106 LIFE OF SIR JOHN LUBBOCK oh. 



them the wrong way, so helping the shingle on. 

 Some of the forts on our Southern Coast having 

 been built on yielding strata had given way, 

 and though the damage might be repaired, it 

 had caused great expense ; and, unfortunately, 

 would probably continue to do so. When our 

 Army went to the Crimea, Sir Roderick Murchison 

 applied to the Government to send out a geologist, 

 but that request was not complied with. An 

 unhealthy position was chosen for our troops in 

 the Crimea from the want of a scientific acquaint- 

 ance with the geological conformation of the 

 ground. Sir John Burgoyne wrote home to 

 Sir Roderick Murchison to ask whether, if an 

 artesian well were sunk, a supply of water could 

 be obtained for the Army. Sir Roderick replied 

 that it was impossible to answer such a question 

 here without a proper knowledge of the nature 

 of the ground ; but that if there had been a 

 geologist on the spot with the Army, he would 

 have been able to answer it. He (Sir John 

 Lubbock) did not allude to these facts with any 

 view of criticising the Royal Engineers. It 

 would be easy to quote similar mistakes on the 

 part of Civil Engineers. He wished, however, 

 to show the importance of geological knowledge 

 in military operations. There could be no doubt, 

 then, that there were cases in which a knowledge 

 of chemistry and geology would be extremely 

 useful to our forces in the field ; and, moreover, 

 in addition to these practical advantages, the 

 value of the mental training given by the study 

 of natural science was most important. Then, 

 what was a proper system to adopt ? By his 



