LYELL. 313 



ever equalled, in truthfulness and freshness of de- 

 scription, the diary of Lyell. He seized upon all the 

 remarkable points to be noticed, and shone both as 

 a botanist and geologist. He, moreover, did not 

 forget his old entomological tastes, for he chased 

 butterflies in the valley of the Arve, and was de- 

 lighted with the Alpine rhododendrons, and the 

 little rammcidus glacialis. On the Grimsel Lyell 

 saw "some extraordinary large bare pieces of 

 granite-rock, which I could not account for," and 

 was puzzled by the redness of the snow in some 

 places. Afterwards on the Wengern Alp, he saw 

 a fine avalanche fall over a precipice on to a ledge 

 below. He went to the Valais to see the result of 

 the great flood the previous June, and witnessed 

 the results of the enormous force of running water, 

 carrying with it sand and stone, on everything 

 against which it came in contact. 



Lyell then crossed the Alps and visited the 

 Italian lakes and the principal towns of Italy, but 

 more as an antiquarian than a geologist. 



The long journey bore fruit, for the constant 

 proofs of changes ever progressing in nature, which 

 were brought before Lyell's notice, influenced his 

 mind in a very decided manner. He became 

 opposed to the convulsionist doctrines of sudden 

 and violent changes having occurred, and furthered 

 the ideas taught by Hutton, that the alterations on 

 the surface of the earth are slow and constant, and 

 have been uniform for ages. In 18 19 Lyell took 

 his B.A. degree at Oxford, obtaining a second class 



