168 



COEEESPONDENCE. 



Geological Plagiarism. 



The following copy of a letter published in the £ Eeader,' has been 

 sent to us for insertion : — 



"Geological Plagiarism. — To the Editor of the 'Eeader.' — Sir, — 

 Under this head I observe a letter in the last impression of the ' Eeader,' 

 which is by no means flattering to myself, and I would therefore now beg 

 to make a few remarks by way of explanation. ' E. G. S.' is not incorrect 

 in supposing that he ' had seen the same ideas, and possibly some of the 

 same expressions, not long before in the Memoirs of the Geological Sur- 

 vey.' I acknowledge the similarity of idea in the passages quoted by him, 

 and the sameness of expression of which, in one or two cases, as a student 

 and a beginner, I have been unfortunately guilty, and which, but for an 

 oversight, would have been indicated by inverted commas. But when I 

 show how that has arisen, I hope 'E. G. S.' will understand my excuse; 

 and should this meet the eye of Mr. Geikie, that that gentleman will accept 

 my apology.- On reading over, some time ago, the Geological Survey's 

 Memoir on Edinburgh, I was struck with Mr. Geikie's remarks on ' De- 

 nudation ' in chap, xiii., which, by the way, applied to Midlothian gene- 

 rally, and not to Arthur's Seat in particular. The idea which more es- 

 pecially attracted my attention was that Midlothian had been subjected 

 to a process of denudation at two different and widely-separate periods in 

 geologic time, and as I happened to be studying the geology of Arthur's 

 Seat at the time, I naturally desired to have a clearer idea of the effects of 

 denudation on that particular hill. The result was the paper in question, 

 which, as you can easily imagine, was written in the spirit of Mr. Geikie's 

 remarks, but at the same time with the desire to give greater prominence 

 than he has done to the idea above-mentioned. The plan of my paper is 

 quite different from the chapter in the Memoir, and is all I ever intended 

 to ' be regarded as original.' I certainly ought to have mentioned the 

 source from which I had gathered a portion of my information, and herein 

 I confess I have made a mistake ; but at the same time ' F. G. S.' and Mr. 

 Geikie will remember that these ideas on the denudation of Midlothian 

 are by no means new, but have been more or less entertained by our local 

 geologists for some time back, and have even been made the subject of 

 papers before the Edinburgh societies, as my own was before its appear- 

 ance in the pages of the ' Geologist.' — I am, Sir, yours respectfully, James 

 Haswell. 



" Edinburgh, 2Srd March, 1864." 



The Eternity of the Universe; in Hebrew Phraseology, of the Heavens 



and the Earth. 



Sir, — After many years' reflection upon the subject, I have come to the 

 conclusion that the true Scriptural doctrine — which at the same time com- 

 mends itself to reason — is, that the universe (in Hebrew phraseology, the 

 heavens and the earth) is eternal ; in other words, that as there always has 

 been and will be a God, so there always has been and will be a universe, — 

 in Hebrew phraseology, an earth and heavens. I have come to the 



