204 The Founders of Geology LECT. 



any observant inquirer with the means of establishing 

 this supremely important section of modern geology. In 

 France, the Secondary and Tertiary formations lie in un- 

 disturbed succession, one above another, over hundreds 

 of square miles. They come to the surface, not obscured 

 under superficial deposits, but projecting their escarpments 

 to the day, and showing, by their topographical contours, 

 the sharply defined limits of their several groups. Again, 

 in England, the same formations cover the southern and 

 eastern parts of the country, displaying everywhere 

 the same clear evidence of their arrangement. Let us 

 trace the progress of discovery in each of these regions. 

 To a large extent this progress was simultaneous, but there 

 is no evidence that the earlier workers in the one country 

 were aware of what was being done in the other. 



To the Abbe Giraud-Soulavie (1752-1813) the merit 

 must be assigned of having planted the first seeds from which 

 the magnificent growth of stratigraphical geology in France 

 has sprung. Among other works, he wrote a Natural 

 History of Southern France in seven volumes, of which the 

 first two appeared in the year 1780. He gave much of his 

 attention to the old volcanoes of his native country, and 

 devoted several of his volumes entirely to their description. 

 But his chief claim to notice here lies in a particular 

 chapter of his work which, he tells us, was read before the 

 Boyal Academy of Sciences of Paris on 14th August 

 1779. 1 In describing the calcareous mountains of the 

 Vivarais, he divides the limestones into five epochs or 

 ages, the strata in each of which are marked by a distinct 



1 Histoire Naturelle de la France Mfridionale, tome i. 2 me partie, chap, 

 viii. p. 317. 



