CAUSE OF ITS REJECTION 17 



many able observers, that has been lost sight of in 

 the entire rejection of the hypothesis, which, in 

 another form, it will be my endeavour to substantiate 

 in some parts. 



Thus, Buckland showed that immense deposits of 

 gravel occur " occasionally on the summits and slopes 

 of hills and almost universally in valleys ... in 

 situations to which no torrents nor rivers that are 

 now in action could ever have drifted them," and he 

 remarks on the fact that this gravel " is in part com- 

 posed of the wreck of the neighbouring hills, and 

 partly of fragments and blocks that have been trans- 

 ported from very distant regions." Though these 

 observations may apply mainly to beds of glacial age, 

 there is evidently an element in them which cannot 

 be so explained. Instead, however, of eliminating 

 what was superfluous, or referring it to its true place 

 in the series, the whole interpretation of the facts by 

 the early geologists was rejected, and explanations 

 more in accordance with the belief in uniformity of 

 action, which soon afterwards obtained ascendence, 

 were put forward. Captivating as uniformitarian 

 views are from their simplicity and easy grasp, they 

 have in this case led to the introduction of a multi- 

 plicity of explanations, discordant with one another, 

 and no single one of which admits of a sufficiently 

 wide generalisation. Though the doctrine did good 

 service in checking the extreme catastrophic opinions 

 previously held, the too great reliance on it has had 

 the disadvantage of staying inquiry, except within 

 the circle of certain assumed standards. 



c 



