312 HEROES OF SCIENCE. 



country round Paris. One of his visits was to 

 Cuvier's lecture room, which he described as filled 

 with fossil remains, among which are those glorious 

 relics of a former world. Leaving Paris, Lyell 

 travelled by post, and noticed the geology and 

 rocks of the monotonous country to the Jura 

 Mountains. He was mightily puzzled about the 

 rocks of the Jura, and enjoyed that magnificent 

 scene of the Alps from the top of the hills over 

 which he was travelling. He wrote, "In descending 

 the Jura from Lavatey to Gex, we had a most 

 magnificent view of a vast extent of country. 

 Below us the Lake of Geneva and the Canton de 

 Vaud ; before us the Savoy Alps towering up to 

 the clouds, and in spite of their great distance and 

 the height on which we stood, extended in a long 

 line before us like an army of giants, Mont Blanc 

 rising high above all in the middle as their chief. 

 We saw the Dent du Midi to our left, shooting up 

 his two remarkable peaks, with many more of 

 extraordinary and picturesque forms." On visiting 

 the Valley of Chamouni, we find Lyell naming the 

 rocks of the different well known scenes, according 

 to the accepted terms of the mineralogists of the 

 day, and this is a satisfactory proof that he had been 

 studying geology very effectually, by himself, before 

 he left England. He saw his first glacier, of any 

 importance, and was immensely struck with the 

 changes it was producing in the valley. 



Many books have been written about Mont 

 Blanc, its botany and its glaciers, but none have 



