Biography of Baron Leopold von Buck. 3 



in 1846. The intimate friendship which arose amongst the 

 three was terminated only by death. 



In Freiberg flourished the then novel science of Mine- 

 ralogy and Geognosy, which was taught in the most lively 

 and animating manner by its genial founder, A. G. Werner, 

 and it was in his school that the great masters grew up, 

 who, in their services to the progress of the science, overtop 

 perhaps those of the founder himself. In the period of a 

 single lifetime it was impossible for Werner, notwithstand- 

 ing his immortal greatness, to complete on all hands the 

 structure of an experimental science ; and our high appreci- 

 ation of the merits of his pupils can nowise be regarded as 

 detracting from the recognition of his own comprehensive 

 labours. Unfortunately, the sphere of Werner's own per- 

 sonal inquiries, owing to the circumstances of his life, was 

 confined to far too narrow a spot of the earth's surface ; it 

 scarcely extended beyond the limits of Saxony ; and this was 

 in a great measure the cause of those imperfections which 

 clove to his science to the last. It became the business of 

 his scholars to test the new doctrine upon other domains, 

 and, in conformity with results, to eliminate what was un- 

 tenable, to assign their fitting place to new discoveries, and 

 to draw conclusions for the history of the earth's formation, 

 which could not rest on the old foundation. Throughout a 

 long lifetime this vocation was fulfilled by Buch, faithfully, 

 and with the most speculative of minds. 



We first find him opening his inquiries in the highly 

 interesting, but then little known, mountainous districts of 

 Silesia. Their fruit is exhibited in a small publication which 

 appeared in the year 1797, entitled " Versuch einer mine- 

 ralogischen Beschreibung von Landeck." The future perfect 

 master of observation is, in this work, as clear to be recog- 

 nised as the closeness and perspicuity of which all his writ- 

 ings may serve as patterns. Above the doctrines of Werner, 

 however, even where they have since been proved to be 

 untenable, Buch did not yet venture to place himself. Basalt 

 was to him, in conformity with the too neptunistic views of 

 his master, still a rock of aqueous formation. For the rejec- 

 tion of such a deeply-rooted dogma, more striking proofs 



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