164 EMINENT NATURALISTS. 



previous year, however, he made a tour on the Con- 

 tinent, which gave the bias to his mind, and led him to 

 adopt the science of geology as a profession. During 

 the whole of this time, though not neglecting the 

 study of the law, he was slowly gravitating towards the 

 life of a student of science. In 1819 he had been elected 

 a member of the Linnsean and Greological Societies, 

 communicating his first paper, "On the Marls of 

 Forfarshire," to the latter society in 1822, and acting 

 as one of the honorary secretaries in 1823. In that 

 year he went to France, with introductions to Cuvier, 

 Humboldt, and other men of science, and in 1824 

 made a geological tour in Scotland in company with 

 Dr. Buckland. 



Soon after the opening of King's College, London, 

 he was appointed Lecturer on Greology; and the dis- 

 courses which he delivered in this capacity were of so 

 original and philosophical a character as to impress 

 his pupils with respect for the then young branch of 

 science, the rapid growth of which was being watched 

 by many with feelings of contempt on the one hand 

 and fear and jealousy on the other. 



In 1826 he was elected a fellow of the Eoyal 

 Society, from which in later years he received both 

 the Copley and Royal medals ; and in 1827 he finally 

 abandoned the legal profession and devoted himself 

 entirely to geology. 



Before his appointment as Lecturer on Greology at 

 "King's College, however, Lyell's active mind had been 

 busy in drawing out the plan of his famous work on 

 the " Principles of Greology," the first volume of which 



