308 



progressively increased, and prepared him for a more extensive field of 

 observation." 



We see that even as an undergraduate he had given thought to 

 the subject of the traces of an universal Deluge, which led to the 

 publication, fifty years afterwards, of his " Vindication of Moses." 

 What was the range of the studies which he includes under the 

 title " Mineralogy " it is now impossible to tell. Mineralogy then 

 embraced much of what we now distinguish as Geology. The word 

 Geology did not come into general use until after 1800. The 

 Geological Society was instituted in 1807. In 1810 the 

 word Geology appeared on the title page of the " Philosophical 

 Magazine," and Farey, the author of " Derbyshire," made a point 

 of writing a letter to the editor, which is printed page 113, to 

 compliment him on its introduction. Cuvier and Brongniart, 

 however, continued to use the term Geographic Mineralogique. 

 In the Journal of the Society of Arts, 1815, W. Smith's map 

 of the strata of England and Wales is called a " MineralogicaJ 

 Map " in the official announcement of the award of the £50 prize. 

 Writers even now are not always particular in discriminating 

 between Crystallography, Mineralogy, Geognosy, Paleontology, 

 Petrology, Lithography, Geology, and Physical Geography. Whether 

 Townsend's study of Mineralogy was confined to examination of 

 cabinet specimens, or whether it included the study in the field 

 of the disposition of the large masses of various materials, docs 

 not appear. He certainly had then no knowledge of the facts of 

 stratification, for he tells us plainly in a quotation, which I shall 

 presently give, that he obtained this information from William 

 Smith, whom he did not meet until 1799. Yet we see that he 

 prosecuted now, and at various times of his life, field observations 

 on an extensive scale, his object up to 1799, however, being 

 apparently confined to searching for traces of an universal Deluge. 

 How long these studies in Edinburgh and his observations through 

 Scotland continued we are nowhere told. 



The valuable rectory of Pewsey, in the vale of Wardour, Wilt- 

 shire, was purchased for him by his father in 1764. The rectory 

 house is a noble one, and the population of the village is even now 

 only 2,027. I am unable to give the date of his ordination, or of 



