CHAPTER XV. 



FORBES' CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GLACIERS. 



To the non- scientific public there can be no doubt that 

 Forbes was known chiefly by his observations on gla- 

 ciers : and, bearing this in mind, it is curious to find that, 

 from the scientific point of view, this part of his work 

 will bear comparison in importance with the remainder. 



It is not at the first reading of Forbes' works that we 

 can gather an adequate idea of the comparative value of 

 his contributions to the Natural History of Glaciers : for 

 in them, with scrupulous care, he gave at least full, some- 

 times indeed excessive, credit to everyone who to his 

 knowledge had previously published on the subject. 1 We 

 cannot too strongly insist upon this point, for he has 

 actually been charged with depreciating or suppressing 

 the claims of others ! Such charges could not have been 

 made by writers yho had taken the trouble to read 

 carefully what they criticised ; for this characteristic of 

 almost morbidly scrupulous justness must strike every- 

 one who is acquainted with any of Forbes' writings on 



1 The curious and rare work of Bordier he seems not to have seen. 

 I find among his correspondence a letter from M. Studer, which con- 

 tains the following passage, and which probably turned his attention 

 from the subject : * A-propos du petit bouquin de Bordier, je ne 

 manquerai pas de chercher a vous le procurer, si 1'occasion se presente. 

 Mais ii est rare, meme chez nous. Je 1'avais trouve dans la biblio- 

 theque de mon pere. C'est surtout Bourrit qui parait avoir offutque' 

 ce pauvre pasteur, par 1'attaque dans le discours prelim, de ses Glaciers 

 de Savoie, 1773.' 



