Early History of the Science 



pale, have kindled milch general interest, and awakened 

 not a little enthusiasm. But the records from which the 

 chronicle must be compiled are sadly deficient and frag- 

 mentary. The deductions which these records suggest 

 ought frequently to be held in suspense from want of 

 evidence. Yet with a certain class of minds fancy comes 

 in to supply the place of facts that fail. And thus 

 geology has been encumbered with many hypotheses and 

 theories which, plausible as they might seem at the time 

 of their promulgation, have one by one been dissipated 

 before the advance of fuller and more accurate knowledge. 

 Yet before their overthrow, it may often be hard to separate 

 the actual ascertained core of fact within them, from the 

 mass of erroneous interpretation and unfounded inference 

 that forms most of their substance. 



From the beginning of its growth, geology has un- 

 doubtedly suffered from this tendency to speculation 

 beyond the sober limits of experience. Its cultivators 

 have been often described as mere theorists. And yet in 

 spite of these defects, the science has made gigantic strides 

 during the last hundred years, and has gradually accumu- 

 lated a body of well-ascertained knowledge regarding the 

 structure and history of the earth. No more interesting 

 record of human endeavour and achievement can be found 

 than that presented by the advance of geology. A hundred 

 years ago the science had no generally acknowledged name 

 and place in the circle of human studies, and now it can 

 boast a voluminous literature, hundreds of associations 

 all over the world dedicated to its cultivation, and a 

 state organization in almost every civilized country for 

 its systematic prosecution. I propose to ask you to trace 



