268 The Founders of Geology LECT. 



seventy-nine left a blank in that country which has never 

 since been filled. 



Sedgwick was in many respects a contrast to Murchison. 

 His powerful frame reminded one of the race of dalesmen 

 from which he sprang. His eagle eyes seemed as if they 

 could pierce into the very heart of the stiffest geological 

 problem. In his prime, he always made straight for the 

 roughest ground, the steepest slopes, or the highest summits, 

 and his bodily strength bore him bravely through incredible 

 exertion. Unfortunately his health, always uncertain, 

 would react on his spirits, and times of depression and 

 lethargy would come to interrupt and retard his work, 

 whether with hammer or pen. But even his gloomiest 

 fits he could turn into merriment, and he would laugh at 

 them and at himself, as he described his condition to some 

 friend. His gaiety of spirit made him the centre and 

 life of every company of which he formed part. His 

 frank manliness, his kindliness of heart, his transparent 

 childlike simplicity, his unwearied helpfulness and his 

 gentle tenderness, combined to form a character altogether 

 apart. He was admired for his intellectual grasp, his 

 versatility, and his eloquence, and he was beloved, almost 

 worshipped, for the overflowing goodness of his char- 

 acter. 



When in the early part of this century, one discovery 

 after another was made which showed that Werner's so- 

 called Primitive rocks reappeared among his Transition 

 and Floetz formations, a doubt began to arise whether 

 there were any primitive rocks at all. 1 We have traced 



1 Thus D'Aubuisson wrote in 1819 " Geology no longer possesses a 

 single rock essentially primitive" (Traitt de Gdognosie, tome ii. p. 197). 



