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Annals of Science Volume 42, 1985 - Issue 6
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James Hutton's agricultural research and his life as a farmer

Jean Jones 6 Greenhill Terrace, Edinburgh, EH10 4BS, Scotland
Pages 573-601 | Received 25 Feb 1985, Published online: 22 Aug 2006

  • Playfair , J. 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 39 – 99 . pt 3 passim.
  • Playfair , J. 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 39 – 99 . pt 3
  • Letters of Hutton to George Clerk Maxwell and John Bell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • 1975 . Theory of the Earth; with proofs and illustrations Vol. 2 , Edinburgh the third volume was published in London in 1899.
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 87 – 87 . pt 3
  • 1792 . Dissertations on different subjects in natural philosophy Edinburgh An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge, and the Progress of Reason, from Sense to Science and Philosophy, 3 vols (Edinburgh, 1794); A Dissertation upon the Philosophy of Heat, Light and Fire (Edinburgh, 1974).
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 87 – 87 . pt 3
  • Besterman , T. 1938 . The publishing firm of Cadell & Davies 34 – 34 . London Hugh Torrens drew my attention to this letter.
  • Donaldson , J. 1854 . Agricultural Biography London Information from Hugh Torrens.
  • October 1949 . Edinburgh Geological Society Minute Book October , 5 and 2 November 1949. Information from Norman Butcher.
  • Hutton , James . 1970–1980 . Dictionary of Scientific Biography Vol. 16 , 577 – 589 . New York VI (1972)
  • 1967 . Amsterdam
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 87 – 87 . pt 3
  • ‘The most perfect candour, and the utmost simplicity of character and manner’. Playfair Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1805 5 94 94 pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 41 – 41 . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 42 – 42 . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 46 – 46 . pt 3 Sal ammoniac was used in medcine, and industrially as a flux to bond copper on to tin. The factory was established just to the east of Nicolson Street, on the site of the present Davie Street.
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 99 – 99 . pt 3
  • Jethro Tull (1674–1741), famous for his invention of the drill and as the author of Horse Hoeing Husbandry 1733
  • Elements of Agriculture 6 – 6 .
  • John Manning later settled in Norwich. He and Hutton were still in touch when Sylas Neville went to Edinburgh to study medicine in 1771. The Diary of Sylas Neville Cozens-Hardy B. London 1950 103 103
  • Elements of Agriculture 10 – 10 .
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 74n – 74n . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 40 – 40 . pt 3 At this period chemistry was regarded as an adjunct to medicine and not as a subject in its own right.
  • Cozens-Hardy . 1950 . The Diary of Sylas Neville Edited by: Cozens-Hardy , B. 143 – 143 . London
  • Ferguson , A. 1805 . Minutes of the Life and Character of Dr. Joseph Black . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 101 – 117 . pt 3 114.
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 43 – 43 . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 43 – 43 . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 43 – 43 . pt 3
  • Now lost, but quoted by Playfair Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1805 5 44 44 pt 3
  • Hall , James . 1761–1832 . sometimes dubbed ‘the father of experimental geology’
  • Cockburn , John . 1679–1758 . M.P. for Haddington and Lord of the Admiralty, encouraged tenants to enclose their land and plant turnips and clover, together with many other improvements
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 45 – 45 . pt 3
  • Hutton to Clerk Maxwell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749
  • Elements of Agriculture 484 – 484 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 39 – 39 .
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 43 – 43 . pt 3
  • Elements of Agriculture 774 – 774 .
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 44 – 44 . pt 3
  • Elements of Agriculture 11 – 11 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 11 – 11 .
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 44 – 44 . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 44 – 44 . pt 3
  • Clerk , John . 1679–1755 . was an influential patron of the arts and sciences and, as a mine owner, took a practical interest in geology. His son John (later known as John Clerk of Eldin) and Hutton were medical students together in 1745, and thirty years later Clerk accompanied Hutton as his draughtsman on his journeys to Glen Tilt and southwest Scotland. Clerk's elder brother George (1715–84) appears later in this essay as Clerk Maxwell, the name he took after his marriage to Dorothy Clerk Maxwell of Middlebie in Dumfriesshire. He held many public positions and himself engaged in farming, linen manufacture and mining, and succeeded to the baronetcy in 1783 after the death of his brother James.
  • Hutton to John Strange, British Library MS Eg 2001, published in Eyles V.A. Eyles J.M. Some Geological Correspondence of James Hutton Annals of Science 1951 7 316 339
  • Hutton . 1795 . Theory of the Earth; with proofs and illustrations Vol. II , 164 – 166 . Edinburgh 2 vols
  • Hutton . 1795 . Theory of the Earth; with proofs and illustrations Vol. II , 167 – 167 . Edinburgh 2 vols
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 44 – 44 . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 44 – 44 . pt 3
  • Elements of Agriculture 979 – 979 .
  • Hutton to Sir John Hall, quoted in Playfair Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1805 5 44 44 pt 3
  • Elements of Agriculture 484 – 484 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 791 – 791 .
  • Hutton to Strange Eyles V.A. Eyles J.M. Some Geological Correspondence of James Hutton Annals of Science 1951 7 324 325
  • Scottish Record Office . October 1760 . RS Berwickshire 19/14 October , [hereafter SRO] (22
  • May 1710 . SRO RS Berwickshire 3/98 May , (18
  • September 1810 . SRO GR 877.153 September , (27
  • March 1818 . SRO RD 5 Vol. 132 , March , (12
  • February 1823 . SRO GR 1265.109 February , (15
  • Wight , A. 1778–84 . Present State of Husbandry in Scotland Vol. 4 , 532 – 587 . Edinburgh IV, pt 2
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 87 – 87 . pt 3
  • Ferguson . 1805 . Minutes of the Life and Character of Dr. Joseph Black . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 114 – 114 . pt 3
  • Forsyth , Robert . 1766–1846 . writer on politics, religion and agriculture, first thought of the ministry as a career but was eventually admitted to the bar in 1792
  • Forsyth , R. 1805–8 . The Beauties of Scotland Vol. 5 , 42 – 43 . Edinburgh II
  • Elements of Agriculture 9 – 9 .
  • 1814 . Vol. I , 558 – 558 . London
  • Wight . 1778–84 . Present State of Husbandry in Scotland Vol. IV , 539 – 540 . Edinburgh 4 vols.
  • See Clerk John 1679–1755
  • Hutton to Clerk Maxwell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • 1755 . Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749
  • 1755 . Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749
  • 1755 . Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749
  • Robinson , E. and McKie , D. 1970 . Partners in Science 277 – 277 . London
  • Robinson , E. and McKie , D. 1970 . Partners in Science 277 – 277 . London
  • Hutton to John Bell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • Hutton to Clerk Maxwell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 45 – 45 . pt 3
  • Elements of Agriculture 471 – 471 .
  • Hutton to Clerk Maxwell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • Hutton to Clerk Maxwell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • Hutton to Clerk Maxwell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • Elements of Agriculture 7 – 8 .
  • Fussell , G.E. 1952 . The Farmer's Tools 58 – 58 . London
  • Passmore , J.B. 1930 . The English Plough 12 – 12 . London Andrew Patterson kindly drew my attention to this book.
  • National Library of Scotland MS 1641 119 – 119 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 458v – 458v . 459
  • Elements of Agriculture 8 – 8 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 477 – 477 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 479 – 479 .
  • Hutton to Clerk Maxwell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • Hutton to Clerk Maxwell Scottish Record Office, GD 18/5749 1755
  • Elements of Agriculture 11 – 11 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 868 – 868 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 863 – 863 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 865 – 865 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 850 – 850 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 825 – 825 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 825 – 825 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 316 – 316 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 317 ff – 317 ff . 936; pages added to the front of Volume II and numbered 735–47.
  • But see his earlier preoccupation with the forces at work in the human body, discussed in Ellenberger F. La Thèse de Doctorat de James Hutton Annales Guébhard 1973 49 497 533
  • Ellenberger , F. 1973 . La Thèse de Doctorat de James Hutton . Annales Guébhard , 49 : 359 – 363 .
  • Ellenberger , F. 1973 . La Thèse de Doctorat de James Hutton . Annales Guébhard , 49 : 354 – 354 . 363.
  • Fletcher , H.R. and Brown , W.H. 1970 . The Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh 1670–1970 60 – 60 . London
  • Burnett , James and Monboddo , Lord . 1714–99 . judge and scholar, is best known for his views on evolution.
  • Elements of Agriculture 403 – 404 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 117 – 117 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 121 – 121 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 121 – 121 .
  • Russell , James . 1754–1836 . the first Professor of Clinical Surgery at Edinburgh, was one of Hutton's friends and his doctor at the time of his death.
  • Roebuck , John . 1718–94 . chemist and manufacturer and, with Samuel Garbett, founder of the Carron Company.
  • Elements of Agriculture 122 – 122 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 371 – 338 . 602–5.
  • Elements of Agriculture 370v – 370v . and 371.
  • Elements of Agriculture 573 – 573 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 570 – 570 .
  • Black's medical dissertation De humore acido a cibis orto et magnesia alba (1754) was published in an expanded form under the title Experiments upon Magnesia Alba, Quicklime, and Some Other Alcaline Substances Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary 1756 2 157 225
  • Elements of Agriculture 574 – 577 .
  • E.g. Edinburgh University Library Gen. 873-III/111
  • Elements of Agriculture 420 – 420 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 422 – 422 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 761 – 761 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 761 – 761 .
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 45 – 45 . pt 3
  • E.g. SRO Forfeited Annexed Estates Papers E 727/46; E 730/6, 7, 10; E 777/304
  • Wills , V. , ed. 1973 . Reports on the Annexed Estates 1755–69 93 – 93 . Edinburgh
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 45 – 45 . pt 3
  • Eyles and Eyles . 1951 . Some Geological Correspondence of James Hutton . Annals of Science , 7 : 316 – 339 .
  • Eyles and Eyles . 1951 . Some Geological Correspondence of James Hutton . Annals of Science , 7 : 322 – 322 .
  • Eyles and Eyles . 1951 . Some Geological Correspondence of James Hutton . Annals of Science , 7 : 325 – 325 .
  • Eyles and Eyles . 1951 . Some Geological Correspondence of James Hutton . Annals of Science , 7 : 323 – 323 .
  • Eyles and Eyles . 1951 . Some Geological Correspondence of James Hutton . Annals of Science , 7 : 322 – 322 .
  • Pennant , T. 1771 . Tour in Scotland 143 – 143 . Chester
  • Eyles and Eyles . 1951 . Some Geological Correspondence of James Hutton . Annals of Science , 7 : 326 – 326 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 607 – 607 .
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 55 – 55 . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 59n – 59n . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 56 – 56 . pt 3
  • Elements of Agriculture 157 – 270 .
  • 1788 . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 1 : 41 – 86 .
  • 1790 . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 2 : 39 – 58 .
  • 1790 . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 2 : 55 – 55 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 215 – 215 . Playfair (footnote 1), 66 n.
  • Hutton . 1792 . Dissertations on different subjects in natural philosophy 153 – 153 . Edinburgh
  • Elements of Agriculture 167 – 167 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 179 – 179 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 182 – 183 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 193 – 193 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 194 – 194 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 201 – 210 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 206 – 206 . 213
  • Elements of Agriculture 207 – 209 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 184 – 185 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 187 – 187 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 218v – 218v . Playfair cites Hutton's estimate as 1°F per 230 ft and believed the figure should be nearer 1°F per 250 ft.
  • Elements of Agriculture 9 – 9 .
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 46 – 46 . pt 3
  • Sept. 1797 . SRO RS 3 Berwickshire 576.70 Sept. , (4
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 46 – 46 . pt 3
  • Jones , J. 1982 . James Hutton and the Forth and Clyde Canal . Annals of Science , 39 : 255 – 263 .
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 50 – 50 . pt 3
  • Playfair . 1805 . Biographical Account of the late Dr. James Hutton . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 5 : 46 – 46 . pt 3
  • Elements of Agriculture 331 – 331 .
  • Edinburgh University Library MS Gen. 873/III/ 198
  • Elements of Agriculture 331 – 331 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 971 – 977 .
  • E.g. Edinburgh University Library Gen. 873/II/69–72 Gen. 873/II/64–65
  • Edinburgh University Library Gen. 874/IV/49–50
  • Remarks on Dr. Hutton's Treatise on Agriculture 1 – 1 .
  • Hutton , J. 1788 . Theory of the Earth . Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 1 : 209 – 304 .
  • 1787 . Mémoires d'agriculture, d'économie rurale et domestique ii – iii . Trimestre d'Hiver
  • 1788 . Mémoires d'agriculture, d'économie rurale et domestique xxiv – xxxii . Trimestre d'Été The 1788 list gives the date of Hutton's election erroneously as 1788 instead of 1787, a mistake repeated in Annuaire de la Société Royale d'Agriculture, 2 (n.d., Paris). The 1788 list also divides the elected foreign scholars into Associés Étrangers (which include Hutton) and Correspondants Étrangers (which include Sinclair).
  • Sinclair , J. , ed. 1831 . The Correspondence of Sir John Sinclair Vol. 2 , 141 – 141 . London II
  • Eyles , V.A. , ed. 1973 . James Hutton's System of the Earth 1785; Theory of the Earth 1788 xv – xv . New York facsimile reprint
  • Desmarest , N. 1795–1828 . Géographie Physique Vol. 5 , 732 – 782 . Paris I (part of the Encyclopédie Méthodique, 200 vols (Paris and Liège, 1782–1832).
  • Private communication
  • Aberdeen University Library MS 2464, 102v
  • Muirhead , J.P. 1856 . Life of Watt 245 – 245 . London
  • Elements of Agriculture 681 – 681 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 698 – 698 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 688 – 688 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 586 – 586 . 917, 705.
  • Elements of Agriculture 684 – 684 .
  • National Library of Scotland MS 1641 Vol. 7 , 259 – 259 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 690 – 690 .
  • 1794–1815 . General View of the Agriculture of the County of … Vol. 50 , London
  • Elements of Agriculture 269 – 269 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 913 – 913 .
  • Elements of Agriculture 3 – 3 .

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