DE SAUSSURE IN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE 439 



incapable of reconciliation with the facts that nature puts before 

 our eyes. 1 



A biographer without special qualifications in natural re- 

 search may well hesitate before venturing on any final estimate 

 of de Saussure's position in the annals of science. He will prefer 

 to place before his readers the verdict of the Genevese Professor's 

 most eminent followers and successors. 2 



In his own generation de Saussure's services to the advance of 

 knowledge were universally recognised. My first quotation may 

 well come from his contemporary Dolomieu ; it is taken from an 

 official report presented by him to the Institut National, under 

 which he served as an Inspector of Mines : 



' I feel proud when I am able to quote some of these great and 

 beautiful observations of de Saussure, of whom I hold it an honour 

 to declare myself the pupil, since his works have been almost invariably 

 my guide, since it is from him I learnt how to reason on the great 

 problems of geology, and the use to make of them in constructing a 

 system, since he is one of the first and best of the men of science 

 who treat of the formation of our continents.' 3 



A pen-sketch by Saint-Ours made after de Saussure's death still 

 exists at Geneva, which shows M. d'Eymar, the French Preset of 

 the Departement du Leman after the temporary annexation of the 

 city, attaching to Dolomieu's shoulders a scarf lettered, ' L'his- 

 toriographe des Alpes,' in front of a pyramid inscribed with 

 the name of de Saussure. D'Eymar, an ardent admirer of 



1 The arguments of those mostly practical mountaineers who maintain the 

 protective action of ice may be found in Dr. Bonney's numerous works, in my 

 paper on ' The Conservative Action of Ice,' Proceedings of the Royal Geographical 

 Society, vol. x., 1888, Professor Garwood's ' Hanging Valleys,' etc., Quarterly 

 Journal Geological Society, vol. Ixviii., 1902, ' Tarns of Canton Ticino,' vol. Ixii., 

 1906, and ' Features of Alpine Scenery due to Glacial Protection,' Geographical 

 Journal, vol. xxxiii., 1910. For the opposite view see Penck and Bruckner's ' Die 

 Alpen in Eiszeitalter,' 1909, and papers by Professor Davis in Quarterly Journal 

 Geological Society, vol. Ixv., 1909, in Geological Journal, vol. xxxiv., 1909, and the 

 Scottish Geographical Magazine, vol. xxii., and elsewhere. 



2 Professor Zittel's History of Geology and Palaeontology (English edition, 1901) 

 is recommended by Sir A. Geikie as ' a work of extraordinary labour, fullness, and 

 accuracy.' It is therefore needful to point out to students that the references in 

 it to de Saussure (pp. 52-5 and 221), while as a whole appreciative, embody many 

 inaccuracies. These affect mainly the field of de Saussure's labour, his moun- 

 taineering feats, and the titles and dates of his works. 



3 ' Rapport fait a 1'Institut National par le Citoyen Dolomieu, Ingenieur des 

 Mines, sur sea Voyages de 1'An v. et de 1'An vi.' (Journal des Mines). 



