72 THE COMING [CH. 



The general feeling of the old geologists with 

 respect to Lyell's opinions was very exactly ex- 

 pressed by Professor Henslow, when in parting from 

 young Darwin on his setting out on his voyage, he 

 referred to the recently published first volume of the 

 Principles in the following terms : 



' Take Lyell's new book with you and read it by 

 all means, for it is very interesting, but do not pay 

 any attention to it, except in regard to facts, for it is 

 altogether wild as far as theory goes/ 



(I quote the words as repeated to me by Darwin, 

 in a conversation I had with him on August 7th, 1880, 

 of which I made a note at the time. Darwin has 

 himself referred to this conversation with Henslow 

 in his autobiography 64 .) 



Except in a few cases, this was the attitude 

 maintained by all the old geologists who were Lyell's 

 contemporaries. Even as late as 1895 we find the 

 amiable Prestwich protesting strongly against 'the 

 Fetish of uniformity 65 ,' and I well remember about 

 the same time being solemnly warned by a geologist 

 of the old school against ' poor old Lyell's fads.' 



It was not, indeed, till a new generation of geo- 

 logists had arisen, including Godwin- Austen, Edward 

 Forbes, Ramsay, Jukes, Darwin, Hooker and Huxley, 

 that the real value and importance of Lyell's teaching 

 came to be recognised and acknowledged. 



The most important influence of Lyell's great 



