190 EMINENT NATURALISTS. 



body of orators and philosophers, and in which he was 

 destined to take a most important part for the next half- 

 century. Professor Sedgwick says that the " Geological 

 Society of London was, in its early days, composed of 

 robust, joyous, and independent spirits, who toiled well 

 in the field, and did battle and cuffed opinions with 

 much spirit and great good will ; for they had one great 

 object before them — the promotion of true knowledge — 

 and not one of them was deeply committed to any 

 sj-stem of opinions." The same author also speaks of 

 " the joyous meetings, and of the generous, unselfish, 

 and truth-loving spirit that glowed throughout the whole 

 body." 



Such was the peculiar condition of " geological science 

 at the time, that a great work could be done by a man 

 with a quick eye, a good judgment, a keen notion of 

 what had already been done, and a stout pair of legs." 

 Murchison possessed all these advantages, and in addition 

 an orderly and methodical habit, which would have 

 insured success in most walks in life. 



Before proceeding further, let us briefly survey the 

 position of geological science previous to this time. At 

 the commencement of the present century British geo- 

 logists were divided into two hostile parties, the one 

 being composed of the followers of Hutton, of Edin- 

 burgh, and also known as Yulcanists or Plutonists; 

 the others the followers of Werner, the eminent 

 mineralogist of Frieburg, generally termed Neptuuists. 



Hutton's opinion was that the past history of the 

 earth is to be accounted for by an appeal to existing 

 causes, that the continents were first gradually destroyed 



