[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.