French Scientific Expedition. 293 



considered in reference to themselves alone, the instructions 

 required from the Academy might have been, in so far as re- 

 gards geology, extremely short. We might have said to the 

 naturalists of the expedition, " Scandinavia has given birth to 

 a great number of justly celebrated mineralogists and geologists, 

 who long ago began to describe it ; illustrious travellers have 

 explored it in all directions, and made public the results of 

 their observations ; — read these works ; follow the steps of the 

 masters of science, and strive to complete their work." 



But, by using such language, the Academy, we think, would 

 not properly fulfil its duty, and would even do injustice to the 

 celebrated men, whose labours have rendered certain parts of 

 the Scandinavian peninsula classical localities for geology. 



The first step in geology undoubtedly consists in giving an 

 exact description of the form and composition of the surface 

 of a country ; but the second consists in comparing together 

 countries more or less distant. This comparison may be partly 

 made in books, but it can only be completed by seeing the ob- 

 jects themselves ; and it requires, at all events, the faaking 

 collections of rocks, so that one may be enabled to compare 

 them with each other. It might be very beneficial to science 

 if a Swedish geologist, who was perfectly familiar with the 

 great diluvial deposit of Sweden, should come and institute a 

 comparison between it and the particular forms assumed by the 

 diluvial phenomena in the valley of the Seine around Paris. 

 It is comparisons of this kind that we should attempt or insti- 

 tute. The better a country is known by its inhabitants, the 

 better it is always described by them, and the more likely it is 

 to offer useful means of comparison. 



Few countries have been better prepared for this purpose 

 than the southern parts of Sweden and Norway ; and it is, 

 therefore, intended to travel through them for the sake of mak- 

 ing comparisons. 



As for Lapland, and especially Spitzbergen, they still afford 

 ample materials for a voyage of discovery. 



Having had the honour to be entrusted with drawing up the 

 geological part of the instructions designed for the expedition 

 which is about to set out for the north of Europe, I have 

 thought it right not to restrict myself to the information I 



