 to not more than #g1jjj years 7,united ,states ,geological ,survey1 #ahhf74 ,professor ,j4 ,w4 ,spencer1 who has recently investigated the question1 has arrived1 by a different method1 at a date practically identical with that assigned by ,lyell 7,proc4 ,roy4 ,soc41 vol4 lvi4 7#ahid71 p4 #ade74 #ajj ,this was still a moot point with geologists4 ,lyell refers to the confirmatory evidence which ,w4 ,logan had recently obtained in the ,south ,wales coalfield of ,britain4 #aja ,principles of ,geology1 chap4 xliv4 #ajb ,proc4 ,roy4 ,soc4 lvi4 7#ahid71 p4 #adf4 #ajc ,the lake-ridges and raised beaches around the ,great ,lakes1 indicating margins of the water when it stood at a higher level than now1 have received much attention of late years from ,canadian and ,american geologists4 ,they are found to vary somewhat in level1 thus indicating unequal movements of the earth's crust4 ,references to literature prior to #ahij will be found in a paper by ,professor ,j4 ,w4 ,spencer1 ,quart4 ,jour4 ,geol4 ,soc41 vol4 xlvi4 7#ahij71 p4 #ebc4 #ajd ,see1 for descriptions of these sections and lists of the fossils1 ,sir ,w4 ,dawson's ,the ,ice ,age in ,canada1 chaps4 vi4 and vii4 ,they occur up to #efj feet above the sea4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,another ,,epoch ,,of ,,work ,,and ,,travel4 ,very soon after their arrival in ,england the travellers went north to ,kinnordy1 where they remained till the end of ,october1 when they returned again to their ,london home4 ,such an accumulation of specimens and of notes as had been gathered in ,america made necessary a long period of labour indoors1 unpacking1 classifying1 and arranging2 while certain groups of fossils had to be repacked and sent to friends1 who had undertaken to work them out4 ,these occupations apparently detained ,lyell in ,london till ,august1 #ahdc1 when he started for ,ireland1 indulging himself on the way with a short run in ,somersetshire for some geological work around ,bath and ,bristol1 examining more particularly the dolomitic conglomerate1 a shore deposit of ,keuper age1 in which the remains of saurians had been found1 and the ,radstock ,collieries1 where he spent more than five hours underground traversing miles of galleries in the coal1 and finding here1 as he had done in ,america1 the stumps of trees in an upright position and shales full of fossil ferns as roofs to the seams4 ,then1 in company with ,mrs4 ,lyell1 he crossed over to ,cork1 where the ,british ,association assembled on ,august #agth1 under the presidency of the late ,earl of ,rosse4 ,the meeting was well attended by scientific men1 but was coldly received by the neighbourhood and county--partly1 as ,lyell says1 because the gentry cared little for science2 partly because the townspeople1 comprising many rich merchants and most of the tradesmen1 were ,repealers2 and1 the agitation having occurred since we were invited1 the opposite parties could never1 in ,ireland1 act or pull together4 ,it was impossible to visit ,cork without seeing the beauties of the lakes and mountains of ,killarney2 and after this a short stay was made at ,birr ,castle1 ,lord ,rosse's pleasant home at ,parsonstown4 ,the huge reflecting telescope1 which is now more than a local wonder1 was not then completed2 but the smaller one1 itself on a gigantic scale1 was in full working order1 and already had led to grand results by not only reducing nebulae into clusters of distinct stars1 but by showing that the regular geometric figures in which they presented themselves to ,herschel1 when viewed with a glass of less power1 disappear and become very much like parts of the ,milky ,way4 ,thence they went northward to the coast of ,antrim1 to see the waves breaking upon the colonnades of basalt at the ,giant's ,causeway1 and the dykes of that rock cutting through and altering the white chalk4 ,evidently the geology proved interesting1 as well it might1 for here ,nature presents a volume of her geological history1 that of the ,secondary era1 with only the opening and the concluding chapters1 all the record from the early part of the ,lias to the beginning of the ,cretaceous having been torn out4 ,the dark-tinted greensand1 changing almost immediately into the pure white chalk1 often presents curious colour-contrasts in a single section2 while the classification of the several deposits offered a problem at which probably ,lyell thought it wiser to look and pass on4 ,several of the more interesting facts observed during this trip were afterwards described in the ,elements of ,geology1#aje among them the beds of lignite which occur in ,antrim1 associated with the great flows of basalt4 ,somewhat similar deposits were found1 about seven years later1 at ,ardtun1 in ,mull1 by the ,duke of ,argyll--a discovery which led ,lyell to suggest1 in later editions of the above-named work1 the probability that the basalts of ,antrim and of the ,inner ,hebrides were of the same geological age1--an inference which since then has been abundantly confirmed by the researches of ,professor ,judd and other geologists4 ,one of the most interesting sections in ,scotland faces ,antrim4 ,here1 on the ,ayrshire coast1 between ,girvan and ,ballantrae1 a complex of several kinds of igneous rock and a region1 not a little disturbed1 of greywackes and other sedimentary deposits present the geologist with problems more than sufficiently perplexing4 ,at these ,lyell took the opportunity of glancing1 but a day's trip afforded no opportunity for any serious attempt to read the riddle4 ,that had to be left to a later generation1 and so it remained for over forty years4 ,something is now known about the igneous rocks1 though here work still remains to be done2 and the sedimentary deposits have been brought into order by the labours of ,professor ,lapworth4 ,they exhibit1 according to his description1#ajf an ascending succession from the ,llandeilo to the ,llandovery group1 and appear to be more modern than some1 if not all1 of the above-named igneous rocks4 ,after their brief halt in this district the ,lyells went on to ,forfarshire1 and spent the rest of the autumn at ,kinnordy4 ,the winter was a busy time2 he was writing steadily at his ,travels in ,north ,america1 and working up some of the more distinctly scientific notes into formal papers for the ,geological and other societies4 ,thus occupied1 more than a year slipped away1 diversified only by a summer visit to ,scotland1 attending the meeting of the ,british ,association at ,york1 and a journey to the ,haswell ,colliery1 ,durham1 together with ,faraday1 as commissioners to examine into the cause of a recent disastrous explosion1 and see whether such accidents could be prevented4 ,work at the ,travels in ,north ,america took up all ,lyell's spare time during the winter1 and the book was published in the earlier part of #ahde4 ,it was only a few months old when ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,lyell again set off for another tour in ,america4 ,they left ,liverpool on ,september #dth1 and landed at ,halifax on the #agth1 after a voyage diversified agreeably by the sight of an iceberg and disagreeably by two gales4 ,they went on at once to ,boston1 and thence made a tour through the ,state of ,maine4 ,during this sundry masses of drift were examined1 which rested on polished and grooved surfaces of crystalline rock1 and contained the usual shells1 astarte1 cardium1 nucula1 saxicava1 etc41 and in some places a fossil fish#ajg in concretionary nodules4 ,at ,portland similar shells had been found in drifts which also contained bones both of the bison and of the walrus4 ,these drifts in some places attained a thickness of #agj feet1 and in them valleys #gj feet deep had been excavated by streams4 ,then they went to the ,white ,mountains1 and on approaching them ,lyell did not fail to notice on the low granite hills many angular fragments of that rock1 fifteen to twenty feet in diameter1 resting on heaps of sand4 ,on their way they came to the ,willey ,slide1 where a whole family of that name had been killed nineteen years previously in a landslip4 ,lyell carefully examined the scene of the accident1 in order to ascertain what effects were produced by a mass of mud and stones as it slid over a face of rock1 and found that it only made short scratches and grooves1 not long and straight furrows1 like those left by a glacier4 ,they halted at ,fabyan's ,hotel near ,mount ,washington1 and after waiting for a favourable day reached the summit 7#f1bbe feet above the sea7 on ,october #gth4 ,it is easily accessible on horseback4 ,the notes of this excursion among the mountains show that ,lyell still retained his old liking for natural history in general1 for they contain remarks on the flowers1 the insects1 and the birds4 ,some observations on the ,alpine flora of the higher summits in the ,white ,mountains indicate his position at that time in regard to the origin of species4 ,he adopts the hypothesis of 'specific centres1' viz4 that each species had its origin in a single birthplace and spread gradually from its original centre to all accessible spots1 fit for its habitation1 by means of the power of migration given it from the first4 ,he supposed that the plants common to the more arctic regions and to the higher ground further south in ,europe and ,northern ,america were dispersed by floating ice during the glacial epoch1 when the ground stood at a lower level1 and that afterwards1 when the climate became warmer1 they gradually mounted up the slopes of the hills4 ,the possibility of a migration by land is not mentioned1 though doubtless it would have been admitted1 because the evidence which he had so often studied pointed rather to a downward than to an upward movement but he asserts with some emphasis that many living species are older than the existing distribution of sea and land4 ,on his return to ,boston1 he had other opportunities of studying ice-worn rocks and erratics1 and from this city made an excursion to ,plymouth 7,massachusetts7 to see the spot where1 on a mid-winter day1 the ,pilgrim ,fathers had landed4 ,but even here he could not neglect the shells upon the strand1 and he records that eighteen species were collected1 one-third of which were common to ,europe4 ,still1 we may note that on this journey rather more attention was paid than on the former to questions political1 commercial1 educational1 and theological1 and these occupy a larger space in the ,second ,visit to the ,united ,states1 which may account for its greater popularity4 ,for example1 it contains a sketch of the witch-finding mania in ,massachusetts late in the seventeenth century1 and a whole chapter on the sea-serpent4 ,this hardy perennial had appeared in the ,gulf of ,st4 ,lawrence in the previous ,august and in ,october1 #ahdd1ajh and had repeatedly visited the ,new ,england coast from #ahae to #ahbe1 when it had been seen by many credible witnesses4 ,lyell appears to be satisfied that1 though allowance had to be made for exaggeration and honest misconception1 some big creature had been seen1 and suggests that it may have been an exceptionally large specimen of the basking shark4#aji ,after a stay of nearly two months in ,boston1 they left for the south early in ,december1 and found a little difficulty at first1 as on a former occasion1 from the slippery state of the rails4 ,they journeyed by ,newhaven1 ,new ,york1 ,philadelphia1 and ,washington to ,richmond1 where a halt was made to examine the coalfield some sixteen miles to the south-west of the city4 ,the measures rest on the granite1 filling up inequalities on its surface1 and are occasionally cut by dykes1 which produce the usual alteration in the adjacent coal4 ,the principal seam is from thirty to forty feet thick but the field1 as a whole1 reminded ,lyell most of that at ,st4 ,etienne 7,france71 which he had visited in #ahdc4aaj ,from ,richmond they went1 as on the former occasion1 by ,weldon to ,wilmington1 where the cliffs near the town yielded some ,tertiary fossils1 and on ,christmas morning they landed from a steamer at ,charleston4 ,from this city ,lyell again visited the deposits near ,savannah1 which contained remains of megatherium1 mastodon1 and other large quadrupeds1 as well as a second locality on ,skiddaway ,island1 and then1 on the last day of the year1 quitted ,charleston for ,darien in ,georgia4 ,here also were some more deposits of the same kind1 while at ,st4 ,simon's ,island ,lyell examined a very large ,indian mound4 ,it was a mass of shells1 chiefly of oysters1 and contained flint arrow-heads1 stone axes1 and fragments of ,indian pottery4 ,returning to ,savannah1 they travelled towards the north-west1 by ,macon to ,milledgeville4 ,for more than #aej miles of the first part of the journey ,lyell went along the railway on a hand-car1 so as to study the cuttings and obtain the most continuous section possible of the ,tertiary deposits from the sea to the inland granite4 ,these deposits consisted of porcelain clays1 yellow and white sands1 and burrstone1 a flinty grit used for millstones1 which often was full of silicified shells and corals1 with the teeth of sharks and the bones of zeuglodon4 ,lyell mentions that in the neighbourhood of ,macon he saw blockhouses such as those described by ,cooper in the ,pathfinder1 which twenty-five years earlier had been used for defence against the ,indians before any white men's houses had been built in the forest4 ,near ,milledgeville the granite1 gneiss1 etc41 is decomposed in situ to a considerable depth1 and the rain-water1 when the trees have been cut down1 quickly furrows the detrital deposits of the neighbourhood4 ,a remarkable instance of this action had occurred at ,pomona ,farm1 where a ravine #ahj feet broad and #ee feet deep had been excavated in the course of only twenty years4#aaa ,from ,milledgeville they returned to ,macon1 and thence travelled westward by ,columbus to ,montgomery1 being much jolted in the stage-coach1 but securing as a reward some ,tertiary fossils2 and at the latter place they found red clays and sandstones1 which1 however1 were about the same age as the chalk of ,england4 ,after the coach travelling1 a journey by steamer down the ,alabama ,river to ,mobile was a welcome change1 and the not unfrequent halts for cargo or to take in wood gave opportunities for collecting fossils from the neighbouring bluffs4 ,one night they were startled by loud crashing noises and the sound of breaking glass1 and found that the steamer had run foul of the trees growing on the bank4 ,their branches touched the water1 as the river was unusually high2 and the vessel1 in the darkness1 had been steered too near to the shore4 ,longer halts were made at ,claiborne1 to collect fossils from deposits corresponding in age with those at ,bracklesham in ,england2 and at ,macon 7,alabama7 to visit a place where some remarkable specimens of the zeuglodon had been discovered4 ,from ,mobile also a long river journey was undertaken to ,tuscaloosa1 to visit a coalfield which supplied the town with fuel and the materials for gas4 ,the field1 a southern prolongation of the great ,appalachian coalfield1 is a large one1 being about ninety miles long and thirty wide1 with some seams sixteen feet thick worked in open quarries4 ,he remarks that he made geological excursions through forests recently abandoned by the ,indians1 and where their paths may still be traced4 ,the strata on the ,alabama ,river afforded a useful lesson on the variability of lithological characters4 ,were it not for the fossils1 ,lyell says1 the ,lower ,cretaceous beds of loose gravel might be taken for the newest ,tertiary1 the main body of the ,chalk for ,lias1 and the soft ,tertiary limestone for the representative of the ,chalk4 ,it was impossible to leave ,mobile without seeing something of the ,gulf of ,mexico2 so they went in a steamer down the ,alabama ,river to the seaside1 looked upon the muddy banks1 with the shells#aab which live in them and the quantities of drift-timber which bestrew them1 and then went across to one of the minor mouths of the ,mississippi1 and1 passing up it1 landed at ,new ,orleans4 ,this town1 about #aaj miles by water from the confluence of the main channel of the ,mississippi with the sea1 afforded a convenient opportunity for studying the character of the lower part of the delta of the ,father of ,waters4 ,such a region might be expected to supply facts which would be helpful in the interpretation of many phenomena presented by the coal measures4 ,accordingly1 ,lyell made one excursion to ,lake ,pontchartrain1 a great sheet of fresh water no great distance from both ,new ,orleans and the sea1 and another down to the mouth of the ,mississippi4 ,the road through the swamp to the former was constructed of a strange material--viz4 the white valves of a freshwater mollusc4#aac ,these are obtained from a huge bank over a mile in length1 and sometimes about four yards in depth1 at one end of the lake4 ,how this had been formed seemed doubtful4 ,possibly the shells had been piled up by the waves during a storm2 possibly there had been some slight change of level4 ,the lake itself is about fifteen feet below high-water mark1 and is about as many deep2 but1 as it receives an arm of the ,mississippi1 silt is gradually raising the bottom4 ,the sea sometimes1 when impelled by a strong south-east wind1 makes its way into the lake4 ,among the ,english coal measures--as1 for instance1 at ,coalbrook ,dale or in ,yorkshire--beds of marine shells are occasionally found intercalated among or even associated with freshwater molluscs1 without any alteration in the general character of the beds in which they lie4 ,how this might occur is illustrated by ,lake ,pontchartrain in the swampy alluvial delta4 ,here a very slight physical change might enable the sea to take1 for a time1 possession of the land1 and the denizens of its water1 like a band of pirates1 to dispossess the usual inhabitants4 ,the other expedition also supplied not a few valuable facts relating to the history of river deltas1 which were afterwards supplemented as they travelled northwards for some hundreds of miles up the river1 following its sinuous course through leagues of marshy plain1 densely overgrown with vegetation4 ,in the seaward reaches1 reed1 and rush1 and willow1 but above ,new ,orleans cypresses and other timber trees1 rise above the rank herbage4 ,the minor channels1 blocked with driftwood which formed natural rafts2 the sand-bars and mud-banks2 the great curves of the river1 the bayous#aad and isolated pools2 the natural banks built up by the sediment arrested at flood-time by the herbage near the river brink2 the floating timber and the snags--all provided valuable illustrations of the physical features of a great river delta1 and supplied him with material which afterwards was worked up into newer editions of the ,principles and the ,elements4 ,from ,new ,orleans ,lyell went by steamer to ,natchez1 halting on the way to examine more closely certain localities of interest and to obtain illustrations of how a coalfield might be formed4 ,the bluffs of ,natchez--almost the first place where distinctly higher ground approaches the river-side--afforded plenty of semi-fossil shells1 specifically identical with those still inhabiting the valley of the ,mississippi1 but the loam in which they were embedded--a loam which reminded him of the loess of the ,rhine--also contains the remains of the mastodon1 and overlies a clay with bones of the megalonyx1 horse1 and other quadrupeds1 mostly extinct4 ,beneath this clay are sands and gravel1 the whole forming a platform which rises about #bjj feet above the low river plain1 revealing an earlier chapter in the history of the river4 ,similar bluffs occur at ,vicksburg1 but these disclosed ,eocene strata beneath the alluvial deposits1 and thus invited a halt in order to explore the neighbourhood4 ,the next stage was to ,memphis1 nearly #djj miles4 ,lyell speaks highly of the accommodation generally afforded by the river steamers1 but found the inquisitiveness of his ,american fellow-travellers rather a nuisance1 and the spoiled children a still greater one4 ,the former drawback to pleasure has certainly abated during the last half-century1 but whether the latter has done the same may perhaps be disputed4 ,new ,madrid1 #agj miles above ,memphis1 called for a longer halt1 for the neighbouring district had suffered from a great earthquake in the year #ahaa1 when shocks were felt at intervals for about three months1 the ground was cracked1 water mingled with sand was spouted out1 yawning fissures opened 7in one case draining a lake71 portions of the river cliff were shaken down into the stream1 and a large district--about #b1jjj square miles in area--was permanently depressed4 ,some traces of the earthquake1 in addition to the last-named1 could still be recognised at the time of ,lyell's visit1 though more than thirty years had elapsed4 ,at ,cairo1 above ,new ,madrid1 the ,ohio joins the ,mississippi1 and it was ascended to ,mount ,vernon4 ,the geology now became a little more varied1 for beneath the shelly loam already mentioned ,carboniferous strata make their appearance1 in which fossil plants are sometimes abundant and upright trees now and then occur4 ,for nearly #bjj miles higher up the ,ohio1 rocks of this age are exposed at intervals1 till at last1 near ,louisville1 those belonging to the ,devonian system rise from beneath them4 ,these1 at ,new ,albany1 contain a fossil coral-reef1 exposed in the bed of the river and crowded with specimens in unusually good preservation4 ,at ,cincinnati the travellers came at last upon old ground1 and journeyed thence by steamer to ,pittsburg4 ,about thirty-two miles from this town1 at a place called ,greensburg1 some remarkable footprints had been discovered on slabs of stone not many months before ,lyell's visit1 but as the beds on which they occurred belonged to the coal measures doubt had been expressed as to their being genuine1 so he went thither to satisfy himself on this point4 ,the footprints had disturbed the peace of ,pittsburg1 for they had started discussions in which one party had assumed1 as matters of course1 the high antiquity of the earth and the great changes in its living tenants1 and had thus incurred the censure--which in some cases was followed by professional injury--not only of the multitude1 but also of some of the ,roman ,catholic and ,lutheran clergy4 ,commenting on this episode1 ,lyell quotes with approbation the words of a contemporary author1#aae which even at the present time occasionally need to be remembered3--,to nothing but error can any truth be dangerous2 and ,i know not where else there is to be seen so altogether tragical a spectacle1 as that religion should be found standing in the highways to say ',let no man learn the simplest laws of the universe1 lest they mislearn the highest4 ,in the name of ,god the ,maker1 who said1 and hourly yet says1 ,let there be light1 we command that you continue in darkness6' ,the travellers crossed the ,alleghany ,mountains in their way to ,philadelphia4 ,but a piece of work in ,virginia had been left unfinished on the last occasion--the examination of the ,jurassic coalfield near ,richmond4 ,so he set off thither1 leaving ,mrs4 ,lyell in ,philadelphia1 and took the opportunity of examining the ,tertiary deposits near the former town and the ,eocene strata on the ,potomac ,river4 ,on his return they went to ,burlington1 which they reached in the first week in ,may1 just as the humming-birds were arriving in hundreds1 and by the #gth of the month they were in ,new ,york4 ,the age of the so-called ,taconic ,group--a question of which so much has been heard of late years--was then beginning to attract attention1 so ,lyell went in company with some ,american geologists to ,albany in the hope of solving the problem4 ,this he trusted he had done1 but as his conclusions now would be deemed unsatisfactory1 they need not be quoted4 ,in reality1 the question at that time was not even ripe for discussion4 ,on the homeward journey he turned aside at ,boston to visit ,wenham ,lake1 from which much ice was being supplied to ,london1 and then they left for ,england by a steam packet which touched at ,halifax4 ,four days after leaving this place they passed among a group of icebergs several hundreds in number1 varying in height from #ajj to #bjj feet1 many of them picturesque in form1 some even fantastic4 ,stones were resting on one of them1 but as a rule they were perfectly clean and dazzlingly white1 except on the wave-worn parts1 which1 as usual1 were a beautiful blue4 ,these1 and a fine aurora borealis on the next night1 were the only incidents of the voyage1 and on ,june #acth1 in twelve and a half days from ,boston1 the vessel reached ,liverpool4 ,the close of this journey marks an epoch in ,lyell's life4 ,it was the last--unless we except his visit to ,madeira--of his long wanderings for the purpose of questioning ,nature face to face1 and of studying her under various aspects and diverse conditions4 ,he did not1 indeed1 cease to travel4 ,he twice returned to ,america1 he revisited ,sicily and various parts of ,europe1 but these journeys not only occupied less time but also led him among scenes for the most part not unfamiliar4 ,he doubtless felt that on reaching his fiftieth year he might fairly regard the more laborious part of his education completed1 although he never ceased to be a learner1 even to the latest days of his life1 when strength had failed and memory was becoming weak4 ,an account of the above-named journey was published in #ahdi1 under the title of ,a ,second ,visit to the ,united ,states of ,north ,america4 ,this book1 in addition to descriptions of the scenery and the geology of the country1 contains much general information about the people1 with remarks by the author on various political questions1 such as the condition of parties1 the effects of almost universal suffrage1 particularly on the national sense of honour and morality1 the existence and evils of slavery1 the state of religious feeling1 the position of ,churches1 and the systems of education1 especially when contrasted with those of ,england4 ,some of these questions about this time were exciting much attention in ,great ,britain1 and in regard to one matter--the delimitation of the territories of the two nations in the region west of the ,rocky ,mountains--friction existed1 which was so serious that more than once war seemed possible4 ,on this account1 probably1 the ,second ,visit was a greater success1 commercially speaking1 than the ,travels1 for it reached a third edition4 ,,footnotes3 #aje ,chapters xiv4 and xxix4 #ajf ,the ,girvan ,succession1 ,quart4 ,jour4 ,geol4 ,soc41 xxxviii4 7#ahhb71 p4 #ecg4 #ajg ,the capelin 7,mallotus villosus71 which still lives in the ,atlantic4 #ajh ,it was also seen the following year on the coast of ,virginia1 and on that of ,norway in both #ahde and #ahdf4 #aji ,he says that the alleged sea-serpent washed ashore at ,stronsa 7,orkneys7 in #ahjh is proved by the bones 7some of which are preserved7 to have been this animal4 #aaj ,the formation1 however1 does not belong to the ,carboniferous system1 but is shown by its fossils to be ,jurassic in age4 #aaa ,it is described and figured in later editions of the ,principles of ,geology1 chap4 xv4 7eleventh edition74 #aab ,a species of ,gnathodon4 #aac ,gnathodon cuneatus4 #aad ,a bayou is the name given to an old channel of the river4 ,when the latter is making a series of horseshoe curves1 the stream often cuts through the neck of land which separates its nearest parts4 ,the water then takes the shortest course1 the entrances to the old channel are silted up1 and it becomes a horseshoe-shaped pool4 #aae ,t4 ,carlyle 7,letter on ,secular ,education74 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,steady ,,progress4 ,the ,principles of ,geology had been completed and published for thirteen years1 yet catastrophism1 as we learn from a correspondence with ,edward ,forbes1#aaf dated ,september1 #ahdf1 was dying hard4 ,agassiz1 ,alcide ,d',orbigny1 and their followers were still trying to make out sudden revolutions in organic life in support of equally hypothetical catastrophes in the physical history of the globe4#aag ,a remark in ,forbes's reply is striking3-- ,you are pleased to compliment my paper on its originality4 ,any praise from you must ever be among the greatest gratifications to me1 and to any honest labourer in the great field of ,nature4 ,but ,i had rather hear the views ,i have set forward be proved not original than the contrary4 ,it seems to me that the surest proof of the truth of such conclusions as ,i have summed up at the end of my essay is the fact of their not being original so far as one person is concerned1 and of their having become manifest to more than one mind1 either about the same time or successively1 without communication4 ,i believe laws discover themselves to individuals1 and not that individuals discover laws4 ,if a law have truth in it1 many will see it about the same time4 ,in this month also the ,lyells removed from ,hart ,street to #aa1 ,harley ,street4 ,the house where they had spent fourteen years very happily was not left without regret1 but it had become too small4 ,they had no children1 but a rapidly increasing geological collection takes up almost as much room as 7though it is much more silent than7 a growing family4 ,the removal of a geological collection is a laborious business2 and1 besides this1 ,lyell was preparing a new edition of the ,principles and writing a book about his recent travels in ,america4 ,still1 to judge from his letters1 he found time for some pleasant social distractions2 for his letters to the old home at ,kinnordy contain more often than formerly interesting references to talks with such men as ,macaulay1 ,milman1 and ,rogers1 ,lord ,clarendon and ,lord ,lansdowne4 ,the seventh edition of the ,principles1 condensed into a bulky single volume1 was published early in #ahdg1 and in the following ,june ,lyell attended the meeting of the ,british ,association at ,oxford1 which appears to have been no less pleasant than successful1 although out of twenty-four ,heads of ,houses only four were at ,oxford to receive the ,association4 ,on this occasion1 he writes1 he became better acquainted with ,ruskin1 who was secretary of our ,geological ,section4 ,the remainder of this summer was spent in ,scotland1 and the rest of the year1 with most of the following one1 was devoted to quiet work4 ,still1 ,lyell took an active part in a crisis through which1 about this time1 the ,royal ,society was passing4 ,a number of the ,fellows1 including most of those eminent in science1 were anxious to raise the standard for admission into the ,society4 ,for many years past the three letters had often signified little more than an indication of good means and social position1 coupled with a certain interest in scientific pursuits4 ,the reformers prevailed1 after a long struggle with a set of obstructives compared with whom ,metternich was a progressive animal1 and the present status of the society is the result4 ,incidental remarks in ,lyell's letters to his relations also indicate that he was becoming well known in circles other than scientific1 of which a further proof was given in the autumn of #ahdh1 when he received the offer of knighthood4 ,of course1 in any country where orders of merit exist1 other than ,great ,britain1 ,lyell would have been decorated years ago1 but we manage things differently4 ,as a rule1 we let science and literature be their own reward1 and1 as an exception1 confer the same distinction on a man who has won a world-wide reputation 7provided he is fairly rich7 and on an opulent tradesman who is accidently prominent on some auspicious occasion1 or is a local wirepuller in party politics4 ,lyell went over from ,kinnordy to ,balmoral to receive the intended honour1 and had1 as he writes1 a most agreeable geological exploring on the banks of the ,dee1 into which ,prince ,albert entered with much spirit4 ,in ,february1 #ahdi1 he was elected for the second time ,president of the ,geological ,society1 and in the autumn1 when at ,kinnordy1 was again invited to ,balmoral1 where he had some interesting talks with ,prince ,albert on subjects ranging from various educational and broad political questions to the entomology of ,switzerland1 ,scotland1 and the ,isle of ,wight4 ,in the middle of ,september he attended the meeting of the ,british ,association at ,birmingham1 where he was for the third time ,president of the ,geological ,section4 ,a few weeks later his father1 whose health had been for some time failing1 died at ,kinnordy4#aah ,the latter was a rich man1 but as he made liberal provision for his daughters and younger sons1 ,sir ,charles1 though he succeeded to a considerable estate1 found himself unable to afford the expense of keeping up ,kinnordy as well as a house in ,london4 ,which1 then1 was henceforth to be his home8 ,the attractions of ,kinnordy were obvious1 but the long distance from the metropolis was a serious drawback1 while the duties of a resident landlord would have interfered much with his geological work1 which would have been still more hampered by the severance from libraries1 museums1 and intercourse with fellow-workers4 ,thus he felt it his duty to retain his house in ,london and to let ,kinnordy1 though1 as his mother and sisters retreated to the dower house1 he was able from time to time to visit the old place4 ,the decision probably was less painful than it otherwise would have been from the fact that his boyhood had been spent in ,england4 ,at any rate1 it was a wise one1 in regard to both his own reputation and the progress of science in general4 ,in the summer of #ahej1 ,sir ,charles augmented his experience and refreshed old memories by a tour in ,germany4 ,during this he saw for the first time the ,roth-todt-liegende or ,lower ,permian conglomerates at ,halle and at ,eisenach1 as well as the great lava streams which had supplied them with so much of their materials4 ,also he went to the ,brocken in order to examine into ,von ,buch's extraordinary assertion that the granite had come up in a bubble4 ,this1 it is needless to say1 was speedily pricked4 ,the loess also1 that singular deposit which wraps like a mantle so much of the undulating ground in ,northern ,germany1 evidently engaged his attention1 and we find the fruits of these studies in a later work4 ,in addition to all this1 he did more than glance at the ,maestricht ,chalk1 the ,wealden coal of ,hanover1 the ,tertiary deposits near ,berlin1 the ,palaeozoic rocks of the ,hartz1 and the scenery of the ,saxon ,switzerland4 ,his books1 his scientific papers1 and ,presidential addresses to the ,geological ,society1 his duties as a commissioner1 at first for the ,exhibition of #ahea1 and somewhat later for the reform of the ,university of ,oxford1 kept him pretty well employed till ,august1 #aheb1 when he for the third time crossed the ,atlantic to deliver another course of lectures at the ,lowell ,institute1 ,boston4 ,though he was back in ,england before ,christmas1 he found time for some geological work in ,america1 the most important item in which was an excursion from ,halifax in company with his old acquaintance1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,w4 ,dawson1 to the ,nova ,scotian coalfield4 ,on this occasion he passed through a fair amount of country still uncleared1 which made the journey more interesting2 he had also opportunities of appreciating the effects of ice in moving and piling up boulders on the shores of lakes1 and obtained still more evidence in regard to this1 on reaching the sea-coast in the neighbourhood of the coalfield4 ,but their labour was rewarded by one discovery of exceptional importance4 ,in the trunk of a tree which had died and become hollow in a forest of the ,carboniferous period1 they found entombed the skeleton of an animal4 ,whether this were a fish or a reptile was at first hotly disputed1 but finally it proved to be an amphibian4 ,on his return to ,england1 ,sir ,charles was kept for some time fully employed by the preparation of the ninth edition of the ,principles1 but early in the summer of #ahec he went for the fourth time to ,america--on this occasion in company with ,lord ,ellesmere--as commissioner to the ,exhibition held at ,new ,york4 ,but now his time was fully taken up by official duties1 and his visit was a short one1 for he returned before the end of ,july1 and was soon afterwards invited to visit ,osborne and give some account of his journey to the ,queen and ,prince ,albert4 ,very early in #ahed he again left ,england1 in company with ,lady ,lyell and ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,bunbury1 to visit ,madeira4 ,some three weeks were devoted to a careful study of the geology of that island1#aai partly with the view of determining whether it afforded any support to ,von ,buch's favourite notion that volcanic cones were mainly formed by upheaval4 ,as might be anticipated1 the evidence was distinctly unfavourable4 ,the island was proved to be mainly composed of volcanic material1 cones of basaltic scoria1 and great flows of similar lava1 which had been piled successively one on another in the open air to a depth of about #d1jjj feet4 ,this mass had been subsequently pierced by dykes1 worn by storm and stream1 and in one or two places deeply grooved by rivers4 ,there were1 indeed1 some underlying beds of marine origin1 which1 in one part of the island1 rose to a height of #a1bjj feet above the sea1 and thus indicated a certain amount of upheaval2 but even this was not of the kind which ,von ,buch's hypothesis required1 while the rest of the evidence1 including that afforded by some tuffs containing fossil plants1 proved that the major part of the island had been formed above water4 ,from ,madeira they went on to ,teneriffe1 ,palma1 and the ,grand ,canary4 ,of this part of the journey few details are given1 but the results were afterwards incorporated with one of his books4#abj ,to the ,peak of ,teneriffe the reference is comparatively brief4 ,of ,palma the account is much fuller1 for this island had been regarded by ,von ,buch1 who visited it in #ahbe1 as a type of his craters of elevation--an idea which was dispelled by ,lyell's investigation4 ,the ,grand ,canary1 like ,madeira1 proved to be formed of masses of subaerial volcanic rock1 perhaps even thicker than those in ,madeira1 which also rested upon some upraised marine deposits of ,miocene age4 ,in the course of #ahed ,sir ,charles received from his own ,university the honorary degree of ,d4,c4,l4 ,much time was spent in working up the results of his last journey1 some of which were communicated to the ,geological ,society4#aba ,in the spring of #ahee he went to the ,continent1 studying1 among other matters1 the drifts in the neighbourhood of ,berlin4 ,in the summer he visited ,scotland1 made the acquaintance of ,hugh ,miller1 worked over ,arthur's ,seat1 ,blackford ,hill1 and the coast of ,fife from ,kinghorn to ,kirkcaldy4 ,it would be hard to find a set of sections better adapted for the study of ancient volcanic rocks1 both contemporaneous and intrusive1 than this coast affords2 and his experience in ,madeira and the ,canaries enabled him to regard the ,edinburgh and ,fife rocks with very different eyes4 ,one or two of his published letters about this period have a special interest1 for they show that his views on the origin of species were undergoing a gradual modification4 ,speaking of some strange variations in the flower of an orchideous plant1#abb he refers1 half in jest1 to ugly facts1 as ,hooker1 clinging 7like me7 to the orthodox faith1 calls these and other abnormal vagaries2 and again1 the following sentences do not come from a man who is firm in his belief#abc3-- ,when ,huxley1 ,hooker1 and ,wollaston were at ,darwin's last week1 they 7all four of them7 ran a tilt against species further1 ,i believe1 than they are deliberately prepared to go--,wollaston least unorthodox4 ,i cannot easily see how they can go so far1 and not embrace the whole ,lamarckian doctrine4 ,huxley held forth last week about the oxlip1 which he says is unknown on the ,continent4 ,if we had met with it in ,madeira and nowhere else1 or the cowslip1 should we not have voted them true species8 ,darwin finds1 among his fifteen varieties of the common pigeon1 three good genera and about fifteen good species1 according to the received mode of species and genus-making of the best ornithologists1 and the bony skeleton varying with the rest6 ,after all1 did we not come from an ourang1 seeing that man is of the ,old ,world1 and not from the ,american type of anthropomorphous mammalia8 ,sir ,charles and ,lady ,lyell were again on the ,continent in the summer of #ahef1 examining the drifts of ,northern ,germany1 visiting ,humboldt at ,berlin1 discussing geological questions1 especially in regard to ,carboniferous plants1 at ,breslau with ,roemer and ,goeppert2 working over the ,riesengebirge2 then going on to ,dresden1 and passing through the ,saxon ,switzerland to ,aussig4 ,the coalfield north-west of the former city was not neglected1 the great breccia beds of the ,rothliegende were again examined1 and account was taken of ,ramsay's opinion that certain ,british ,permian breccias were glacial in origin4 ,close attention was also bestowed upon the great masses of hard quartzose grit1 through which the ,elbe has carved its way--the ,quader of ,saxony2 for this formation1 a grit wholly deficient in calcareous matter1 corresponds to the more purely calcareous rock 7,chalk7 of ,great ,britain1 and yet contains here and there the same shells4 ,he did not neglect the ,brown ,coal#abd between ,toeplitz and ,aussig1 and1 on reaching ,prague1 made the acquaintance of ,barrande1 who took him to see those older ,palaeozoic rocks among which the great palaeontologist had been labouring for nearly a quarter of a century4 ,then the travellers proceeded to ,vienna1 and after that to the ,styrian ,alps1 to visit various interesting sections in the ,salzkammergut1 such as the classic ground at ,gosau and the ,triassic limestones near ,hallstadt1 where the last survivors of the ,palaeozoic ages are entombed with the representatives of the period4 ,his letters1 like many others of earlier date1 indicate that1 notwithstanding the fascinations of geology1 neither living molluscs1 nor insects1 nor plants had ceased to interest4 ,they returned by way of ,munich1 ,ulm1 ,zuerich and ,paris1 reaching ,england about the end of ,october4 ,the summer of #aheg was devoted to another ,continental tour1 rather more restricted than the former1 but by no means unimportant4 ,they went leisurely through ,belgium and up the ,rhine into ,switzerland1 halting at different places either to study sections of special interest or to confer with eminent geologists4 ,part of a letter written at this time#abe gives a valuable insight into the intention of these journeys and the character of the author1 who was now in his sixtieth year3-- ,i hope to continue for years travelling1 making original observations1 and1 above all1 going to school to the younger1 but not1 for all that1 young geologists1 whom ,i meet everywhere1 so far ahead of us old stagers that they are familiar with branches of the science1 fast rising into importance1 which were not thought of when ,i first began4 ,switzerland1 obviously1 was visited on this occasion with a very definite purpose4 ,de ,charpentier1 ,escher von der ,linth1 and other local geologists1 had been for some time asserting that the glaciers of the ,alps1 at no remote epoch in geological history1 had attained to an enormous size1 had buried the ,swiss lowland and covered it with morainic deposits1 and had even welled up high against the flanks of the ,jura1 where the huge blocks of protogine from the ,mont ,blanc range--such as ,pierre a bot and its companion erratics1 full #hjj feet above the ,lake of ,neuchatel--indicated one position of its terminal moraine4 ,formerly1 in common with many other geologists1 ,sir ,charles had supposed these blocks to have been transported from the ,alpine peaks by ice-rafts on the sea1 at a time when the whole region stood at a considerably lower level4 ,but now1 after examining the erratics1 their regular and significant distribution1 the other glacial debris1 the ice-worn surfaces of rock beneath it1 and ascertaining the distinctly terrestrial character of the deposits all about the mountains1 he unreservedly admitted land-ice to be the only possible agent1 and1 in accepting this hypothesis1 perceived clearly that he must not shrink from applying it to ,scotland4 ,then he plunged into the mountains to examine and follow the track of the retreating ice-sheet up to the glaciers which are still at work among the higher peaks1 passing up the valley of the ,reuss1 crossing the ,furka ,pass1 and descending the ,rhone valley to ,visp1 but turning aside to examine the earth pillars on the flank of the ,eggishorn4#abf ,another1 and a larger group of these pillars--instances of the erosive action of rain-water on morainic material--was seen near ,stalden1 in the ,visp-thal2 but these had been damaged by the earthquake which two years before had severely shaken this part of the ,alps4 ,at ,zermatt the characteristics of glaciers and the effects of ice were carefully studied among the grandest of ,alpine scenery2 then1 on returning to the ,rhone ,valley1 they crossed the ,alps by the ,simplon and went on to ,turin4 ,here he took the opportunity of visiting the huge moraine near ,ivrea1 which rises from the lowland like a range of hills1 and of investigating the erratics of the ,superga1 satisfying himself that they really belonged to the ,miocene deposits of that hill1 and were indicative of the existence of glaciers in the ,alps of that epoch1 which had been large enough to reach the sea-level1 and to send off masses of ice laden with boulders4 ,then they went on to ,genoa1 and along the beautiful ,riviera di ,levante to ,pisa2 thence1 after a short visit to ,florence1 proceeding direct from ,leghorn to ,naples4 ,here1 he once more examined ,vesuvius1 and had the luck to see lava streams actually in motion--some going fast1 others going very slow--a sight which gave him many new ideas4 ,a study also of the dykes of ,somma convinced him that they afforded no support to ,de ,beaumont's idea of a distension of the mass4#abg ,from ,naples he went to ,sicily1 in order to make a second examination of ,etna1 and then1 after rejoining ,lady ,lyell1 spent some time in the neighbourhood of ,rome1 visiting the old volcanic district of the ,alban ,hills1 and making excursions1 as they travelled northward1 into the ,apennines4 ,they returned through ,france1 reaching ,london towards the end of ,december4 ,but1 for a worker so thorough in his methods1 this visit to the volcanoes was not enough1 so next year1 after spending the earlier part of the summer with his brother's#abh family in the neighbourhood of ,darmstadt1 he left ,lady ,lyell there1 and set off towards the end of ,august for a third examination both of ,vesuvius and of ,etna4 ,travelling rapidly up the valley of the ,rhine1 he went by ,geneva to ,culoz1 and over ,mont ,cenis to ,turin and ,genoa1 without halting for geological work1 and thence by sea to ,naples4 ,lava was still flowing from ,vesuvius1 that black mass1 with its strange rope-like folds and slaggy wrinkles1#abi now so well known to every visitor4 ,accompanied by ,professor ,guiscardi--one of the most genial and helpful of leaders--,sir ,charles made his way to a vent at the base of the principal cone1 where the lava was still welling forth from a small grotto1 looking as fluid as water where it first issued1 and moving at a pace which you would call rapid in a river4 ,white-hot1 at first1 in a canal four or five feet broad1 then red before it had got on a yard1 then in a few feet beginning to be covered by a dark scum1 which thickened fast and was carried along on the surface4 ,but the great question1 whether a volcano was mainly a crater of elevation or a crater of ejection1 was ever present to his mind2 so1 in addition to studying the grand sections displayed in the crags of ,monte ,somma1 he devoted two days to the exploration of the ravines which furrow its outer slopes4 ,he also found time to have another look at the ,temple of ,serapis1 and to examine the ,solfatara1 which is a striking example of a crater at once broad and low4 ,after a week's halt at ,naples1 ,sir ,charles resumed his journey to ,sicily1 landing at ,messina on ,september #ajth4 ,by the #aeth he was once more on the slopes of ,etna1 and had begun a twelve-day period of hard work on the mountain1 passing five nights in very rough quarters at the ,casa degli ,inglesi1 #i1fjj feet above sea-level4 ,during this stay he ascended the principal cone1 carefully examining both the larger and the smaller craters1 and descended into the ,val del ,bove1 a laborious expedition1 but one which well repaid him by throwing much light on the structure of the volcanic mass4 ,still he was not yet satisfied1 for after he had descended to ,zafarana1 he returned to spend another night at the ,casa degli ,inglesi in order to satisfy himself about one or two details4 ,from ,zafarana also he went again to the ,val del ,bove1 checking and increasing his notes1 and devoted another day to a most interesting excursion through picturesque scenery as far as the watershed between this vast hollow in the mountain side and the neighbouring ,val di ,tripodo4 ,on all these excursions ,sir ,charles1 as far as possible1 rode1 remarking to his wife1 ,i feel here that a good mule is like presenting an old geologist with a young pair of legs4 ,work on the mountain ended1 he spent a little time in examining the ,tertiary beds of the neighbouring lowland1 and then1 getting back to ,messina about the middle of ,october1 returned in due course to ,england4 ,these two journeys in succession greatly augmented his knowledge of the structure of volcanic cones1 and enabled him to deal the death-blow to the crater of elevation hypothesis which had found such favour among ,continental geologists4 ,he could now prove that lava would solidify in a compact form on slopes of thirty-five or even forty degrees--a fact which had been stoutly denied by advocates of that hypothesis1 and was able to offer an explanation of the singular structure of the ,val del ,bove1 viz4 that it was a huge gulf1 formed by a series of mighty explosions1 similar to those which shattered half of the old crater of ,vesuvius1#acj and sent one side of ,bandai ,san#aca flying through the air4 ,he returned to ,england satisfied that his feet were on firm ground1 if such a phrase be permissible in regard to a volcano1 and that the results#acb of this conscientious labour in the fulness of his age had strengthened him in the position which he had adopted in his scientific youth4 ,in the next year 7#ahei7 ,lyell also travelled1 though the journeys were not so lengthy as their two predecessors4 ,still1 in the spring he visited both ,holland and ,le ,puy in ,auvergne1 and in the earlier part of the autumn attended the meeting of the ,british ,association at ,aberdeen1 under the presidency of ,prince ,albert4 ,a strong body of geologists were present1 and ,lyell was for the fourth time in the chair of the ,geological ,section1 the ,prince coming to hear his address4 ,among the old friends whom he met was one who would have been a suitable husband for the famous ,countess of ,desmond1 for ,lyell writes of him to ,mrs4 ,horner1 his wife's mother1 ,dr4 ,f4 at ninety-four looks well enough1 but having eaten turtle-soup1 and melon too close to the rind1 and other imprudences1 is not quite well to-day6 ,o dura ,doctorum ilia6 ,the meeting ended1 ,lyell with some geological friends went off to ,elgin to examine the sandstone quarried at ,cutties ,hillock1 near that town4 ,the rock closely resembles the ordinary ,old ,red ,sandstone2 it seemed at first sight to form a continuous mass1 yet in one place it contained a fossil fish belonging to that period1 and in another the remains of a reptile 7,telerpeton74 ,after some days of careful study1 the ,rev4 ,w4 ,s4 ,symonds1 who was one of the party1 came to the conclusion 7which has been fully ratified by later investigations7 that the deposits were of different ages2 the one with the fish being truly ,old ,red1 the other1 with the reptile1 ,new ,red4 ,the chief cause of the puzzle is that the sand which has been derived from the older rock has gone to form the newer one1 and that the usual indications of a discontinuity are practically absent4 ,it affords a valuable caution1 for it shows that ,nature sometimes does set traps1 which might well catch even the most wary geologist4 ,in the same autumn ,lyell read ,darwin's great work on ,the ,origin of ,species1 by which his scientific position was finally determined1 for his letters show that1 if any objection to the leading principles in his friend's views had still lingered in his mind1 they were overcome by the perusal of this masterly specimen of close reasoning and long sustained argument4 ,,footnotes3 #aaf ,in reference to an essay written by him on the connection between the fauna and flora of the ,british ,isles and geological changes4 7,memoirs of the ,geological ,survey1 i4 p4 #ccf47 #aag ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol ii4 p4 #aaj4 #aah ,he died ,november #hth1 #ahdi4 #aai ,he had the advantage of the company of ,mr4 ,c4 ,hartung1 who was an excellent naturalist and well acquainted with the island4 #abj ,elements of ,geology 7sixth edition71 pp4 #fba-fce4 #aba ,on the ,geology of ,some ,parts of ,madeira 7,quart4 ,jour4 ,geol4 ,soc41 x4 p4 #cbe74 #abb ,in a letter to ,mr4 ,bunbury1 dated ,november #acth1 #ahed 7,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 ii4 p4 #aii74 ,it is written from #ec1 ,harley ,street1 one in the previous ,august bearing the superscription of #aa1 ,harley ,street1 so that he appears 7though there is no allusion to this in his published letters or journals7 to have removed into another house in the same street4 ,the number of this was subsequently altered4 #abc ,another letter to ,mr4 ,bunbury1 dated ,april #cjth1 #ahef 7ibid41 p4 #bab74 #abd ,this deposit belongs to the ,tertiary era 7,oligocene system74 #abe ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 ii4 p4 #bdc4 #abf ,the largest1 called the ,zwerglithurn1 is about one and a half hours walk above ,viesch4 #abg ,this had been asserted in support of the hypothesis of craters of elevation4 #abh ,colonel ,lyell had retired from the army and returned to ,england a short time before the outbreak of the ,indian ,mutiny4 #abi ,see ,professor ,j4 ,w4 ,judd3 ,volcanoes 7,international ,scientific ,series71 ,fig4 #bb4 #acj ,in the famous eruption of ,a4,d4 #gi4 #aca ,a volcano of ,japan4 #acb ,these results are worked into the tenth edition of the ,principles 7chaps4 xxv4 and xxvi474 ,see also a paper on ,stony ,lava on ,steep ,slopes of ,etna 7,proc4 ,roy4 ,soc4 #aheh1 ix4 p4 #bdh74 ,he received the ,copley ,medal from the ,royal ,society in ,november4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,antiquity ,,of ,,man4 ,though many men on reaching their sixty-third year are content to rest upon their oars and not to attempt new ventures1 ,lyell had plunged into a question which was arousing almost as much excitement as the origin of species--namely1 the antiquity of man4 ,it was a question1 indeed1 which for a long time must have been before his mind--witness his remarks on ,dr4 ,schmerling's work in the caves near ,liege2 but it had assumed a special significance owing to the famous discovery of flint implements in the valley of the ,somme4#acc ,the whole subject also would have a special interest for ,lyell1 because he had made ,tertiary deposits his special field in stratigraphy1 and had worked at this subject downwards1 comparing extinct with living forms1 so that he had seen more than others of the borderland which blends by an insensible transition the province of the geologist with that of the archaeologist4 ,probably also the thought which he had been giving to the question of the origin of species would bring into no less vivid prominence that of the age and origin of the human race4 ,be this as it may1 he undertook a task comparatively novel1 and for the next three years was fully occupied in the preparation of his third great book1 ,the ,antiquity of ,man4 ,travel was necessary for this purpose also2 but as the journeys were less lengthy than those already described1 and led him for the most part over old ground1 it is needless to enter into details4 ,he visited the gravels of the ,somme ,valley and the caves on the ,meuse1 besides other parts of ,northern ,france and ,belgium1#acd the gravel pits near ,bedford1 and various localities in ,england1 examining into the evidence for himself1 and paying particular attention1 not only to the question of man's antiquity1 but also to the supposed return of a warmer climate than now prevails after the era of glacial cold4 ,the book was published early in #ahfc4 ,naturally its conclusions were startling to many and were vigourously denounced by some2 but it was a great success1 for it ran through three editions in the course of the year4 ,a fourth and enlarged edition was published in #ahgc4 ,the book may seem1 from the literary critic's point of view1 rather composite in character1 and this objection was made in a good-natured form by a writer in the ,saturday ,review1#ace who called it a trilogy on the antiquity of man1 ice1 and ,darwin4 ,that1 however1 is but a slight blemish1 if blemish it be1 and it was readily pardoned1 because of the general interest of the book1 the clearness of its style1 and the lucidity of its reasoning4 ,in accordance with his usual plan of work--proceeding tentatively from the known to the unknown--,lyell begins with times nearest to the present era and facts of which the interpretation is least open to dispute4 ,he conducts his reader at the outset to the peat mosses of ,denmark1 where weapons of iron1 bronze1 and stone lie in a kind of stratified order2 and to those mounds of shells1 the refuse heaps of a rude people1 which are found on the ,baltic shore4 ,next he places him on the site of the pile-built villages which once fringed the shores of ,swiss and ,italian lakes4 ,here weapons of iron1 of bronze1 and of stone are hidden in peat or scattered on the lake-bed4 ,but these log-built settlements1 such as those which ,herodotus described at ,lake ,prasias in ,roumelia1 are not the only remnants of an almost prehistoric people1 for nearer home we find analogous constructions in the crannoges of ,ireland--islets partly artificial1 built of timber and stone4 ,lyell then passes on from ,europe to the valleys of the ,nile and ,mississippi1 and so to the carses of ,scotland4 ,in the last case canoes buried in the alluvial deposits1 as in the lowland by the ,clyde1 indicate that some physical changes1 slight though they may be1 have occurred since the coming of man4 ,but none of these researches lead us back into a very remote past2 they keep us still lingering1 as it were1 on the threshold of history4 ,the weapons which have been described1 even if made of stone1 exhibit a considerable amount of mechanical skill1 for many of them are fashioned and polished with much care1 while they are associated with the remains of creatures which are still living at no great distance1 if not in the immediate vicinity4 ,accordingly he conducts his reader1 in the next place1 to the localities where ruder weapons only have been found1 fashioned by chipping1 and never polished--namely1 to the caves of ,belgium and of ,britain1 of ,central and of ,southern ,france1 and to the gravel beds in the valleys of the ,somme and the ,seine1 of the ,ouse and other rivers of ,eastern and ,southern ,england4 ,these furnish abundant evidence that man was contemporary with several extinct animals1 such as the mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros1 or with others which now inhabit only arctic regions1 such as the reindeer and the musksheep1 and that the valleys since then have been deepened and altered in contour4 ,this evidence1 stratigraphical as well as palaeontological1 proves that important changes have occurred since man first appeared1 not only in climate1 but also in physical geography4 ,the ,glacial ,epoch is the subject of the second part of the book4 ,its pages contain an admirable sketch of the deposits assigned to that age in ,eastern ,england1 ,scandinavia1 the ,alps1 and ,north ,america1 with special descriptions of the loess of ,northern ,europe1 the drifts of the ,danish island of ,moeen1 so like those near ,cromer1 and the parallel roads of ,glenroy1 which ,lyell now supposes to have been formed in a manner similar to that of the little terrace by the ,maerjalen ,see4 ,the third part deals with the origin of species as bearing on man's place in ,nature4 ,it is a recantation of the views which he had formerly maintained4 ,in all his earlier writings1 including the ninth edition of the ,principles1 he had expressed himself dissatisfied with the hypothesis of the transmutation of species1 and had accepted1 though cautiously and not without allowing for considerable power of variation1 that of specific centres of creation4 ,now1 after a full review of the question1 he gives his reasons for abandoning his earlier opinions and adopting in the main those advocated by ,darwin and ,wallace4 ,nevertheless1 through frankly avowing his change of view1 he advances cautiously and tentatively1 like a man over treacherous ice--so cautiously1 indeed1 that ,darwin is not wholly satisfied with his convert1 and chides him good-humouredly for his slow progress and over-much hesitation4 ,but this very hesitation was as real as the conversion3 the one was the outcome of ,lyell's thoroughly judicial habit of mind1 the other was a proof1 perhaps the strongest that could be given1 of that mind's freshness1 vigour1 and candour4 ,the book ends with a chapter on man's place in ,nature4 ,on this burning question the author speaks with great caution1 but comes to the conclusion that man1 so far as his bodily frame is concerned1 cannot claim exception from the law which governs the rest of the animal kingdom and he ends#acf with a few words on the theological aspect of the question3 ,it may be said that1 so far from having a materialistic tendency1 the supposed introduction into the earth1 at successive geological periods1 of life--sensation--instinct--the intelligence of the higher mammalia bordering on reason--and1 lastly1 the improvable reason of man himself1 presents us with a picture of the ever-increasing dominion of mind over matter4 ,,footnotes3 #acc ,found by ,m4 ,boucher de ,perthes1 who had published a book on the subject in #ahdg1 and had announced the discovery about seven years earlier2 but geologists1 for various reasons1 were not fully satisfied on the matter till the visit of ,messrs4 ,prestwich and ,john ,evans 7now ,sir7 in #aheg4 #acd ,he went to ,florence in #ahfb1 but how far this was for geological work is not stated4 #ace ,vol4 xv4 p4 #caa4 #acf ,antiquity of ,man1 chap4 xxiv4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,evening ,,of ,,life4 ,the second and third editions of the ,antiquity of ,man were not mere reprints1 since new materials were constantly coming in and researches were continued2 for during the summer of #ahfc ,sir ,charles was rambling about ,wales1 visiting the caves of ,gower in ,pembrokeshire1 and of ,cefn in ,denbighshire1 the peats of ,anglesea1 and the boulder clay and shell-bearing sands near the top of ,moel ,tryfaen4 ,he also went over to ,paris1 apparently about this time1 to inquire into the authenticity of specimens--bones with notches upon them--which were supposed to prove man contemporaneous with the ,cromer ,forest ,beds of ,england1 and therefore pre-glacial4 ,shorter journeys were to ,osborne 7by ,royal command71 to ,suffolk1 and to ,kent4 ,while engaged on the above-named book1 he had persistently refused more than one position of honour--such as a ,trusteeship at the ,british ,museum1 to be a candidate for the representation of the ,university of ,london in ,parliament1 even an honorary degree from the ,university of ,edinburgh because he was too busy to undertake the journey4 ,in #ahfa1 also1 he seems to have received a warning that he was beginning to grow old1 for he became rather seriously unwell1 and was ordered to ,kissingen in ,bavaria to take a course of the waters4 ,but during the same period two acceptable honours were received--namely1 the ,corresponding ,membership of the ,institute of ,france1 in #ahfb1 and an order of ,scientific ,merit from the ,king of ,prussia in the following year4 ,the years1 as must be the case when life's evening shadows are lengthening1 begin to be more definitely chequered with losses and with rewards4 ,in his letters1 references to the death of friends become frequent4 ,in #ahfb ,mrs4 ,horner1 ,lady ,lyell's mother1 died1 and in #ahfd her father1 ,leonard ,horner1 with whom1 even for some years before becoming his son-in-law1 ,lyell had been in constant friendly correspondence1 passed away in his eightieth year4 ,in the same year ,lyell was raised to the rank of baronet1 and also occupied the presidential chair at the meeting of the ,british ,association at ,bath4 ,his address deals principally with two topics--one local1 thermal springs1 especially those of ,bath2 the other general1 the glacial epoch and its relation to the antiquity of man4 ,he refers1 however1 in the concluding paragraph to the marked change which1 within his memory1 opinion had undergone1 in regard to catastrophic changes and the origin of species1 and to the discovery of the supposed fossil ,eozoon ,canadense in the crystalline ,laurentian rocks of ,canada4 ,this singular structure appeared to him--as it did to ,sir ,w4 ,logan1 who had brought specimens for exhibition at the meeting--to be a fossil organism1#acg and thus to indicate the existence of living creatures at a much earlier period than hitherto had been supposed4 ,but in stating this opinion he checks himself characteristically with these words3 ,i will not venture on speculations respecting 'the signs of a beginning1' or 'the prospects of an end' of our terrestrial system--that wide ocean of scientific conjecture on which so many theorists before my time have suffered shipwreck4 ,the address contains more than one passage that is well worth quotation1 but the following has so wide a bearing1 and is so significant as to the effects of early influences1 that it should not be forgotten3-- ,when speculations on the long series of events which occurred in the ,glacial and post-,glacial periods are indulged in1 the imagination is apt to take alarm at the immensity of the time required to interpret the monuments of these ages1 all referable to the era of existing species4 ,in order to abridge the number of centuries which would otherwise be indispensable1 a disposition is shown by many to magnify the rate of change in prehistoric times1 by investing the causes which have modified the animate and inanimate world with extraordinary and excessive energy4 ,it is related of a great ,irish orator of our day1 that when he was about to contribute somewhat parsimoniously towards a public charity1 he was persuaded by a friend to make a more liberal donation4 ,in doing so1 he apologised for his first apparent want of generosity by saying that his early life had been a constant struggle with scanty means1 and that 'they who are born to affluence cannot easily imagine how long a time it takes to get the chill of poverty out of one's bones4' ,in like manner1 we of the living generation1 when called upon to make grants of thousands of centuries in order to explain the events of what is called the modern period1 shrink naturally at first from making what seems to be so lavish an expenditure of past time4 ,throughout our early education we have been accustomed to such strict economy in all that relates to the chronology of the earth and its inhabitants in remote ages1 so fettered have we been by old traditional beliefs1 that even when our reason is convinced and we are persuaded that we ought to make more liberal grants of time to the geologist1 we feel how hard it is to get the chill of poverty out of our bones4#ach ,a presidential address to the ,british ,association is no light task2 but1 in addition to this1 ,lyell was now engaged upon a new edition of the ,elements 7or ,manual7 of ,geology1 which for some time had been urgently demanded2 the last edition also of the ,principles--though #e1jjj copies had been printed--was practically exhausted4 ,the former work was cleared off before the end of the year1 the book appearing in ,january1 #ahfe1 and the latter was at once taken vigorously in hand1 as we see from a letter questioning ,sir ,john ,herschel about the earth-pillars on the ,rittnerhorn1 near ,botzen1 and on the influence which changes in the shape of the earth's orbit and the position of its axis would have upon climate--a view which had been advocated by ,dr4 ,croll4 ,lyell1 it will be remembered1 had originally regarded geographical conditions as the only factors which modified climate1 but he was evidently impressed by ,croll's argument1 and ready1 if his mathematics were correct1 to admit astronomical changes as an independent1 though probably less potent1 cause of variation4 ,the ,christmas of #ahfd and the following ,new ,year were spent in ,berlin1 and in the summer of #ahfe he had again recourse to ,kissingen4 ,though he writes that the waters did him neither harm nor good1 he was at any rate well enough after the cure to undertake a rather lengthy tour with ,lady ,lyell and his nephew#aci ,leonard1 in the course of which he examined for himself the wonderful earth-pillars near ,botzen1 and visited the ,maerjalen ,see1 that pretty lake held up by the ice of the great ,aletsch ,glacier1 in order to see whether it threw any light on the origin of the parallel roads of ,glenroy4 ,he was satisfied that it did1 for he found there a large terrace exactly on a level with the col which separates the valley occupied by the lake from that of the ,viesch glacier4 ,on his return to ,england1 he writes a long letter to ,sir ,john ,herschel1 discussing the origin of these earth-pillars1 and making inquiries as to the precise points from which his friend1 more than forty years before1 had made some elaborate drawings4 ,the expedition1 as well as the letter1 to quote ,lyell's own words1 were pretty well for a man who was battling with sixty-eight years4 ,he complains1 however1 of little more than occasional attacks of lumbago1 and a necessity for taking great care of himself2 but his eyes were now more troublesome than they had been1 and for the last year he had been driven to avail himself of the services of a secretary1#adj with the result that he seemed to have acquired a new lease of his eyes1 and to be able1 for ordinary purposes1 to use them almost as well as formerly4 ,after his return from the ,continent ,sir ,charles was working hard at the new edition of the ,principles1 which obviously gave him much trouble1 for letters still remain which were written to ,herschel on questions relating to climate and astronomy2 to ,hooker1 ,wallace1 and ,darwin on the transmutation of species1 the distribution and migration of plants and animals1 the effects of geographical changes1 and even on such matters as the ,triassic reptilia of ,elgin and ,warwickshire1 ,central ,india and the ,cape4 ,at last the first volume of the new and much-enlarged edition 7tenth7 was published in ,november1 #ahff1 the second volume not appearing till #ahfh4 ,few men at that time of life could have accomplished such a piece of work1 especially if they had been compelled1 as ,lyell was1 to read with the eyes and write with the hands of others4 ,but even now1 in regard to field work1 he was still able to see things for himself1 and1 though less vigorous than formerly1 to undertake journeys of moderate length4 ,in #ahff1 in company with his nephew ,leonard1 he examined the ,glacial and late ,tertiary deposits of the ,suffolk coasts2 looked once more at the sections of ,jurassic rocks in the ,isle of ,portland and the neighbourhood of ,weymouth1 and doubtless speculated on the origin of the ,chesil ,bank and of the ,fleet4 ,one honour fell to him in this year1 which1 doubtless1 only the accident of his long service on the ,council had previously kept from him--namely1 the ,wollaston ,medal of the ,geological ,society4 ,in #ahfg he was strong enough to visit the ,paris ,exhibition1 after which he went to ,forfarshire1 and attended the meeting of the ,british ,association at ,dundee4 ,in the following year he was present at the same gathering in ,norwich1 besides making various shorter journeys in ,england and spending ,september in ,pembrokeshire with ,lady ,lyell and his brother's family1#ada in whose company evidently he took much pleasure4 ,in the spring of #ahfh he was again in the field1 examining the splendid plant remains of ,eocene age in the neighbourhood of ,bournemouth and ,poole1 and the shallow-water deposits of the ,purbeck group ripple-marked and sun-cracked1 together with the traces of their ancient forests4 ,over these he became as enthusiastic as any young geologist4 ,at this time also1 apparently1 he visited the ,blackmore ,museum#adb at ,salisbury1 and himself found reindeer antlers in the neighbouring gravels at ,fisherton4 ,in the autumn they again stayed at ,tenby with ,colonel ,lyell's family1 when one of the latter was attacked by a serious illness4 ,but ,sir ,charles was able to take his nephew ,leonard to ,st4 ,david's1 and examine the magnificent sections of fossiliferous ,cambrian rocks1 under the guidance of ,dr4 ,h4 ,hicks1 whose name is inseparably connected with the geology of this district4 ,comparatively few records are preserved of the last six years of his life2 still they are enough to show that his interest in science never flagged4 ,the few letters which have been printed show no signs of declining mental strength4 ,though his bodily powers had become less vigorous1 though his sight was weak1 and his limbs were less firm than in the olden times1 he was by no means ready to be laid altogether on the shelf4 ,for instance1 in the spring of #ahfi he went back to the coast of ,suffolk and ,norfolk1 to resume work which he had been unable to complete on his last visit4 ,starting at ,aldborough1 where ,pliocene deposits are still exposed1 from the ,coralline ,crag up to the ,chillesford group1 they examined the coasts by ,southwold and ,kessingland to ,lowestoft1 seeing a continuous section1 for miles unbroken1 of the deposits from the upper part of the ,pliocene to the glacial drift4 ,the ,kessingland cliffs afforded good sections of the ,forest ,bed1 the deposit which on former occasions he had studied in the neighbourhood of ,cromer4 ,it was covered by several yards of stratified sand1 and that by glacial drift1 with the usual 'boulders' of chalk1 flint1 lias1 sandstone1 and other sedimentaries1 with crystalline rocks from more distant places4 ,passing on into ,norfolk1 they followed this ,forest ,bed and the overlying boulder clay1 and they found in the latter1 near ,happisburgh1 some fragments of sea-shells1 and one perfect valve of ,tellina solidula in a band of gravel1 like a fragment of an old sea-beach1 intercalated in the glacial clay4 ,as the origin of this clay has been1 of late years1 a subject of dispute1 it may be interesting to quote ,sir ,charles's conclusion3--,i suppose1 therefore1 we must set it down as a marine formation2 and underneath it1 from ,happisburgh to ,cromer1 comes the famous lignite bed and submarine forest1 which must have sunk down to allow of the unquestionable glacial formation being everywhere superimposed4#adc ,on revisiting ,sherringham 7a village about five miles along the coast to the west of ,cromer71 he found a striking instance of that sea change to which in his early days he had called attention4 ,leonard and ,i 7he writes to ,sir ,c4 ,bunbury7 have just returned from ,sherringham1 where ,i found that the splendid old ,hythe pinnacle of chalk1 in which the flints were vertical1 between seventy and eighty feet high1 the grandest erratic in the world1 of which ,i gave a figure in the first edition of my ,principles1 has totally disappeared4 ,the sea has advanced on the lofty cliff so much in the last ten years1 that it may well have carried away the whole pinnacle in the thirty years which have elapsed since our first visit4 ,another letter1 bearing date in the next month1 to ,darwin shows that in his seventy-second year his mind was fresh and keen as ever4 ,it discusses an article written by ,wallace in the ,quarterly ,review1 and indicates the difference in regard to natural selection between ,lyell's own standpoint and that of his correspondent4 ,the following extract may serve to show the general tenor of the remarks3--,as ,i feel that progressive development in evolution cannot be entirely explained by natural selection1 ,i rather hail ,wallace's suggestion that there may be a ,supreme ,will and ,power1 which may not abdicate its functions of interference1 but may guide the forces and laws of ,nature4 ,in another passage he refers1 to a controversy which had been recently started by ,professor 7afterwards ,sir ,a47 ,ramsay1 and over which geologists have been fighting ever since--viz4 whether lake-basins are excavated by glaciers4 ,the passage is worth quoting1 for it puts the issue in a form which after a quarter of a century is virtually unchanged3-- ,as to the scooping out of lake-basins by glaciers1 ,i have had a long1 amicable1 but controversial correspondence with ,wallace on that subject1 and ,i cannot get over 7as1 indeed1 ,i have admitted in print7 an intimate connection between the number of lakes of modern date and the glaciation of the regions containing them4 ,but as we do not know how ice can scoop out ,lago ,maggiore to a depth of #b1fjj feet1 of which all but #fjj is below the level of the sea1 getting rid of the rock supposed to be worn away as if it was salt that had melted1 ,i feel that it is a dangerous causation to admit in explanation of every cavity which we have to account for1 including ,lake ,superior4 ,they who use it seem to have it always at hand1 like the 'diluvial wave or the wave of translation1' or the 'convulsion of nature or catastrophe' of the old paroxysmists4#add ,in the summer he took a longer tour1 going first to ,westmoreland and then to ,forfarshire2 after which1 in company with ,lady ,lyell and his nephew1 he went to see the old rocks of ,ross-shire1 above ,inchnadamff and ,ullapool1 and1 as he returned1 once more visited the parallel roads of ,glenroy4 ,but1 in the meantime1 notwithstanding the difficulties mentioned above1 he still kept working at his books4 ,he was now engaged in modifying the ,elements of ,geology4 ,of this1 to quote the preface afterwards published1 he had published six editions between the years #ahch and #ahfe1 beginning with a small duodecimo volume1 which increased with each successive edition1 as new facts accumulated1 until in #ahfe it had become a large and somewhat expensive work4 ,he therefore determined1 in accordance with the advice of friends1 to bring the book back again to a size more nearly approaching the original1 so that it might be within the reach of the ordinary student4 ,this was done by the omission of certain theoretical discussions and all such references to ,continental geology as were not absolutely necessary4#ade ,in #ahgj ,sir ,charles continued to travel1 though within the limits of these islands1 for he made one journey along the coast of ,north ,devon1 and a second one to ,scotland1 in the course of which he visited the ,isle of ,arran1 and on his return halted first at ,ambleside and then at ,liverpool1 to attend the meeting of the ,british ,association1 which began on the #adth of ,september4 ,the following year he paid an ,april visit to ,tintagel1 the ,land's ,end1 and other parts of ,cornwall1 and in the summer went to the ,north of ,england4 ,writing from ,penrith to ,sir ,c4 ,bunbury1 he remarks that he had much enjoyed his 'tour of inspection1' and had tried to make it a tour of rest1 which is difficult4 ,naturally so1 for he had been working his way from ,buxton on the look-out for glacial deposits and studying especially the stratified drifts on the hills east of ,macclesfield1 #a1bjj feet above the sea4 ,his remarks on these show that he appreciated fully both the significance of the marine fossils which they contain and the theoretical difficulties caused by the absence of such remains in other deposits1 whether in ,derbyshire or the ,lake ,district1 or in the lowland between this locality and ,moel ,tryfaen1 seventy-four miles away4 ,the tenth edition of the ,principles had been quickly sold1 and ,sir ,charles was now employed in the preparation of another one4 ,in this less change was necessary than on the last occasion2 still1 the rapid increase of knowledge1 more especially in regard to the temperature and currents of the sea1 obliged him to make considerable alterations in the parts which dealt with these subjects and with questions of climate1 so that he recast or rewrote five chapters4 ,it was published in ,january1 #ahgb2 and in the summer of that year1 no doubt in view of a new edition of the ,antiquity of ,man1 he went to the south of ,france1 with ,lady ,lyell and ,professor ,t4 ,m',k4 ,hughes1 to examine the ,aurignac cave4 ,here several human skeletons had been discovered some years before1 apparently entombed with the bones of various extinct mammals1 such as the cave-bear and lion1 the mammoth and woolly rhinoceros--in short1 with a fauna characteristic of the palaeolithic age4 ,but was this really the date of the interment8 ,some distinguished geologists were of opinion that1 though the cave had been then occupied by wild beasts1 its floor had been disturbed1 and the corpses buried in neolithic times4 ,on this point ,lyell was unable to obtain conclusive evidence1 and was obliged to confine himself to a statement of the facts and arguments on either side of the question4#adf ,shortly after the publication of this new edition of the ,antiquity of ,man in ,january1 #ahgc1 an unexpected and irreparable bereavement darkened the evening of his days4 ,on ,april #bdth ,lady ,lyell1 the companion and helpmate of forty years1 was taken from him after a few days' illness from an inflammatory cold4#adg ,the shock was the more severe because the loss was so unforeseen4 ,lady ,lyell was twelve years his junior1 and had always enjoyed good health#adh--youthful and vigorous for her age1 as he writes--so that he never contemplated surviving her1 and could hardly believe it when the calamity happened4 ,he bore the blow bravely1 consoling himself by reflecting that the separation1 at his age--nearly seventy-six--could not be for very long1 and1 as he writes to ,professor ,heer1 of ,zuerich1 endeavouring1 by daily work at my favourite science1 to forget as far as possible the dreadful change which this has made in my existence4 ,lady ,lyell was a woman of rare excellence4 ,strength and sweetness were hers1 both in no common degree4 ,the daughter of ,leonard ,horner1 and the niece of ,francis ,horner1 her own excellent understanding had been carefully trained1 and she had that general knowledge and those intellectual tastes which we expect to find in an educated ,englishwoman2 and from her childhood she had breathed the refining air of taste1 knowledge1 and goodness4 ,her marriage 444 gave a scientific turn to her thoughts and studies1 and she became to her husband1 not merely the truest of friends and the most affectionate and sympathetic of companions1 but a very efficient helper4 ,she was frank1 generous1 and true2 her moral instincts were high and pure2 she was faithful and firm in friendship2 she was fearless in the expression of opinion without being aggressive2 and she had that force of character and quiet energy of temperament that gave her the power to do all that she had resolved to do4444 ,she had more than a common share of personal beauty2 but had she not been beautiful she would have been lovely1 such was the charm of her manners1 which were the natural expression of warmth and tenderness of heart1 of quick sympathies1 and of a tact as delicate as a blind man's touch4#adi ,he was not1 however1 left to bear in solitude the burden of darkening sight and of a desolated home4 ,his eldest sister1 ,miss ,lyell1 came from ,kinnordy to take care of his house and watch over him in these last years with an affectionate devotion2 and in her company and that of ,professor ,hughes he even carried out the plan1 which had been already in contemplation1 of once more going on to the ,continent and of visiting ,professor ,heer1 at ,zuerich4 ,he worked on1 as well as slowly increasing infirmities allowed1 after his return to ,england1 fully occupied in preparing a second edition of the ,student's ,elements and a new one of the ,principles4#aej ,in ,june1 #ahgd1 he again visited ,cambridge1 this time to receive the degree of ,,ll4,d4--an honour which that ,university had been strangely slow in conferring upon him4#aea ,it was then too evident that his strength was declining1 for he became quickly fatigued by any exertion of body or mind2 nevertheless1 he was able soon afterwards to make once more the journey to ,forfarshire1 and to visit there several of his earlier geological haunts4 ,in some of these little excursions he had as his companion ,mr4 ,j4 ,w4 ,judd1#aeb with whose recent researches into the ruined volcanoes of ,tertiary age and the yet earlier stratified rocks in the ,western ,isles of ,scotland ,sir ,charles was hardly less interested than he would have been in the days when the ,principles was a new book4 ,three or four letters written about this time have been printed#aec which show1 from their vigour and freshness1 that the mind was still keen and bright1 though the bodily machinery was becoming outworn4 ,after his return to town he even ventured1 on ,november #eth1 to dine at the ,geological ,club1#aed of which he had been a member from its foundation1 on its fiftieth anniversary meeting1 and spoke with a vigour which surprised his friends4 ,the tale1 however1 is nearly told2 the sands of life were running low4 ,his failing eyesight and other infirmities now began to increase rapidly1 and towards the close of the year he became very feeble4 ,but his spirit was ever alive to his old beloved science1 and his affectionate interest and thought for those about him never failed4 ,he dined downstairs on ,christmas ,day with his brother's family1 but shortly after that kept to his room4 ,on ,february #bbnd1 #ahge1 ,charles ,lyell entered into his rest4 ,the end may have been slightly accelerated by two causes--one1 the death1 from inflammation of the lungs1 after a short illness1 of his brother1#aee ,colonel ,lyell1 who1 up to that time1 had visited him almost daily2 the other1 the shock given to his enfeebled system by accidentally falling on the stairs a few weeks before4 ,but in no case could it have been long delayed2 the bodily frame was outworn2 the hour of rest had come4 ,his fellow-workers in science felt unanimously that but one place of sepulture was worthy to receive the body of ,charles ,lyell--the ,abbey of ,westminster1 our national ,valhalla4 ,a memorial1 bearing many important signatures1 was at once presented to ,dean ,stanley1 who gave a willing consent1 and the interment took place with all due solemnity on ,saturday the #bgth4 ,the grave was dug in the north aisle of the nave1 near that of ,woodward1 one of the pioneers of ,british geology and the founder of the chair of that science in the ,university of ,cambridge4 ,it is marked#aef by a slab of ,derbyshire marble1 which bears this inscription3-- ,,charles ,,lyell1 ,,baronet1 ,f4,r4,s41 ,,author ,,of ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,geology4 ,,born ,,at ,,kinnordy1 ,,in ,,forfarshire1 ,,november #ad1 #agig2 ,,died ,,in ,,london1 ,,february #bb1 #ahge4 ,,throughout ,a ,,long ,,and ,,laborious ,,life ,,he ,,sought ,,the ,,means ,,of ,,deciphering ,,the ,,fragmentary ,,records ,,of ,,the ,,earth',s ,,history ,,in ,,the ,,patient ,,investigation ,,of ,,the ,,present ,,order ,,of ,,nature1 ,,enlarging ,,the ,,boundaries ,,of ,,knowledge ,,and ,,leaving ,,on ,,scientific ,,thought ,,an ,,enduring ,,influence4 ,o ,,lord1 ,,how ,,great ,,are ,,thy ,,works1 ,,and ,,thy ,,thoughts ,,are ,,very ,,deep4 ,,psalm ,,xcii4 #e4 ,sir ,charles1 by his will1 left to the ,geological ,society of ,london the die1 executed by ,mr4 ,leonard ,wyon1 of a medal to be cast in bronze1 and awarded annually to some geologist of distinction1 whether ,british or foreign4 ,he further left a sum of two thousand pounds1 free of legacy duty1 to the ,society1 in trust1 the interest of it to be applied as follows3--,not less than one-third of it to accompany the medal1 and the remainder to be given1 in one or more portions1 for the furtherance of the science4 ,sir ,charles was succeeded in the family estates by his nephew ,leonard1 the eldest son of ,colonel ,lyell1 who lives at ,kinnordy1 but has rebuilt the house4 ,he was created a baronet in #ahid4 ,,footnotes3 #acg ,the nature of ,eozoon1 whether it be the remains of a foraminifer of unusual size and peculiar habit of growth1 or merely a very exceptional arrangement of its constituent minerals1 has been since the above-named date a fruitful subject of controversy4 ,for some years the balance of opinion was in favour of an organic origin2 now it seems to be distinctly tending in the other direction4 #ach ,report of ,brit4 ,assoc41 #ahfd1 p4 xxiv4 #aci ,colonel ,lyell's eldest son1 the present baronet4 #adj ,he was fortunate in obtaining the help of ,miss ,arabella ,buckley1 a lady of congenial tastes in literature and science4 #ada ,the relationship was unusually close1 for ,colonel ,lyell had married another ,miss ,horner4 #adb ,for a description of this fine collection of prehistoric antiquities1 see ,flint ,chips1 by ,e4 ,t4 ,stevens1 #ahgj4 #adc ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 ii4 p4 #ddj4 #add ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 ii4 p4 #ddc4 #ade ,the book1 thus abbreviated1 and entitled ,the ,student's ,elements of ,geology1 was published in #ahga4 ,a second edition appeared in ,february1 #ahgd2 a third1 revised by ,mr4 ,leonard ,lyell and others1 in #ahgh2 and a fourth1 edited by ,prof4 ,p4 ,m4 ,duncan1 in #ahhe4 #adf ,antiquity of ,man 7fourth edition71 chap4 vii4 #adg ,she had been suffering from influenza1 but had accompanied her husband and nephews to ,ludlow at the beginning of the month4 ,they became uneasy at her increasing debility1 and returned to town on the #adth 7,life1 ,letters1 and ,journal of ,sir ,c4 ,bunbury1 iii4 p4 #i74 #adh ,he mentions1 on ,january #eth1 #ahef1 that she had not been well enough to breakfast with him1 for the second time only since our marriage4 #adi ,quoted from an obituary notice by ,g4 ,s4 ,hillard1 ,esq41 in the ,boston 7,u4,s47 ,daily ,advertiser 7printed in ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 ii4 p4 #dfg74 #aej ,this was published after his death4 ,he had completed one volume2 the other was revised by his nephew ,leonard4 #aea ,about the same time he was admitted to the freedom of the ,turners' ,company in the ,city of ,london4 #aeb ,now ,professor ,judd1 ,f4,r4,s41 of the ,royal ,college of ,science1 ,south ,kensington4 #aec ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 ii4 pp4 #dec-dei4 #aed ,the ,club consists of a certain number of ,fellows of the ,geological ,society1 who dine together before the evening meetings4 #aee ,his brother ,thomas1 who had retired from the ,navy with the rank of captain1 had died 7unmarried7 some years before at the jointure house 7,shiel ,hill71 ,kinnordy1 where he had resided with one of his sisters4 #aef ,a marble bust1 a copy by ,theed of the original executed by ,gibson1 is placed near the grave4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,summary4 ,in stature1 ,sir ,charles ,lyell#aeg was rather above the middle height1 somewhat squarely built1 though not at all stout1 with clear-cut1 intellectual features1 and a forehead1 broad1 high1 and massive4 ,he would have been a man of commanding presence1 if his extremely short sight had not obliged him to stoop and peer into anything he wished to observe4 ,this defect1 in addition to the weakness of his eyes was a serious impediment in field work4 ,as ,professor ,ramsay remarked in #ahea1 after spending a few days with him in the south of ,england1 he required people to point things out to him1 and would have been unable to make a geological map1 but understood all when explained1 and speculated thereon well4#aeh ,this defect of sight1 according to ,sir ,j4 ,w4 ,dawson1 who had been his companion in more than one excursion in ,canada1 was at times even a source of danger4 ,the expression of his face was one of thoughtful power and gracious benignity4#aei ,in his work1 ,lyell was very methodical1 beginning and ending at fixed hours4 ,accustomed to make use of the help of others on account of his weak sight1 he was singularly unconscious of outward bodily movement1 though highly sensitive to pain4 ,when dictating1 he was often restless1 moving from his chair to his sofa1 pacing the room1 or sometimes flinging himself full length on two chairs1 tracing patterns on the floor1 as some thoughtful or eloquent passage flowed from his lips4 ,but though a rapid writer and dictator1 he was sensitively conscientious in the correction of his manuscript1 partly from a strong sense of the duty of accuracy1 partly from a desire to save his publisher the expense of proof corrections4 ,hence passages once finished were rarely altered1 even after many years1 unless new facts arose4 ,the characteristic with which anyone who spent some time in ,charles ,lyell's company was most impressed1 was his thirst for knowledge1 combined with a singular openness1 and perfect fairness of mind4 ,he was absolutely free from all petty pride1 and from that common failing of men of science1 which causes them to cling with such tenacity to opinions once formed1 even in the face of the strongest evidence4#afj ,ramsay wrote of him1#afa ,we all like ,lyell much2 he is anxious for instruction1 and so far from affecting the bigwig1 he is not afraid to learn anything from anyone4#afb ,the notes he takes are amazing4 ,no man could have given a stronger proof of candour and plasticity of mind and of his care for truth alone than ,lyell did in dealing with the question of the origin of species4 ,from the first he approached it without prejudice4 ,so long as the facts adduced by ,lamarck and others appeared to him insufficient to support their hypotheses1 he gave the preference to some modification of the ordinarily accepted view--that a species began in a creative act--but after reading ,darwin's classic work1#afc and discussing the subject in private1 not only with its author1 but also with ,sir ,j4 ,hooker and ,professor ,huxley1 he was convinced that ,darwin was right in his main contention1 though he held back in regard to certain minor points1 for which he thought the evidence as yet insufficient4 ,of his conduct in this matter1 ,darwin justly wrote3 ,considering his age1 his former views1 and position in society1 ,i think his action has been heroic4#afd ,dean ,stanley1 in the pulpit of ,westminster ,abbey1 on the ,sunday following the funeral1 summed up in a few eloquent sentences the great moral lesson of ,lyell's life4 ,from early youth to extreme old age it was to him a solemn religious duty to be incessantly learning1 fearlessly correcting his own mistakes1 always ready to receive and reproduce from others that which he had not in himself4 ,science and religion for him not only were not divorced1 but were one and indivisible4#afe ,to ascertain the truth1 and to be led by reason not by impulse1 that was ,lyell's great aim4 ,sedgwick once#aff criticised his work in terms which1 in one respect1 seem to me curiously mistaken3 ,lyell 444 is an excellent and thoughtful writer1 but not1 ,i think1 a great field observer 444 his mind is essentially deductive not inductive4 ,the former criticism1 as has been already admitted1 is just1 but the latter1 pace tanti viri1 seems to me the reverse of the truth4 ,surely there never was a geologist whose habits and methods were more strictly inductive than ,lyell's4 ,he would spare no pains1 and hardly any expense1 to ascertain for himself what the facts were2 he abstained from drawing any conclusion until he had accumulated a good store2 he compared and marshalled them1 and finally adopted the interpretation with which they seemed most accordant4 ,this interpretation1 however1 would be modified1 or even rejected1 if new and important facts were discovered4 ,surely this is the method of induction2 surely this is the mode of reasoning adopted by ,darwin and by ,newton1 and even by ,bacon himself4 ,but ,sedgwick1 great man as he was1 almost unrivalled in the field1 more brilliant1 though less persevering than ,lyell1 was not always quite free from prejudices2 and it may be noted that he more than once stigmatises an opinion which he dislikes by declaring it not to be in accordance with inductive methods4 ,sir ,joseph ,hooker's judgment was far more accurate3 ,one of the most philosophical of geologists1 and one of the best of men#afg2 or that of ,charles ,darwin himself3 ,the science of geology is enormously indebted to ,lyell--more so1 as ,i believe1 than to any other man who ever lived4#afh ,lyell felt a keen interest in the broader aspect of political questions1 and this not only in his own country1#afi though he took little or no share in party struggles1 for the vulgarity of the demagogue and the coarseness of the hustings were offensive to a man of such refinement4 ,his opinions harmonised with his scientific habits of thought1 always progressive1 but never extravagant4 ,he was in favour of greater freedom in education1 of the restriction of class privileges1 and of an extension of the franchise1 but he saw clearly that anything like universal suffrage1 as the world is at present constituted1 would only mean giving a preponderating influence to those least competent to wield it2 that is1 to the more ignorant and easily deluded4 ,as in such cases the glib tongue would become more potent than the voice of reason1 the demagogue than the statesman1 he feared that the standard of national honour would be almost inevitably lowered1 and national disaster be a probable result4 ,that all men are equal and entitled to an equal share in the government--a dogma now regarded in some circles as almost sacred--would have been repudiated by him with the quiet scorn of a man who prefers facts to fancies1 and inductive reasoning to sentimental rhapsody4 ,a partisan he could not be1 for he saw too clearly that in political matters truth and right were seldom a monopoly of any side1 and though by no means wanting in a certain quiet and restrained enthusiasm1 he had almost an abhorrence of fanaticism4 ,one example may serve for many1 to indicate the way in which he regarded both this spirit and any difficult question4 ,naturally he had a strong dislike to slavery2 he fully recognised the injustice and wrong to the negro1 and the evil effects upon the master4 ,nevertheless1 after visiting the ,southern ,states1 and giving the impressions of his journey1 he thus expresses himself3 ,the more ,i reflected on the condition of the slaves1 and endeavoured to think on a practical plan for hastening the period of their liberation1 the more difficult the subject appeared to me1 and the more ,i felt astonished at the confidence displayed by so many anti-slavery speakers and writers on both sides of the ,atlantic4 ,the course pursued by these agitators shows that1 next to the positively wicked1 the class who are usually called 'well-meaning persons' are the most mischievous in society4 ,he then points out how a strong feeling against slavery had been springing up in ,virginia1 ,kentucky1 and ,maryland2 how the emancipation party had been gaining ground1 and slavery steadily retreating southwards1 but from the moment that the abolition movement began1 and that missionaries were sent to the ,southern ,states1 a reaction was perceived--the planters took the alarm--laws were passed against education--the condition of the slave was worse1 and not a few of the planters1 by dint of defending their institutions against the arguments and misrepresentations of their assailants1 came actually to delude themselves into a belief that slavery was legitimate1 wise1 and expedient--a positive good in itself4#agj ,at a subsequent period he speaks of ,mrs4 ,beecher ,stowe's famous book1 ,uncle ,tom's ,cabin1 as a gross caricature4 ,but in the great struggle between the ,northern and ,southern ,states1 his sympathies went with the former4 ,it was the fairness of his criticisms1 and his hearty appreciation of the good side in ,american institutions1 that won him many friends and made his books welcome on that side of the ,atlantic4 ,lyell's views on religious questions accorded1 as might be expected1 with the general bent of his mind4 ,he was a member of the ,church of ,england1#aga appreciated its services1 the charm of music1 and the beauty of architecture1 but he failed to understand why nonconformity should entail penalties1 whether legal or social4 ,his mind was essentially undogmatic2 feeling that certainty was impossible in questions where the ordinary means of verification could not be employed1 he abstained from speculation and shrank from formulating his ideas1 even when he was convinced of their general truth4 ,he was content1 however1 to believe where he could not prove1 and to trust1 not faintly1 the larger hope4 ,so he worked on in calm confidence that the honest searcher after truth would never go far astray1 and that the ,god of ,nature and of ,revelation was one4 ,he sought in this life to follow the way of righteousness1 justice1 and goodness1 and he died in the hope of immortality4 ,as he disapproved of any approach to persecution on the ground of religion1 so he objected strongly to the exclusive privileges which in his day were enjoyed by the ,church of ,england1 especially to its virtual monopoly of education4 ,on this point he several times expresses himself in forcible terms2 as1 for instance1 in these words3 ,the ,church of ,england ascendency is really the power which is oppressive here1 and not the monarchy1 nor the aristocracy4 ,perhaps ,i feel it too sensitively as a scientific man1 since our ,puseyites have excluded physical science from ,oxford4 ,they are wise in their generation4 ,the abject deference to authority advocated conscientiously by them can never survive a sound philosophical education4#agb ,to this party--or to the ,catholic movement1 as it is now often called--in the ,church of ,england1 ,lyell had a strong dislike2 he deemed their claims to authority unwarrantable1 their practices in many respects either childish or superstitious4 ,as we have endeavoured to bring out in the course of this volume the guiding principles of ,lyell's work1 a brief recapitulation only is needed as a conclusion4 ,that work was regulated by two maxims3 the one1 ,go and see2 the other1 ,prefer reason to authority4 ,to the first maxim he gave expression more than once1 while he was always inculcating it by example4 ,imitating the well-known saying of ,demosthenes in regard to oratory1 he emphatically declares that in order to form comprehensive views of the globe1 the first1 the second1 and the third requisite is travel4#agc ,what he preached1 he practised2 about a quarter of the last fifty years of his life must have so been spent4 ,of the second maxim also he was a living example4 ,it was his practice not only to see for himself1 but also to judge for himself1 in all questions other than those necessarily reserved for specialists2 his rule1 that thought should be free from the fear of man1 but subject to the laws of reasoning4 ,as a young man he had advocated1 almost single-handed1 scientific views which were unpopular alike with the older authorities in geology and with the supposed friends of religion2 he had protested against the invocation of catastrophic destruction and cataclysmal flood in order to clear away difficulties in the past history of the earth2 in other words1 against an appeal to miracle1 when a cause could be found in the existing order of ,nature2 and he had disputed the right of any priesthood1 whether ,romanist or ,protestant1 to hold the keys of knowledge4 ,he vindicated1 against all corners1 his claim--nay1 his birthright--to sit1 as an earnest student1 at the feet of ,nature to listen and to learn1 as she chose to teach1 whether by the acted drama of the living world or by the silent record of the rocks4 ,he was1 in short1 more observer than theorist1 more philosopher than poet1 more a servant of reason than a dreamer of dreams4 ,his example is one well worthy of remembrance at the present epoch4 ,the whirligig of time has brought its revenges1 and has introduced into geology a class of students almost unknown in the days when ,lyell was in his vigour4 ,the developments of mineralogy and palaeontology1 helpful and valuable as they have been by making geology more of an exact science and1 in some cases1 substituting order for confusion1 have tended to produce students very familiar with the apparatus of a laboratory or the collections of a museum1 but not with the face of the earth4 ,this1 in itself1 would not be necessarily hurtful1 because the field of geology is so wide that there is room for all2 but it leads sometimes to an undue exaltation of trifles1 to an over-estimation of the mint1 anise1 and cummin of science1 to a waste of time upon what is called the literature of the subject4 ,this last often means either searching much chaff for a few grains of wheat1 or spending much labour with the hope of discovering whether ,a or ,b was the first to confer a name upon a species2 the priority perhaps being only of a few months1 and that name neither particularly appropriate nor euphonious4 ,partly from this1 partly from other causes1 the importance1 nay1 the absolute necessity of travel1 for the education of a geologist is now too often forgotten4 ,in this science there are many questions--some of them almost fundamental--for which no perquisitions in a library1 no research in a laboratory1 no studies in a museum1 however conscientiously patient and painstaking they may be1 can be accepted as an adequate preparation2 questions in which ,nature is at once the best book1 the best laboratory1 and the best museum1 and experience is the only safe teacher4 ,what would ,lyell have said to men--and such might now be named--who undertook to discuss wide geological problems with the most limited experience who1 for example1 posed as authorities upon what ice can or cannot do1 without having even seen a glacier or speculated on the most intricate questions in petrology without having studied more than some corner of this island1 or1 indeed1 without any precise knowledge of that8 ,would not he--averse as he was to speaking severely--have censured them for talking about things which they could not possibly understand1 and for darkening counsel by words without knowledge8 ,lyell1 no doubt1 had exceptionally favourable opportunities4 ,the eldest son of a wealthy man--who contentedly acquiesced in his seeking fame rather than fortune1 and supplied him with the necessary funds--his time was his own1 as he had not only enough for his ordinary wants1 but also could afford to travel as much as he desired4 ,his social position was sufficiently good to facilitate his access to those who had already attained to eminence4 ,he was blessed with a sympathetic and helpful wife1 and they had no children4 ,thus they were perfectly free1 both in the disposal of their time at home and in their peregrinations abroad4 ,besides these things they both enjoyed good health4 ,lyell's constitution was not1 indeed1 so robust that he could take liberties2 he had to be careful about cakes and ale1 and to lead a fairly regular life1#agd but by so doing he was able to be always in good condition for his work4 ,his eyes1 in fact1 were his only trouble and who is there who has not got his own thorn in the flesh8 ,lyell also was happy in all his domestic relations4 ,his letters indicate that all the family--on both sides--were on affectionate terms1 and contain few references to anxieties and troubles1 such as the sickness and death of those dear to him1 until his life approached the period when such trials become inevitable4 ,thus free from the impediments which have beset many other men of marked ability1 such as weak health and physical suffering1 the wearing anxiety of an invalid wife or a sickly family1 the harassing cares of pecuniary losses or of an insufficient income1 ,lyell had an exceptional chance4 ,but other men have the same and do not use it2 they are crippled by this burden or diverted by that allurement1 and might have been too often becomes their epitaph4 ,lyell never faltered in the course which1 comparatively early in life1 he had marked out for himself4 ,with that steady persistency and quiet energy which are characteristic of the ,lowland ,scot1 he put aside all temptations and everything which threatened to interfere with his work4 ,while neither recluse nor hermit1 neither churlish nor unsociable1 nay1 while thoroughly enjoying witty and intellectual society1 he allowed nothing to distract him from his main purpose4 ,convinced that there was a work which he could do1 and a name which he could win1 he was willing1 for sake of this1 to run risks and to make sacrifices4 ,he did not indeed despise fame1 but he never condescended to unworthy arts to obtain it2 he held that the labourer was worthy of his hire1 but with him it was always the work first1 and the wage second1 whether that were coined gold or laurel wreath4 ,he was singularly free from all petty jealousies1 and ready to learn from all who could teach him anything1 but he was no weakling1 swayed by every breath of wind1 for he reached his conclusions slowly and cautiously1 and never stopped to ask whether they would be popular4 ,forward1 for truth's sake1 that was the motto of his life4 ,in yet another way was ,lyell felix opportunitate vitae4 ,in his days1 geology might be compared to a country which had been for some time discovered but was not yet explored4 ,settlements had been established here and there2 in their neighbourhood some ground had been cleared1 and a firm base of operations had been secured1 but around and beyond was the virgin forest1 the untrodden land4 ,at almost every step the traveller met with some fresh accession to his knowledge or a new problem to solve4 ,he could feel the allurement of expectation or the joy of discovery even in countries otherwise well known2 where now he can hope only to pick up some tiny detail or to plunge into some interminable controversy4 ,if he now desires fresh fields and pastures new1 he must wander beyond the limits of civilised lands2 for within these every crag is hammer-marked1 and the official geologist is at work making maps4 ,but not only this1 ,lyell lived in the days when the literature of his science was of very modest dimensions4 ,this had its obvious drawbacks1 but it had also its advantages1 which1 perhaps1 were more than compensations4 ,at the present day the conscientious student is in danger of being overwhelmed by the mass of papers1 pamphlets and books1 from all lands and in all languages--which he is expected1 if not to read1 at least to scramble through before venturing to write on any subject4 ,fifty years ago it required a very limited amount of study--often only a few hours' research--to put the geologist in possession of all that was known1 so that he approached his theme very much as a mathematician attacks a problem4 ,this burden of scientific literature1 seeing that life is short and human strength is limited1 threatens to stifle the progress of science itself1 and we can hardly venture to expect that any more great generalisations will be made in geology or palaeontology1 unless a man arise who is daring enough to subordinate reading to thinking1 and so strong in his grasp of principles that he can make light of details4 ,it has been sometimes said that ,lyell was not an original thinker4 ,possibly not2 vixere fortes ante ,agamemnona is true in science no less than in national history2 there were mathematicians before ,newton1 philosophic naturalists before ,darwin1 geologists before ,lyell4 ,he did not claim to have discovered the principle of uniformity4 ,he tells us himself what had been done by his predecessors in ,italy and in ,scotland3 but he scattered the mists of error and illusion1 he placed the idea upon a firm and logical basis2 in a word1 he found uniformitarianism an hypothesis1 and he left it a theory4 ,that surely is a more solid gift to science1 a better claim to greatness1 than any number of brilliant guesses and fancies1 which1 after coruscating for a brief season to the amazement of a gaping crowd1 explode into darkness1 and are no more seen4 ,but to a certain extent ,lyell has thrown his own work into the shade4 ,the fame of his books causes his numerous scientific papers#age to be overlooked2 particularly his contributions to the history of coalfields and to the classification of the ,tertiary deposits4 ,moreover1 into these books he was constantly incorporating new and original matter4 ,we may be fairly familiar with the ,principles and the ,elements1 but we fail to realise until we have read his ,life and the accounts of his two tours in ,america how much those books are made up from the results of actual experience and personal study in the field4 ,it has been also said that ,lyell carried the principle of uniformity a little too far4 ,but1 suppose we concede this1 does it amount to more than the admission that he was human8 ,it is almost inevitable that the discoverer or prophet of a great truth1 who has to encounter the storm and stress of controversy1 should state his case a little too strongly1 or should overlook some minor limitation4 ,suppose we grant that ,lyell was a little too lavish in his estimate of the time at the disposal of geologists4 ,the physicist had not then intervened1 with arguments drawn from his own science1 to insist that neither earth nor sun can reckon their years by myriads of myriads1 and even now this controversy cannot be regarded as closed4 ,suppose we grant that in accepting ,hutton's dictum1 ,i find in the earth no signs of a beginning1 ,lyell was misled by appearances1#agf which have since proved to be delusive1 and that facts1 so far as they go1 point rather in the contrary direction4 ,well1 this point also is not yet to be regarded as settled2 and of one thing1 at any rate1 we may be sure1 that if ,lyell were now living he would frankly recognise new facts1 as soon as they were established1 and would not shrink from any modification of his theory which these might demand4 ,great as were his services to geology1 this1 perhaps1 is even greater--for the lesson applies to all sciences and to all seekers after knowledge--that his career1 from first to last1 was the manifestation of a judicial mind1 of a noble spirit1 raised far above all party passions and petty considerations1 of an intellect great in itself1 but greater still in its grand humility2 that he was a man to whom truth was as the 'pearl of price1' worthy of the devotion and1 if need be1 the sacrifice of a life4 ,,footnotes3 #aeg ,in this paragraph ,i have ventured to quote largely1 and more or less verbatim1 from the words of ,miss ,buckley 7,lyell's secretary7 in the article on his life1 written by my friend ,professor ,g4 ,a4 ,j4 ,cole1 in the ,dictionary of ,national ,biography1 vol4 xxxiv4 #aeh ,life of ,sir ,a4 ,ramsay1 by ,sir ,a4 ,geikie1 chap4 v4 #aei ,vidi tantum1 when his powers were beginning to fail1 but it is this expression which is stamped on my mind as characteristic of the face in ,charles ,lyell1 and1 ,i may add1 also in ,charles ,darwin4 #afj ,j4 ,w4 ,dawson1 cited in the ,dictionary of ,national ,biography4 #afa ,ut supra4 #afb ,i may add my own testimony4 ,when the second edition of the ,student's ,elements was passing through the press4 ,i ventured to write to him about one or two petrological details1 which ,i thought might be more precise4 ,though at that time ,i had published but few papers1 ,i received more than one kind letter with the request that ,i would read some of the proof-sheets of the book and suggest alterations4 #afc ,the ,origin of ,species1 published in #ahei4 #afd ,life and ,letters of ,c4 ,darwin1 ii4 p4 #cbf4 #afe ,quoted in ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 ii4 p4 #dfa4 #aff ,in #ahfe4 ,life and ,letters of ,sedgwick1 ii4 p4 #dab4 #afg ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journal of ,sir ,c4 ,bunbury1 iii4 p4 #ff4 #afh ,life and ,letters of ,c4 ,darwin1 i4 p4 #gf4 #afi ,he maintained for many years an interesting correspondence with ,mr4 ,g4 ,ticknor1 of ,boston1 ,u4,s4,a41 in which he often discusses political questions1 both ,british and ,american4 #agj ,travels in ,north ,america1 chap4 ix4 #aga ,in the later part of his life he appears to have sympathised more with the ,unitarians1 for he attended the services at ,dr4 ,martineau's chapel in ,little ,portland ,street1 though ,i am not aware that he formally seceded from the ,church of ,england4 #agb ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journals1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #hb-abg4 ,it must however1 be remembered that the ,high ,church party were not alone in their opposition2 indeed1 after a time1 they were more tolerant of geologists than the extreme ,evangelical school4 ,i have some cuttings from the ,record newspaper1 dated about #ahgf1 which are interesting examples of narrow-minded ignorance and theological arrogance4 #agc ,life1 ,letters1 and ,journal1 i4 p4 #bcc4 ,principles1 i4 #fi 7eleventh edition74 #agd ,he admits that when ,lord ,enniskillen and ,murchison had seduced him1 after a ,geological ,society meeting1 to partake of pterodactyl 7woodcock7 pie and drink punch into the small hours1 his work suffered for four or five days afterwards4 #age ,these were about seventy-six in number1 the great majority written prior to the last twenty years of his life4 #agf ,such as the seeming intercalation of crystalline schists with fossiliferous rocks1 or the immediate sequence of the two4 ,,index4 ,address to the ,british ,association at ,bath1 #aij ,alps1 ,the1 ,glaciers of1 #agg ,america1 ,first visit to1 #acj ----1 ,second visit to1 #aee ----1 ,third visit to1 #agb ----1 ,fourth visit to1 #agc ,antiquity of ,man published1 #ahe ----1 ,synopsis of1 #ahf ,aurignac ,cave1 ,the1 ,visit to1 #bjj ,auvergne1 ,journey to1 #cc ,avicenna's treatise on minerals1 #ha ,bachelor of ,arts1 ,degree of1 conferred on him1 #bf ,bar1 ,called to the1 #cj ,baronet1 ,created a1 #aij ,beaumont1 ,elie de1 his theory of mountain-chains1 #if ,birth and birthplace1 ,his1 #i ,brittany1 ,tour in1 #ej ,british ,association1 ,address to1 #aij ,cave remains1 ,dr4 ,schmerling's collection1 #aja ,continental researches in geology1 #ba ,cromer1 ,investigations at1 #aif ,cuvier1 ,meets with1 in ,paris1 #bh ,darwin and ,lyell1 #abj ----1 his opinion of ,lyell's character1 #bjh ,death of ,lady ,lyell1 #bjj ---- ,sir ,charles ,lyell1 #bjd ,denmark and ,southern ,norway1 ,researches in1 #abb ,deputy-,lieutenant of ,forfar1 ,appointment as1 #eh ,deshayes1 the eminent conchologist1 #db ,diluvialists and ,fluvialists1 ,the1 #dc ,doctor of ,laws degree conferred on him1 #bjb ,eifel1 ,visit to the volcanic district of1 #fb ,elements of ,geology published1 #abe ,engis skull1 ,the1 #ajb ,entomology1 ,early studies in1 #ae ,etna explored1 #aha ,family1 ,the ,lyell1 #aj ,father1 ,his1 #i ,fluvialists and ,diluvialists1 ,the1 #dc ,forest ,bed1 ,the1 #aif ,frascatoro1 his views on geology1 #hc ,generelli's theories1 #hg ,geological ,society1 ,elected a ,fellow of the1 #bg ----1 ,his first papers to the1 #bh ----1 ,elected secretary of the1 #bh ----1 ,elected ,president of the1 #aaa ,geology1 ,first studies in1 #ai ----1 ,continental researches1 #ba ,glaciers of the ,alps1 ,his theory of the1 #agg ,grand ,canary1 ,voyage to1 #agd ,great ,dismal ,swamp1 ,the1 explored1 #ada ,horner1 ,miss1 ,marriage with1 #fi ,humboldt1 ,meeting with1 in ,paris1 #bh ,huttonian ,theory1 ,the1 #ia ,infancy1 #aj ,inscription on ,lyell's tombstone1 #bje ,ireland1 ,visit to1 #aeb ,kessingland ,cliffs and the ,forest ,bed1 #aif ,king's ,college1 ,lectures at1 #fh ,knighted1 #agj ,law1 ,the1 ,studies for1 #bg ,lectures at ,king's ,college1 #fh ---- at the ,royal ,institution1 #ga ,leonardo da ,vinci1 his conclusions on geology1 #hc ,letter to ,herschel on the ,origin of ,species1 #aah ,lyell family1 ,the1 #aj ----1 ,lady1 ,death of1 #bjj ----1 ,sir ,charles1 ,death of1 #bjd ,lyellia1 ,the moss named1 #i ,madeira1 ,voyage to1 #agc ,marriage to ,miss ,horner1 ,his1 #fi ,medal of the ,royal ,society presented to him1 #aaa ,member of the ,institute of ,france1 ,elected1 #aij ,midhurst1 ,school ,days at1 #af ,moel ,tryfaen1 ,crags of1 #fa ,montreal and ,quebec1 ,journey to1 #adf ,moro's views1 #hg ,moss called ,lyellia1 #i ,mother1 ,his1 #aj ,naples1 ,visit to1 #ch ,narrow escape when a child1 #aa ,new ,orleans1 ,journey to1 #afa ,niagara ,falls1 ,his impressions of1 #acd ,normandy and ,brittany1 ,researches in1 #ej ,north ,america1 ,travels in1 #acj ,omar the ,learned1 his ,retreat of the ,sea1 #hb ,order of ,scientific ,merit bestowed by the ,king of ,prussia1 #aij ,origin of ,species1 ,letter to ,herschel on the1 #aah ,oxford1 ,undergraduate days at1 #ai ,palma1 ,investigations at1 #agd ,personal characteristics of ,lyell1 #bjf ,plastic ,force dogma1 ,the1 #hd ,political views1 ,his1 #baj ,president of the ,geological ,society1 ,is elected1 #aaa ,principles of ,geology1 first volume published1 #eg ----1 second volume published1 #fh ----1 third volume published1 #gb ----1 its history and various editions1 #gc ,professor of ,geology at ,king's ,college1 #eh ,pyrenees1 ,visit to the1 #eb ,quebec and ,montreal visited1 #adf ,religious ,questions1 ,his views on1 #bab ,ringwood1 ,school days at1 #ab ,royal ,institution1 ,lectures at1 #ga ,royal ,society1 ,is elected a ,fellow of the1 #cj 7note7 ----1 ,medal of1 presented to him1 #aaa ,salisbury1 ,school days at1 #ab ,sarum1 ,excursions to1 #ac ,scandinavia1 ,investigations in1 #ajd ,school days1 #ab ,schmerling's collection of cave-remains1 #aja ,scientific papers1 large number written by him1 #bbj ,scrope's work on ,volcanoes1 #ig ,sea-serpent1 ,lyell's views concerning it1 #aeg ,second ,visit to ,north ,america published1 #afg ,stanley1 ,dean1 his remarks respecting ,lyell's life-work1 #bjh ,switzerland1 ,first tour in1 #ba ,teneriffe1 ,researches at1 #agd ,tombstone1 ,lyell's1 ,inscription on1 #bje ,travels in ,north ,america published1 #acj ,undergraduate days1 #ai ,vallisneri's conclusions1 #hf ,views on religious questions1 ,lyell's1 #bab ,vinci1 ,leonardo da1 his conclusions on geology1 #hc ,wales1 ,visit to1 #ahi ,werner's theories1 #hh ,will1 ,lyell's1 #bje ,wollaston ,medal of the ,geological ,society presented to him1 #aid4 ,,printed ,,by ,,cassell ,,company1 ,,limited1 ,,la ,,belle ,,sauvage1 ,,london1 ,e4,c4 ---------------------------------------- ----- ,transcriber's ,note3 ,typographical errors corrected in the text3 ,page #cf ,vivarrais changed to ,vivarais ,page #dj excellenza changed to eccellenza ,page #ij ,vivarrais changed to ,vivarais ,page #abi ,brorgniart changed to ,brongniart ,page #adh occured changed to occurred ---------------------------------------- -----