PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. XX111 
or hidden under a covering of snow, its influence should still make 
itself felt in the picture. 
I have already referred to one whom we may in one sense claim 
as a local artist. I may, perhaps, be allowed to mention one other- 
name in this connection, namely, that of our townsman, Mr. Cranstoun. 
It is now many years since Mr. Cranstoun spoke to me on the very 
subject which I am now bringing before you. He then told me that 
geology had long been a favourite study of his, and that he had found 
it of the greatest possible service to him in the prosecution of his art. 
I think that those who are familiar with Mr. Cranstoun’s pictures will 
recognise the results of this training in the faithful rendering of details 
of rock structure. I believe I am safe in saying that scientific 
accuracy is more frequently to be met with in the Scottish School of 
painters than in any other. The reason for this probably is that 
modern geology took its rise largely in Scotland, fostered partly by 
the philosophical and enquiring tendency of the Scottish mind, and 
partly by the wonderful complexity and interest of the Scottish rocks. 
The painter in oils or in water-colours, however, is not the only 
artist to whom a knowledge of geology is essential, or at least helpful. 
The poet, as well, if his word-paintings are to be true to Nature, 
should know something about the past history of our globe, and how 
its present features have had their origin. Most of you will remember 
an interesting address on the subject of Nature and Poetry which was 
delivered in this room about a dozen years ago by Dr. H. R. Mill at 
the close of his first course of lectures on Physiography. Since then 
a somewhat similar subject was the theme of an address by Sir Archi¬ 
bald Geikie at Oxford. Both of these writers bring out very clearly 
the errors into which many of our poets have fallen, from an insufficient 
knowledge of the facts of nature. What is more surprising still, how¬ 
ever, is that some of our best poets, including Wordsworth, Scott, and 
Cowper, have affected to despise the knowledge which they did not 
possess. Very different was it with the two greatest poets of the 
present generation, Tennyson and Browning. Both of these, while 
not parading any special knowledge, yet make it evident, in all their 
allusions to Nature and natural phenomena, that they are thoroughly 
conversant with the most recent teachings of science on the subject. 
The remark which I made at the outset with regard to painting 
holds good also in the case of poetry, namely, that a gradual evolution 
has taken place in man’s appreciation of the beauties of scenery. At 
first the interest of human affairs absorbed men’s minds, but gradu¬ 
ally they came to recognise that there were silent forces at work 
around them far more stupendous in their consequences than the 
puny movements which are controlled by man’s will. From awe 
and wonder grew a feeling of admiration and delight, and thus in 
time the landscape, in all its wondrous variety of aspect, became 
a favourite theme of both the poet and the painter. In other words, 
the time came when the beauty of this earth appealed to men’s 
imaginations as something to be enjoyed for its own sake. 
Much has been written on the question as to whether a scientific 
knowledge of Nature tends to diminish our appreciation of her 
beauties. For my own part, I can only say thaDthe more I know, 
