liy PBOCEEDINGS OF THE 



logy to interpret the records of the rocks. In 1851 the ' Ele- 

 ments ' appeared in a modified form, having been recast and pub- 

 lished under the title of a ' Manual of Elementary Greology.' 

 Twenty years afterwards the form of the work again changed ; 

 the theoretical discussions were omitted, and the entire body of 

 facts condensed into considerably smaller bulk. In this form it 

 was entitled ' The Student's Manual of Geology,' and immediately 

 took its place as the most complete and compact geological text- 

 book in the English language. 



Already some time previous to the publication of this work Mr. 

 Lyell had been chosen a Vice-President of the Geological Society ; 

 and in 1828 he had undertaken a journey into the volcanic regions 

 of central Erance, visiting Auvergne, Cantal, and Velay, and con- 

 tinuing his journey to Italy and Sicily. He published the results 

 of this expedition in the ' Edinburgh Philosophical Transactions,' 

 and also in the 'Annales des Sciences Naturelles.' 



Sir Charles Lyell had travelled and seen much. Thus in early 

 manhood he explored many parts of Norway, Sweden, Belgium, 

 Switzerland, Germany and Spain, including the volcanic regions 

 of Catalonia. In 1836 he visited the Danish islands of Seeland 

 and Monen to examine the cretaceous and tertiary strata. In 

 1841 he was induced to cross the Atlantic, partly in order to 

 deliver a course of lectures on his favourite science at Boston, 

 and partly in order to make observations on the structure and 

 formation of the Transatlantic continent. He remained in the 

 United States for a year, travelling over the Northern and Cen- 

 tral States, and extending his journey as far southward as Caro- 

 lina, and northward to Canada and Nova Scotia, his exploration 

 ranging from the basin of the St. Lawrence to the mouths of the 

 Mississippi. On returning from this journey he published his 

 ' Travels in North America,' a work of considerable interest to 

 other persons besides geologists, and showing that he could extend 

 his observations to the stratification of society around him as well 

 as that of the earth beneath his feet. He paid a second visit to 

 America in 1815, when he closely examined the geological forma- 

 tion of the Southern States and the coasts that border on the 

 Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, and more especially the 

 great sunken area of New Madrid whieh had been devastated by 

 an earthquake thirty or forty years previously. Upon reaching 

 England he published his ' Second Visit to the United States,' a 

 companion to his former work. . . 



