"I am preparing a general work on the younger epochs of the earth's history, which I hope to be out with next spring. I begin with Sicily, which has almost entirely risen from the sea, to the height of nearly 4,000 feet, since all the present animals existed in the Mediterranean!" FOOTNOTES: [9] Now recognised as gault. The identification named above was soon found to be correct. [10] Life, Letters, and Journals, vol. i. p. 127. Some sentences (for the sake of brevity) are omitted from the quotation. [11] He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1826. [12] It appeared in the _Edin. Journ. Sci._, iii. (1825) p. 112, being his first actual publication. Its importance consisted in proving that serpentine was, or rather had been, an igneous rock. If proper attention had been paid to it, fewer mistaken statements and hypotheses would have attained the dignity of appearing in print. [13] Dr. Gideon A. Mantell, a surgeon by profession, at that time resident in Lewes, who made valuable contributions to the geology of South-East England, and was also distinguished for his popular lectures and books. He died in 1852. [14] Probably referring to an article on Scrope's "Geology of Central France," in which he shows that he fully accepted the Huttonian doctrine of interpreting the geology of past ages by reference to the causes still at work. It appeared in the _Quarterly Review_, Oct. 1827, vol. xxxvi. p. 437. [15] Life, Letters, and Journals, vol. i. p. 169. [16] Dr. John MacCulloch, author (among other works) of the "Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland." He was an excellent geologist on the mineralogical side, but had little sympathy with palæontology or with the views to which Lyell inclined. He died in 1835. [17] This district had been already explored by Mr. G. P. Scrope, the first edition of whose classic work, "The Volcanoes of Central France," was published in 1826. [18] Sir John F. W. Herschel, the second of the illustrious astronomers of that name. [19] Sir W. J. Hooker. [20] Certain passages in a letter of Sidonius Apollinaris, Bishop of Clermont, dated about 460 A.D., and in the works of Alcimus Avitus, Archbishop of Vienne, about half a century later, have been interpreted as referring to volcanic eruptions somewhere in Auvergne. This, however, is disputed by many authorities. (See _Geological Magazine_, 1865, p. 241.) [21] Life, Letters, and Journals, vol. i. p. 199. [22] Life, Letters, and Journals, vol. i. p. 238. [23] Life, Letters, and Journals, vol. i. p. 215. [24] Life, Letters, and Journals, vol. i. p. 252. [25] _Ibid._ [26] _Ut suprà_, p. 253. [27] "Reliquiæ Diluvianæ, or Observations on Organic Remains contained in Caves, Fissures, and Diluvial Gravel, and on other Geological Phenomena attesting the Action of an Universal Deluge." By Professor Buckland. 1823. [28] _Ut suprà_, p. 254. CHAPTER IV. THE PURPOSE DEVELOPED AND ACCOMPLISHED.