NATURE 



41 



THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1874 



ELIE DE BE A UMONT 



TH E life of the science of geology has been short ; 

 that of many of its illustvious votaries has been long. 

 There still survive a few whose recollections go back to 

 the early triumphs of the science in the days of William 

 Smith and Cuvier. But their number grows rapidly less. 

 One by one the links which bind us personally with the 

 glories of the past are being snapped asunder. The grand 

 old oaks under whose branches the younger saplings have 

 grown up are fast dropping down. Within the last few 

 years we have lost in this country our Murchison, Sedg- 

 wick, and Phillips ; Austria her Haidinger ; Germany 

 her Gustav Rose, Bischof, and Naumann ; America her 

 Agassiz, and France her D'Archiac and De Verneuil. To 

 this list we have now to add the well-known name of 

 L. Elie de Beaumont. To the expressions of regret with 

 which the friends and pupils of that father in science have 

 followed his remains to the tomb, geologists in every 

 country will add their sympathy. Those who knew him 

 best have eulogised his love of truth, his piety, and his 

 generous feeling for younger and struggling men of 

 science. 



The name of Elie de Beaumont is chiefly known out of 

 France by its association with two theories — C7\itt:res de 

 sfliiliv:ment and the R'csau pcningvnalc —vih\ch. he es- 

 poused and vigorously defended, but neither of which has 

 met with general acceptance, though no one can peruse 

 the writings in which they are developed without ad- 

 miring the wonderful industry of Elie de Beaumont in 

 the accumulation of facts and the felicitous imagination 

 with which he marshalled these facts in support of the 

 theory to which he had pledged himself. It is not easy 

 for geologists in other countries to understand the vast 

 influence which for nearly half a century he has held in 

 France. We must bear in mind the system of centralisa- 

 tion which controls even scientific enterprise in that 

 country, and the fact that Elie de Beaumont held official 

 posts in Paris which gave him a powerful sway over geo- 

 logical and mining matters, especially such as were under 

 the guidance of the State. Hence it was not merely his 

 great reputation, but his official position, which enabled 

 him for so many years in great measure to control the 

 progress of physical geology in his native country. 



This eminent geologist was born in the year 1798. In 

 1817 he entered the Ecole Polytechnique, where he 

 greatly distinguished himself, leaving it in the first rank 

 for the Ecole des Mines. At that institution he showed 

 a strong tendency towards geological pursuits, and such 

 capacity for their prosecution that he was soon chosen to 

 perform one of the most onerous tasks which had ever 

 been undertaken by the Mining Depattment of France. 

 The publication of Creenough's geological map of Eng- 

 land, and the reception of a copy of it in the year 1822 

 at the Ecole des Mines, revived a project which political 

 considerations had displaced, of constructing a geological 

 map of France. When the decision to undertake this 

 great work was formed, Elie de Beaumont, with his 

 fellow-pupil and future friend and associate Dufrenoy, 

 was selected to carry out the necessary surveys. With 

 VuL. .\i. -No. 2f4 



the view of giving them still further training for their 

 task, the authorities sent them over to study the geology 

 of England, particularly the arrangement of the second- 

 ary rocks of this country, which by the genius of William 

 Smith had become a type for all parts of Europe. Six 

 months were spent in this preliminary work, some portion 

 of the time being devoted to a careful study of British 

 mines and mining, on which the two young engineers 

 furnished some voluminous and skilful reports. It was 

 the year 1825 before they received orders to begin their sur- 

 veys. France was separated into two sections, the eastern 

 half being allotted to Elie de Beaumont. The two obser- 

 vers, however, met frequently, and after the main part of 

 their labours was concluded they went over portions of 

 the ground together, so that in the end, agreeing on all 

 main points, they produced a harmonious and magnificent 

 work. In ten years they had completed their surveys. 

 The engraving necessarily occupied some five years more, 

 after which the indefatigable authors produced two large 

 and exhaustive quarto volumes of explanations of the 

 map, wherein the geological structure of their country was 

 well described. 



Of all the achievements of Elie de Beaumont, this, his 

 first, is probably that on which his fame will ultimately 

 most securely rest. It was a great work, most conscien- 

 tiously and skilfully performed, amid difficulties which 

 can only be adequately realised by those who have 

 essayed geological map,)ing, and who know the nature of 

 the ground over which the French explorer had to trace 

 his lines. 



During the twenty-three years (1825-4S) which elapsed 

 between the beginning and the completion of the map 

 and its accompanying text, Elie de Beaumont had made 

 his name widely known by other important contributions 

 to science. A few years after the mapping had begun, 

 and while engaged in exploring the high grounds in the 

 east of France, he was struck by the relations which 

 could be traced between the direction of different lines of 

 mountain and the nature and position of the strata along 

 these lines of elevation. In 1829 he published the first 

 sketch of the theory which afterwards grew into the well- 

 known Rcseart pentagonale. He likewise adopted and 

 defended Von Buch's Erhcbungs-kratcr theory, publishing 

 in its support an elaborate essay on the structure of Etna 

 (1836). One of his best essays was published in 1847, 

 " Sur les Emanitions Volcaniques at Metallil&res," a 

 luminous exposition from the point of view of a cataclys- 

 niist of the history of the volcanic phenomena of the 

 globe. One of his best separate publications is his 

 " Leqons de Geologic pratique," a work full of knowledge 

 and research, which may be usefully studied by all who 

 take interest in dynamical geology. It would take some 

 time to enumerate even the titles of his various contribu- 

 tions to the transactions and journals of his day. They 

 include short notes and long memoirs of original research 

 of his own, elaborate reports upon the writings of others 

 (of this style he was a master), instructions to exploring 

 expeditions, &c. ; and they are not confined to physical 

 geology, but embrace also the allied sciences — chemistry, 

 mineralogy, and pala;ontology. One feature which cha- 

 racterises them is the endeavour after exactitude. Their 

 author had a mathematical mind, and sought for mathe- 

 matical precision in his development of a subject. 



