CHAPTER VIII 



FOREIGN TRAVEL 



DURING the six years from 1857 to 1862 Sir Andrew 

 Ramsay spent a part of each summer but one abroad. 

 It was in this part of his life that he accomplished 

 almost all the work in foreign geology which he ever 

 did. There will therefore be some convenience in the 

 treatment of the subject if we group the tours together 

 in one chapter. 



From what has been stated in the foregoing pages 

 it will be clear that the ice-fever in geology had now 

 got full hold of him. He had seen a little of Swiss 

 glaciers, but not nearly enough to enable him to answer 

 all the questions which the glacial phenomena in Britain 

 were continually putting to him. He therefore deter- 

 mined to devote as much time as he could spare to the 

 study of ice and its work outside the narrow limits of the 

 British Isles, while neglecting no opportunity of in- 

 vestigating the subject within these limits. By a happy 

 accident he was soon able to carry out this determina- 

 tion in a far fuller manner than he could have dreamed 

 to be possible. How this came about is told in a 

 letter to his brother William. ' Certain of the great 

 steam-boat companies, at the solicitation of the 

 Canadians, have put a few free passages to America 

 and back at the disposal of the leading scientific 



