Many books have been written about Mont Blanc, its botany and its glaciers, but none have ever equalled, in truthfulness and freshness of description, the diary of Lyell. He seized upon all the remarkable points to be noticed, and shone both as a botanist and geologist. He, moreover, did not forget his old entomological tastes, for he chased butterflies in the valley of the Arve, and was delighted with the Alpine rhododendrons, and the little _ranunculus glacialis_. On the Grimsel Lyell saw “some extraordinary large bare pieces of granite-rock, which I could not account for,” and was puzzled by the redness of the snow in some places. Afterwards on the Wengern Alp, he saw a fine avalanche fall over a precipice on to a ledge below. He went to the Valais to see the result of the great flood the previous June, and witnessed the results of the enormous force of running water, carrying with it sand and stone, on everything against which it came in contact. Lyell then crossed the Alps and visited the Italian lakes and the principal towns of Italy, but more as an antiquarian than a geologist. The long journey bore fruit, for the constant proofs of changes ever progressing in nature, which were brought before Lyell’s notice, influenced his mind in a very decided manner. He became opposed to the convulsionist doctrines of sudden and violent changes having occurred, and furthered the ideas taught by Hutton, that the alterations on the surface of the earth are slow and constant, and have been uniform for ages. In 1819 Lyell took his B.A. degree at Oxford, obtaining a second class in classical honours, and in the same year he became a fellow of the Geological Society of London, and of the Linnæan Society. On leaving Oxford he was entered at Lincoln’s Inn, and resided in London, and studied law in a special pleader’s office. His eyes became weak, and he was advised to give up reading for a time, and to join his father in a visit to Rome in 1820. In 1822 Lyell was in full correspondence with the most prominent geologists of the day, and he was doing original work, for his letters show that he was interesting himself about the fresh water strata of the Isle of Wight, and about the bones found in Kirkdale cave, of hyæna, elephant, rhinoceros, etc. His enthusiasm and ability to work were recognized in the very remarkable selection the Geological Society made in 1823. For he was then elected one of the secretaries, and his friends were Mantell and Buckland. The same year he went to Paris to see the French geologists and Cuvier. Cuvier was very polite, and introduced Lyell to Madlle. Duvancel, his step-daughter, and Lyell spoke very well of her ability and engaging manners. He met Humboldt and Laplace and Arago, the mathematicians and astronomers of the day.