OEOLOGY. 



13 



to a single object, he gave character and great interest to this 

 department of nature. He led his numerous pupils into the 

 hitherto dark regions of the earth, which his mighty genius 

 had now illuminated. Though he was somewhat bewildered 

 by the mazes of fancy and yielded too far to the visionary 

 theories of his time, his classification of facts must ever form 

 the basis of all future geological enquiries. 



Saussure, De Luc, Humboldt, Kirwan, Jameson, and oth- Dutch, 

 ers, improved upon V/ erner by the aid of additional facts. British ge 

 These facts Werner lived to apply as correctives of his early o'^a^^^- 

 mistakes, and to fill up the chasm in his own discoveries. He 

 closed his long life in the full splendor of his scientific glory, 

 in the same year (1817) in which we began to make our hum- 

 ble efforts in the application of his views to American earth. 



Hutton had done much in the life time of Werner. But Hutton. 

 his theoretical views were at variance with those of Werner ; 

 and much overheated controversy existed between their res- 

 pective pupils. Werner escribed most geological phenomena 

 to the agency of water, while Hutton referred the same to 

 the action of internal heat. Hutton died in an unhappy 

 state of mind, at a time, when his views were almost uni- 

 versally rejected ; but Werner died amidst the universal 

 plaudits of his favorite views. Scarcely had that earth, which 

 he had studied with such interest and applause, received his 

 manes, when his theory was reviewed, and began to be receiv- 

 ed with less approbation. 



At length the illustrious Cuvier came before us. He bal- Cuvier. 

 anced the two theories with a giant hand. He demonstrated 

 the Huttonian theory in its application to many phenomena ; 

 but left much to be explained upon the Wernerian. He reli- 

 ed solely on well established facts, and proceeded cautiously 

 in his theoretical views. Bakewell, Brongniart, M^Clure, 

 M'Culloch, Greenough, Phillips, Conybeare, with numerous 

 others, constituting a brilliant constellation of resplendent lu- 

 minaries, now began to enlighten both subterranean hemis- 



