68 PROFESSOR EDWARD FORBES, 



Edward Forbes was born at Douglas, in 1815, and was conse- 

 quently but tliirty-uine at his death. His mother was the heiress of 

 Corvallo and Ballabog, near Ballaugh. He was of a stock not only adven- 

 turous, but speculative, on the male side. In the wi-ock of the family estates, 

 which had become involved previous to his succession to them, he only 

 succeeded in saving a portion — that above alluded to. The old parish 

 church is close at hand, a mile at least from the \aLlago, but is now a 

 disused and picturesque edilice ; the surrounding enclosure contains one 

 of the Eunic memorial stones so general in the island ; but a more inter- 

 esting stone, at least to the naturalist, may be seen in the othenvise unin- 

 teresting modern church, a tablet raised in 1858, principally through the 

 aid, we believe, of Sir R. I. Murchison and other scientific friends, to 

 the memory of the professor, the inscription ending so — 



His mother was a native of Ballangh, 

 Here he spent many of his boyish days, 

 And on the sea-coast of this parish 

 He commenced his system of dredging. 



His bust is also placed in the Court House at Peel. 



He went up to London, when a yoimg man, with the determination 

 to become an artist, but his friends saw reasons to dissuade him from 

 such a career, and, by so doing, the world may, perhaps, have lost a 

 clever caricaturist, but probably not a painter. His tastes next led him 

 to turn to geology and natui-al history ; but at that time natural science 

 was considered only as an appanage of, or a relaxation in the study of 

 medicine, and, therefore, he had to go through the curriculum of the 

 latter profession, which, however, he had little taste for. In producing 

 his geological and zoological bias it is probable that his residence in 

 Manx-land, and the natural features of that country, had an influence ; 

 and to these features we may further advert taking them in connection 

 with himself. For more, perhaps, than any other man he made the 

 natural history of his native island his study, though our late friend, 

 Mr. Gumming, did much. 



As regards his geological bias — the southern fom--fifths, at the least, 

 of the island are composed of metamorphic and Cambrian slates and 

 other succeeding palaeozoic rocks, and are more or loss mountainous ; the 

 northern and lesser portion is of a very different formation — boulder 

 clays and drifts resting on a foundation which is nowhere visible, and of 

 problematic nature. The surface here is mostly a sandy plain, with an 

 occasional bog or curragh marked by a cm-ious and luxm-iant vegetation ; 

 in some places, however, the sand forms many rounded hills, and, besides, 

 many ancient mounds and other earth or stone works mark the surface. 

 Thus, on the estate wo have especially alluded to is an antiquity combining 

 the stone circle with the earthen barrow — a mound of earth with its 

 periphery supported by large quai-tz stones. The glacial deposits 

 are found high up amongst the hills, and at a lower level, as 

 displayed along the sea-cliffs, there are truly wonderful accumulations of 

 gravel and fragments of rocks, without any stratified arrangement ; 

 larger boulders, too, are washed out of the clays in the valleys, or by 



