iv Huttoris Associates in Edinburgh 155 



This sympathetic friend took the keenest interest in 

 Hutton's geological theories, and was able to contribute to 

 their formation and development. Hutton himself ac- 

 knowledges that one of his doctrines, that of the influence 

 of compression in modifying the action of heat, was 

 suggested by the researches of Dr. Black. The chemist's 

 calm judgment and extensive knowledge were always at 

 the command of his more impulsive geological friend, and 

 doubtless proved of essential service in guiding him in his 

 speculations. 



Another of Hutton's constant and intimate associates 

 was John Clerk of Eldin, best known as the author of a 

 work on naval tactics, and the inventor of the method of 

 breaking the enemy's line at sea. which led to so many 

 victories by the fleets of Great Britain. A third member 

 of his social circle, who may be alluded to here, was the 

 philosopher and historian Adam Ferguson, a man of 

 remarkable force of character, who, to his various literary 

 works, which were translated into French and German, 

 added the distinction of a diplomatist, for in 1778-1779 he 

 acted as Secretary of the Commission sent across the 

 Atlantic by Lord North to try to arrange the matters 

 in dispute between the mother country and her North 

 American colonies. 



When Hutton found himself in these congenial sur- 

 roundings, with ample leisure at his command, he appears 

 to have turned at once to his first love in science, by 

 betaking himself to chemical experiment. Even without 

 the testimony of his biographer, we have only to look at 

 his published works to be impressed by his unwearied 

 industry, and by the extraordinarily wide range of his 



