55 
of Edinburg] Session 1862 - 63 . 
which has been constantly experienced not less by those of the one 
country than of the other. Mutual hospitalities and many valued 
friendships have been thence derived. 
Of such results Necker’s was a signal instance. After the 
age of twenty, Scotland became to him a second fatherland. As 
became the grandson of De Saussure, he was already conversant 
with mineralogy and geology ; and he could not in all Europe 
have found a school better fitted to educe his talents than Edin- 
burgh presented at that period. In the University, indeed, under 
the zealous Jameson, the doctrines of Werner reigned supreme. 
Yet it was well for a young geologist of that day to become 
acquainted with his teachings ; and in so far as they were over- 
strained or erroneous, there was an ample corrective in the dis- 
tinguished school of Huttonians, who then discussed and eluci- 
dated the theory of their master, partly in the University, but 
principally in the hall of the Eoyal Society, and by their writ- 
ings. Necker was personally acquainted with Playfair, Sir James 
Hall, Lord Webb Seymour, Hope, Allan, and others, who met 
nearly every week at the period of Necker’s stay in Edinburgh, to 
discuss in this Society the theories of geology, and to listen and 
reply to the less numerous, yet undaunted supporters of Werneri- 
anism, headed by the persevering Jameson. Already, during the 
winter of 1806-7, Necker had visited the interesting coast of Fife, 
and the principal islands of the Forth ; and under the guidance of 
Sir James Hall himself had inspected the numerous and interest- 
ing geological sections which abound on its southern shore as far 
as St Abb’s Head. At other times he travelled in company with 
Patrick Neill and others of the Jamesonian school, and had an op- 
portunity of judging impartially the opinions of either party. Of 
course the discussions of the winter were to be farther pursued in 
the field during summer; and Necker, nothing loth to judge for 
himself concerning the facts of which he had become accustomed to 
hear such conflicting explanations, undertook excursions not only in 
the geologically interesting neighbourhood of Edinburgh, but to the 
west of Scotland, and even in^o the farthest Highlands, then but 
little visited. The origins of granite and trap were of course the 
main objects of his search, so far as geology was concerned ; and, no 
doubt by the advice principally of Playfair, who used to call Arran 
an epitome of the world, one of his early excursions (in May 1807) 
