22 PARENTAGE AND YOUTH CHAP, i 



a 'New Red Sandstone ' series, first proposed by 

 Sedgwick and Murchison, was clearly recognised by 

 him. Other observers have since disputed this 

 assertion, but its truth has recently been confirmed 

 by the Geological Survey. The history of the igneous 

 phenomena remains very much as Ramsay left it, and 

 is not likely to be much advanced until the still com- 

 paratively unknown southern part of the island is 

 mapped in minute detail. 



Apart from the excellence of his essay as a geological 

 treatise, it had no little merit as a piece of descriptive 

 prose. A few passages from it may be quoted here 

 to show that, besides cultivating habits of geological 

 observation, the author entered thoroughly into the 

 spirit of the scenery amid which he was working, and 

 could depict in graphic words the aspects of the land- 

 scapes. Let us accompany him to the top of Goatfell, 

 the highest summit in Arran, and listen to his account 

 of it : ' The eye of the geologist suddenly rests on a 

 scene which, if he be a true lover of nature, cannot 

 fail to inspire him with astonishment and delight. 

 The jagged and spiry peaks of the surrounding moun- 

 tains ; the dark hollows and deep shady corries, into 

 which the rays of the sun scarce ever penetrate ; the 

 open swelling hills beyond, the winding shores of Loch 

 Fyne, and the broad Firth of Clyde, studded with its 

 peaceful and fertile islands ; the rugged mountains of 

 Argyllshire, and the gentle curves of the hills of the 

 Western Isles, their outlines softened in the distance, 

 form a scene of surpassing grandeur and loveliness. 

 In all its varying aspects, it is a scene, the memory of 

 which can be dwelt on with pleasure : whether it 

 be seen in the early morning, when the white mists, 

 drawn upward from the glens, float along the hills, and 



