3 § 
LIFE OF DEAN BUCKLAND . 
[CH. II. 
at which was announced the death of poor Sir Joseph 
Banks, who is not less regretted in France than in our own 
country. I saw there Guy Lusac, Menard, Vaguelin, 
Henry Raymond, Brockard, Bindon, and most of the first 
scientific men of France, whose love of Science, how¬ 
ever, does not induce them to attend without receiving 
about eight shillings a head for their hour’s work, 
“ I find the best geologists in France to be Cordier, the 
successor of Fangas St. Ford as lecturer in geology, and 
Bindon, who is curator of the King’s collection under 
Count Bourdon, and is on the point of publishing an 
excellent work on the geology of Hungary, with a map 
and lectures, that will be extremely good, for he thoroughly 
understands his work. He was sent to Hungary by the 
King two years ago. I find them all most deplorably 
deficient in knowledge of their country, as well as in 
general geology. Our Society would number at least 
thirty members that would beat the best of them, and 
never did I feel myself more highly gratified in the article 
of pride than I was by the manner in which they flocked 
round me to propose their difficulties, and the passive 
obedience with which they received my oracular decisions. 
“ I saw a great deal of Humboldt, whom I liked exceed- 
ingly, and with whom I am likely from henceforth to be 
in continual correspondence. He talks more rapidly and 
more sensibly than any man I ever saw, and with a 
brilliancy that is indicative of the highest degree of genius. 
He is on the point of publishing a most interesting work, 
a comparative view of the geological structure of Europe 
and South America, and, according to the documents he 
showed me, the identity of the phenomena of the two 
continents is more absolute than the most sanguine wishes 
could have anticipated. He has given me a section of 
the valley of Santa Fe de Bogota, which is the exact 
counterpart of the valley of Glamorganshire, which I shall 
publish with my account of the Severn district in our 
Transactions. He will make use of my list of the order 
of succession of English strata, and in almost all points 
but the history of the Old and New Red Sandstone, which 
