222 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN SCOTLAND CHAP, vn 



be endured, especially if it dare in any way to think a 

 little differently from the common herd. Do you 

 know, it costs me no small trouble to keep out of hot 



water even with ? Our style of thought is so 



utterly diverse that there is almost no chance of our 

 agreeing on any possible subject. I never heard an 

 interesting conversation in their house except from 

 others. But I have a great respect for them and 

 much affection. How curious is the difference when 

 one gets away among men of learning and science ! 

 They do not see merely the outside. They reflect 

 and reason, and whether correctly or not, still it is 

 reflection and reason. I never saw Goodsir 1 but once 

 before, and that for five minutes. We were at once 

 friends, and I feel that I love him, for we have a com- 

 munity of thought, though our sciences are quite 

 different. He is so unassuming, simple in manner, 

 gentle, and kind. I have much to learn from some of 

 these men.' 



1 This is a bright sunny day, with a westerly wind 

 and white waves dashing on the red cliffs and islets 

 below the Castle. The Castle is the merest fragment 

 of a ruin a few walls some three or four yards thick 

 on a rocky promontory. Lauderdale House looks 

 upon them, still entire, but deserted by the Earl, the 

 windows closed up or broken. It faces the sea, and 

 its back looks down the long street very drearily. 

 The family left the town when the Reform Bill put an 

 end to their borough influence. A winged sphinx sits 

 on the roof, and wonders how long it will be before it 

 will fall in.' 



1 John Goodsir, born 1814, died 1867 ; one of the greatest anatomists of his 

 day, was an intimate friend of Edward Forbes. He was Professor of Anatomy 

 in the University of Edinburgh. 



