SIR CHARLES LYELL. 263 



moments I have done some things towards planning 

 my next volume. It .will be necessary for us to 

 have a work together at fossils at Kinnordy, first, 

 and then in town, and then in Paris." Thus fully 

 had the young wife entered into his studies. 



In 1835, having received the gold medal of the 

 Royal Society, for his " Principles of Geology," 

 now in its fourth edition, which Sir John Herschel 

 ,said he had read three times, he was elected 

 president of the Geological Society of London, 

 and made extensive researches in Switzerland, 

 Germany, and Scotland. 



In 1841, already famous as well as beloved, 

 Lyell was invited to give twelve lectures before 

 the Lowell Institute, in Boston. He and his wife 

 spent thirteen months in the United States, study- 

 ing the country geologically ; its social life, its 

 politics, and our benevolent and educational institu- 

 tions. Between two and three thousand persons 

 came, both morning and evening, to listen to the 

 distinguished scholar, who had travelled almost the 

 world over to study his beloved science. 



Close friendships were formed with some of the 

 most prominent men, like Prescott and Ticknor. 

 Lyell visited the great lakes, and compared the 

 supposed ancient boundaries of Lake Ontario, 

 when it was one hundred and fifty feet higher, with 

 its present shore. He made a careful study of 

 Niagara Falls, which cuts its deep gorge toward 

 Lake Ontario, for seven miles, and estimated that 

 it wore away a foot a year. If so, he argued that 



