Headlands and Spurs—Popular Papers on Leading Topics—Revisiting Old Localities—Dedications—General Scope of the Work
[CHAPTER I.]
THE STARTING-POINT.
A
An explorer trudging along some line of coast, or traversing some mountain region, may now and then reach a projecting headland, or bold mountain spur, which may enable him to command a wide view of shore and sea, or of hill and valley, before and behind. On such a salient point he may sit down, note-book and glass in hand, and endeavour to correlate the observations made on the ground he has traversed, and may strain his eyes forward in order to anticipate the features of the track in advance. Such are the salient points in a scientific pilgrimage of more than half a century, to which I desire to invite the attention of the readers of these papers. In doing so, I do not propose to refer, except incidentally, to subjects which I have already discussed in books accessible to general readers, but rather to those which are imbedded in little accessible transactions, or scientific periodicals, or which have fallen out of print. I cannot therefore pretend to place the reader on all the salient points of geological science, or even on all of those I have myself reached, but merely to lead him to some of the viewing-places which I have found particularly instructive to myself.
For similar reasons it is inevitable that a certain personal element shall enter into these reminiscences, though this autobiographical feature will be kept as much in the background as possible. It is also to be anticipated that the same subject may appear more than once, but from different points of view, since it is often useful to contemplate certain features of the landscape from more than one place of observation.
To drop the figure, the reader will find in these papers, in a plain and popular form, yet it is hoped not in a superficial manner, some of the more important conclusions of a geological worker of the old school, who, while necessarily giving attention to certain specialties, has endeavoured to take a broad and comprehensive view of the making of the world in all its aspects.
The papers are of various dates; but in revising them for publication I have endeavoured, without materially changing their original form, to bring them up to the present time, and to state any corrections or changes of view that have commended themselves to me in the meantime. Such changes or modifications of view must of necessity occur to every geological worker. Sometimes, after long digging and hammering in some bed rich in fossils, and carrying home a bag laden with treasures, one has returned to the spot, and turned over the débris of previous excavation, with the result of finding something rare and valuable, before overlooked. Or, in carefully trimming and chiselling out the matrix of a new fossil, so as to uncover all its parts, unexpected and novel features may develop themselves. Thus, if we were right or partially right before, our new experience may still enable us to enlarge our views or to correct some misapprehensions. In that spirit I have endeavoured to revise these papers, and while I have been able to add confirmations of views long ago expressed, have been willing to accept corrections and modifications based on later discoveries.
In the somewhat extended span of work which has been allotted to me, I have made it my object to discover new facts, and to this end have spared no expenditure of time and labour; but I have felt that the results of discoveries in the works of God should not be confined to a coterie, but should be made public for the benefit of all. Hence I have gladly embraced any opportunities to popularise my results, whether in lectures, articles, popular books, or in the instruction of students, and this in a manner to give accurate knowledge, and perhaps to attract the attention of fellow-workers to points which they might overlook if presented merely in dry and technical papers. These objects I have in view in connection with the present collection of papers, and also the fact that my own pilgrimage is approaching its close, and that I desire to aid others who may chance to traverse the ground I have passed over, or who may be preparing to pass beyond the point I have reached.