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Show 54 rALLAS--SAUSSURE. d 1 d d]'fferent parts of the crust of our globe, and an et own . I R d M someti•m es 1! ld d twist them Like Hoo <.e, ay, an oro, 10 an · d · he concei·v e d the subterranean movements to have acte with reater energy at former epochs. . . g Towards the close of the eighteenth century, th~ Idea of dis- tm. gut·s hm' g the mineral ma. ss,e s o.n our globe mto separate groups, and studying the1r ~relatiOns, began to be generally diffused. Pallas and Saussure were among the most celebra~ed 1 labours contributed to this end. After an attentive w lOSC • f S'b . p 11 examination of the two great mountain chams o . I er1a, . a as nnounced the result that the granitic rocks were m the middle, a . h the schistose at their sides, and the limestones agam on t e outside of these; and this he conceived would prove a general law in the formation of all chains composed chief! y of primary 1·ocks #.'. In his '' Travels in Russia," in 1793 and 1794, he made many geological observations on the recent strata near the Wolga and the Caspian, and adduced proofs of the greater extent of the latter sea at no distant era in the earth's history. His memoir on the fossil bones of Siberia attracted attention to some of the most remarkable phenomena in geology. He stated that he had found a rhinoceros entire in the frozen soil, with its skin and flesh : au elephant, found afterwards in a mass of ice on the shore of the north sea, removed all doubt as to the accuracy of so wonderful a discovery t. The subjects relating to natural history which engaged the' attention of Pallas were too multifarious to admit of his devoting a large share of his labours exclusively to geology. Saussure, on the other hand, employed the chief portion of his time in studying the structure of the Alps and Jura, and he provided valuable data for those who followed him. We can· not enter into the details of these observations, and he did not pretend to have arrived at ariy general system. I'he few theo· retical observations which escaped from him are, like those of Pallas, mere modifications of the old cosmological doctrines. * Observ. on the Formation of Mountains, Act.,Petrop. ann. 1778, part i. f Nov. conun. Petr. XVII. Cuvier, Eloge de Pallas. CHAPTER IV. Werner's application of Geology to the art of Mining-Excursive character of his Lectures-Enthusiasm of his pupils-His authority-His theoretical errors -Desmarest's Map and Description of Auvergne-Controversy between the Vulcanists and Neptunists-Intemperance of the rival Sects.-Hutton's Theory of the Earth-His discovery of Granite Veins-Originality of his Views- Why opposed.-Playfair's Illustrations -Influence of Voltaire's Writings on Geology-Imputations cast on the Huttonians by Williams, Kirwan, and De Luc-Smith's Map of England-Geological Society of Lon· don-Progress of the Science in France-Growing Importance of the Study of Organic Remains. THE art of mining has long been taught in France, Germany, and Hungary, in scientific institutions established for that purpose, where mineralogy has always been a principal branch of instruction *. Werner was named, in 1775, professor of that science in the ''School of Mines11 at Freyberg in Saxony. He directed his attention not merely to the composition and external characters of minerals, but also to what he termed "geognosy," or the natural position of minerals in particular rocks, together with the grouping of those rocks, their geographical distribution and various relations. The phenomena observed in the struc~ ture of the globe had hitherto served for little else than to furnish interesting topics for philosophical discussion ; but when \Verner pointed out their application to the practical purposes of mining, they were instantly regarded by a large class of men as an essential part of their professional education, and from that time the science was cultivated in Europe more ardently and systematically. Werner's mind was at once ima· * Our miners have been left to themselvei, almost without the assistance of scientific works in the English language, and without any " school of mines " to blunder their own way into a certain degree of practical skill. The inconvenience of this want of system in a country where so much capital is expended, and often w~sted, in mining adventures, has been well exposed by an eminent practical mmer.-See" Proilpectus of a School of Mines in Cornwall, by J. Taylor, 1825." |