INTRODUCTION. 6l 



So strong was the personal influence of Werner, that the 

 Neptunian doctrines which he inculcated continued to hold 

 their place for several decades until, in fact, three of the 

 greatest of his scholars, D'Aubisson de Voisins, Leopold 

 von Buch, and Alexander von Humboldt, stepped into the 

 ranks of the opponents of Neptunism. 



Leopold von Buch was the most illustrious of the geologists 

 taught by Werner. The later writings of Leopold von Buch, 

 published between 1820 and 1860, are those on which his 

 fame chiefly rests; but from the year 1796 he was actively 

 engaged in travel and research, and his earlier writings con- 

 tributed in a great degree to establish the science of geology. 



Leopold von Buch was born on the 26th April 1774, at the 

 Castle of Stolpe in Pomerania, the son of a nobleman with 

 considerable property. While still a boy he displayed a passion- 

 ate love of scientific inquiry, and his fondness for chemical 

 and physical mineralogical studies led him to select the Mining 

 Academy of Freiberg for his collegiate course. While there, 

 Alexander von Humboldt and Freiesleben were among his fellow- 

 students, and with them he formed close ties of friendship. 

 He made his home for nearly three years (1790-93) with 

 Professor Werner, for whom he entertained the deepest senti- 

 ments of reverence and friendship ; and these were in no 

 way altered when, in after years, some of his opinions began 

 to diverge from the teaching of Werner. 



Von Buch made several excursions during his student days 

 into the Erz mountains and Bohemia, and published a paper 

 on the neighbourhood of Karlsbad. From 1793 to 1796 he 

 studied in Halle and Gottingen, and became acquainted with 

 Harz, Thuringia, and the Fichtel mountains. In 1796 he 

 accepted office in the Mining Department of Silesia, but 

 resigned in 1797, in order to devote his entire time and energy 

 to travel and research. His stay in Silesia resulted in the 

 publication of an important treatise on the mineralogy of the 

 neighbourhood of Landeck, and an attempt at a geognostic 

 description of Silesia. He spent the winter of 1797 in Salzburg, 

 together with his friend Alexander von Humboldt, and in the 

 following spring set out on his first journey through the Alps 

 to Italy. He visited the Euganean Isles and the district of 

 Vicenza, and stayed for some time at Rome, making frequent 

 excursions into the Albanian mountains. He then spent 

 five months at Naples, and devoted a largjtoart of his time 



