370 DICK'S LETTERS. CHAP. xxi. 



Coal, or any other of the great deposits. life, in my 

 opinion, was never wholly obliterated since it first began. 

 Some creatures have died out ; but there are no proofs of 

 any new creation." 



It should be mentioned that the letters in which 

 these observations occur, were written without the 

 slightest idea of their ever coming under the notice of 

 the public. They were mostly written for the information 

 and amusement of his sister and his brother-in-law at 

 Haddington. He required of his eldest sister, that his 

 letters to her should be burnt as soon as read. They 

 were therefore destroyed. Fortunately, the letters to 

 his youngest sister have been preserved. They have 

 furnished us with some of the best descriptions of the 

 scenery of Caithness. They have described much of 

 Dick's scientific investigations, and also some of his 

 domestic history. 



