io2 The Founders of Geology LECT. 



claimed, indeed, from the housetops, but it was so mingled 

 with fanciful hypothesis, that its truth and real value 

 were almost lost sight of. 



We come now to the time of the advent of a man who 

 bulks far more largely in the history of geology than any 

 of those with whom up to the present we have been 

 concerned a man who wielded an enormous authority 

 over the mineralogy and geology of his day. Through the 

 loyal devotion of his pupils, he was elevated even in his 

 lifetime into the position of a kind of scientific pope, whose 

 decisions were final on any subject regarding which he 

 chose to pronounce them. During the last quarter of the 

 eighteenth century, by far the most notable figure in the 

 ranks of those who cultivated the study of minerals and 

 rocks was unquestionably Abraham Gottlob Werner (1*749- 

 1817). 



The vast influence which this man wielded arose mainly 

 from his personal gifts and character, and especially from 

 the overmastering power he had of impressing his opinions 

 upon the convictions of his hearers. It was an influence 

 of a curiously mingled kind. From one point of view, 

 Werner appears to us as the enthusiastic teacher, drawing 

 men from all countries under his spell, and kindling in 

 them much of his own zeal for the study of minerals and 

 rocks. In another aspect, he stands out as the dogmatic 

 theorist, intolerant of opinions different from his own, 

 training his pupils in an artificial and erroneous system, 

 and sending them out into the world not patiently to 

 investigate nature, but to apply everywhere the uncouth 

 terminology and hypothetical principles which he had 

 taught them. 



