LECTUKE IV 



Rise of the modern conception of the theory of the earth Hutton, Play- 

 fair Birth of experimental geology Sir James Hall. 



WHILE the din of geological warfare resounded across 

 Europe, and the followers of Werner, flaunting the Neptunist 

 flag in every corner of the continent, had succeeded in 

 making the system promulgated from Freiberg almost 

 supplant every other, a series of quiet and desultory 

 researches was in progress, which led to the establish- 

 ment of the fundamental principles of modern geology. 

 We have now to turn our eyes to the British Isles, and to 

 trace the career of a man who, with singular sagacity, 

 recognizing early in life the essential processes of geological 

 change, devoted himself with unwearied application to the 

 task of watching their effects and collecting proofs of their 

 operation, and who combined the results of his observations 

 and reasoning in a work which will ever remain one of the 

 great classics of science. In following the course of his 

 researches, we shall see another illustration of the influence 

 of environment on mental tendencies, and mark how the 

 sea-shores and mountains, glens and lowlands of Scotland 

 have given tone and colour to the development of geological 

 theory. 



James Hutton (1726-179'7) was born in Edinburgh on 



