William Smith

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Chapter ten: The Interaction of the Sciences, Werner, Hutton, Black, Hall, William Smith.

The view expressed by Franklin regarding the existence of a fiery mass underlying the crust of the Earth was not, in his time, universally accepted.

In fact, it was a question very vigorously disputed what part the internal or volcanic fire played in the formation and modification of the rock masses.

Under the high pressure in the tube the carbonic acid was retained.

By these and other experiments this doubting disciple confirmed Hutton's theory and became one of the great founders of experimental geology.

It remained for William Smith 1769 to 1839 surveyor and engineer to develop that species of chronology that Hutton had ascribed to organic remains in the solid strata, to arrange these strata in the order of time and thus become the founder of historic geology.

For this task his early education might at first glance seem inadequate.

Imputations cast on the Huttonians by Williams, Kirwan, and Deluc.

Smith's map of England.

Geological Society of London.

Progress of the science in France.

Fragments also of the Graywacke slate containing organic remains have recently been found entangled in the granite of the Harz by Monsieur de Seckendorff.

The principal merit of Werner's system of instruction consisted in steadily directing the attention of his scholars to the constant relations of superposition of certain mineral groups.

But he had been anticipated, as has been shown in the last chapter, in the discovery of this general law by several geologists in Italy and elsewhere, and his leading divisions of the secondary strata were at the same time, and independently, made the basis of an arrangement of the British strata by our countryman, William Smith, to whose work I shall refer in the sequel.

Controversy between the Vulcanists and Neptunists.