220 THE HISTORY OF GEOLOGY 



The pleasures of sport are generally supposed to be 

 those to which the soul of the Englishman is most 

 deeply responsive. Thus the famous Darwin, writing of 

 his youth, remarks : " The autumns were devoted to 

 shooting . . .my zeal was so great that I used to place 

 my shooting-boots open by the bedside when I went to 

 bed, so as not to lose half a minute in putting them on in 

 the morning. . . . How I did enjoy shooting! " But a 

 little later and he writes : " During the first two years 

 my old passion for shooting survived in nearly full force, 

 and I shot all the birds and animals for my collection 

 myself ; but gradually I gave up my gun more and more 

 to my servant, and finally altogether, as shooting inter- 

 fered with my work, more especially with making out the 

 geological structure of a country. I discovered, though 

 insensibly and unconsciously, that the pleasure of observ- 

 ing and reasoning was a much higher one than that of 

 skill and sport." 



This fragment of personal history seems to me even 

 more impressive than the glowing words of Thierry, who, 

 although himself an invalid, wrote, "II y a au monde 

 quelque chose qui vaut mieux que les jouissances mate- 

 rielles, mieux que la fortune, mieux que la sante elle 

 meme, c'est le devouement a la science!" 



So much I have ventured to say in eulogy of all 

 science. Of my own subject I would only add that it 

 enjoys what is supposed to be a thoroughly English 

 characteristic, it is fond of the open air; its best work 

 can only be accomplished in the open air ; it is there that 

 its greatest triumphs have been won, and must continue 

 to be won. 



Many great discoveries have been made by observers 

 who did not consciously set out with a predetermination 

 to discover something, but whose imagination was fired 

 by some object or occurrence rather out of the ordinary 



