134 JRevietcs — 8ir A. GeiMe's Memoir of Ramsay. 



Portraits are given of them, as well as of De la Beche, Logan, 

 Bristow, Gibbs (fossil-collector), Oldbam, Smjth, Jukes, Forbes, 

 Murchison, and Salter. The likeness of Eamsay, excellent as it is, 

 represents him at the age of 68, when he had just retired from 

 public life; the face has become somewhat saddened, and we must 

 turn to the portrait given in the Life of Murchison for Eamsay in 

 the prime — a handsome, vigorous man, cheery and buoyant in spirit. 



For about ten years Eamsay toiled hard in the active work of tlie 

 Survey, until the mapping of Wales was completed, and he con- 

 tinued to carry on a certain amount of personal surveying until 

 1854. His time, however, had become more and more occupied 

 with the general direction and supervision of the work of his men, 

 and he practically abandoned the task of mapping after having 

 started the Survey in Scotland. 



It is astonishing to consider how much field-work he accom- 

 plished in the period of fourteen years, for we learn from the list 

 of his publications that he took part in the work of six whole sheets, 

 and of thirty-nine quarter-sheets of the map in England and Wales, 

 and of one sheet in Scotland. Moreover, he was engaged in con- 

 structing a number of horizontal sections across various mountainous 

 parts of the country, and the labour thus involved can scarcely be 

 realized nowadays when contoured maps enable the geologist to 

 plot each section without difficulty. No doubt the field-work was 

 carried on far more briskly in those early days of the Survey than 

 would be possible or right at the present time. More numerous 

 subdivisions in the rocks are now required, and the boundaries can 

 be traced far more accurately than was possible on the old one-inch, 

 maps. Those who now start with the maps of the present day, with 

 the help too of the advanced methods of research in petrology and 

 palaeontology, may find plenty to do in regions surveyed long ago. 

 Thej' do not, however, have to start with a plain ordnance map, and 

 in a district where the only geological guides were the sketch maps 

 of William Smith, or the small maps of particular areas published 

 in the Transactions of the Geological Society. 



The junctions between the great formations had to be determined, 

 and their particular boundary-lines traced across an almost unknown 

 country, in some areas complicated by faults and disturbances and by 

 various eruptive rocks. It was a glorious time for those who were 

 keenly interested in such work : and none more so than Eamsay 

 and his associates in Wales — Aveline, Selwyn, and Jukes. 



In the " Letters " of J. Beete Jukes we were favoured with many 

 glimpses of life on the Geological Survey ; of the arduous work and 

 the determination of the men, and of the pleasant hours of relaxation 

 after the work of the day was done. So also in the memoir of 

 Eamsay, we read of the interesting coach journeys, the sojourns at 

 quiet country inns, and the occasional merry meetings of the 

 surveyors and of Salter, the palaeontologist. 



On one occasion Eamsay relates that he " went out with Smyth, 

 Jukes, Selwyn, Gibbs, and the dogs, to look at Jukes's ash-beds. 

 We had a goodisb day's work on bits of detail. Jukes should have 



