Advanced search
Publication Cover
Annals of Science Volume 45, 1988 - Issue 1
Submit an article Journal homepage
272
Views
6
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Main articles

Roderick Murchison and the structure of Africa: A geological prediction and its consequences for British expansion

Robert A. Stafford Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia
Pages 1-40 | Received 10 Mar 1987, Published online: 23 Aug 2006

  • Murchison , R.I. 1857 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 27 : xciv – cxcviii . (p. cxxxvii).
  • Murchison , R.I. 1868 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 38 : cxxxiii – cxcviii . (p. cxciii).
  • For Murchison's adherence to ‘Humboldtian science’, see Cannon Susan Faye Science in Culture: The Early Victorian Period New York 1978 73 110 G. R. Crone, Modern Geographers (London, 1970), pp. 15–18, 30. For more detailed accounts of Humboldt's philosophy and method, see Hanno Beck, Alexander von Humboldt, 2 vols (Wiesbaden, 1959, 1961); H. Beck, editor, Alexander von Humboldt, Kosmos für die Gegenwart (Stuttgart, 1978); Margarita Bowen, Empiricism and Geographical Thought from Francis Bacon to Alexander von Humboldt (Cambridge, 1981).
  • Geikie , Archibald . 1875 . Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison Vol. II , 274 – 274 . London 2 vols
  • The best biography remains Geikie A. Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison London 1875 II 274 274 2 vols
  • Geikie . 1875 . Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison Vol. I , 17 – 17 . London 2 vols
  • Murchison , R.I. 1839 . The Silurian System London 2 vols
  • Rudwick , M.J.S. 1970–80 . “ Roderick Impey Murchison ” . In Dictionary of Scientific Biography Edited by: Gillispie , Charles C. Vol. IX , 582 – 585 . New York in 16 vols [hereafter cited as DSB].
  • Rudwick , M.J.S. 1985 . The Great Devonian Controversy Chicago and London R. I. Murchison, E. D. Verneuil and A. V. Keyserling, The Geology of Russia in Europe and the Ural Mountains, 2 vols, I (London, 1845); II (Paris, 1845).
  • Murchison , R.I. 1854 . Siluria London Unless otherwise noted, citations are from the fourth edition of 1867.
  • Rudwick . 1970–80 . “ Roderick Impey Murchison ” . In Dictionary of Scientific Biography Edited by: Gillispie , Charles C. Vol. IX , 582 – 585 . New York in 16 vols M. J. S. Rudwick, The Meaning of Fossils (London, 1972); Rudwick (footnote 9).
  • Gilbert , Edmund and Goudie , Andrew . 1971 . Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, Bart., KCB, 1792–1871 . The Geographical Journal , 137 : 505 – 511 . R. Hooykaas, Catastrophism in Geology, its Scientific Character in Relation to Actualism and Uniformitarianism (Amsterdam and London, 1970). See also Rudwick (footnote 9), especially pp. 349, 390–91, 449, for Murchison's grudging acceptance of piecemeal faunal change in the fossil record.
  • Secord , James A. 1982 . King of Siluria: Roderick Murchison and the imperial theme in nineteenth-century British geology . Victorian Studies , 25 : 413 – 442 .
  • Secord , James A. 1986 . Controversy in Victorian Geology: The Cambrian-Silurian Dispute Princeton
  • Élie de Beaumont , J.B.L. 1831 . Researches on some of the revolutions which have taken place on the surface of the globe . The Philosophical Magazine , 10 : 241 – 264 . new series Alexander von Humboldt, Asie Centrale, 3 vols (Paris, 1843); Murchison, Verneuil, and Keyserling (footnote 9).
  • For the most complete exposition of Murchison's views of gold, see Murchison Siluria London 1854 448 475
  • Murchison , R.I. 1844 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 14 : xlv – cxxviii . (pp. xcix–c).
  • Stafford , Robert A. 1984 . Geological surveys, mineral discoveries, and British expansion, 1835–71 . The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History , 12 : 5 – 32 . Robert A. Stafford, “The long arm of London: Sir Roderick Murchsion and imperial science in Australia’, in Australian Science in the Making: Bicentennial Essays, edited by R. W. Home (forthcoming, 1988); Murchison (footnote 10), 448 75.
  • Geikie . 1875 . Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison Vol. I , 303 – 303 . London 2 vols
  • Geikie . 1875 . Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison Vol. II , 86 – 86 . London 2 vols
  • Murchison to Sedgwick. Sedgwick Collection Cambridge University Library 1850 January 18 Add. MS 7652.III.D. Notebook IV.54.
  • Porter , Roy . 1978 . Gentlemen and geology: the emergence of a scientific career, 1660–1920 . The Historical Journal , 21 : 809 – 836 . (pp. 829–30).
  • Mill , H.R. 1931 . Geography at the British Association: a retrospect . The Scottish Geographical Magazine , 47 : 338 – 353 .
  • Murchison , R.I. 1865 . ‘Address of the President of the Geology Section’, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science . Transactions of Sections , : 41 – 48 . (p. 42).
  • For a detailed study, see Stafford Robert A. The Empire of Science: Sir Roderick Murchison, Scientific Exploration, and Victorian Imperialism Cambridge University Press forthcoming from
  • Stafford . 1984 . The long arm of London . The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History , 12 : 5 – 32 .
  • Stafford . 1984 . Geological surveys . The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History , 12 : 5 – 32 .
  • Bailey , Edward . 1952 . The Geological Survey of Great Britain London J. S. Flett, The First One Hundred Years of the Geological Survey of Great Britain (London, 1937); Paul J. McCartney, Henry De La Beche: Observations On an Observer (Cardiff, 1977).
  • Horner to Murchison, Murchison Papers, M/H29/19 Geological Society of London 1855 April 19
  • Stafford . 1984 . Geological Surveys . The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History , 12 : 448 – 475 . Murchison (footnote 10)
  • Herschel to Murchison, Murchison Papers, M/H20/4 Geological Society of London 1835 March 8 David S. Evans, et al., editors, Herschel at the Cape (Austin, Texas, 1969), p. 175; Murchison (footnote 7), I, 8, II, 583, 653.
  • Murchison to Herschel, Royal Society, Herschel Papers, HS.12.390 1837 February 28 and 15 January 1836 and 389 respectively.
  • Murchison , R.I. 1842 . Anniversary Address of the President . Proceedings of the Geological Society of London , 3 : 637 – 687 . (p. 645).
  • Murchison . 1844 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 14 : cxx – cxx .
  • Murchison , R.I. 1845 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 15 : xli – cxi . (pp. lxvi–lxvii); Jackson to Littleton, 16 and 28 April 1846, R.G.S. Archive, letterbook, v. 1844–50.
  • Murchison , R.I. 1852 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 22 : lxii – cxxvi . subsection entitled ‘Comparative view of Africa in primeval and modern times’ (pp. cxxi–cxxv).
  • Gilbert and Goudie . 1971 . Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, Bart., KCB, 1792–1871 . The Geographical Journal , 137 : 508 – 508 .
  • Exceptions are Seaver George David Livingstone: His Life and Letters London 1957 233 234 Ibid.; K. M. Barbour, ‘Africa and the development of geography’, The Geographical Journal, 148 (1982), 317–26 (p. 318).
  • Burman , Jose . 1968 . “ Andrew Geddes Bain ” . In Dictionary of South African Biography Edited by: de Kock , W.J. Vol. I , 35 – 38 . Cape Town in A. W. Rogers, ‘The pioneers in South African geology and their works’, Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa, annex to 39 (1937), 1–139.
  • Bain to De La Beche Bain Papers University of the Witwatersrand Library 1844 April 29
  • Murchison to Richards, Bain Papers University of the Witwatersrand Library 1844 October 24
  • Bain was in fact mapping the famous Karroo beds. Though geologists in the first half of this century favoured a deltaic origin for these predominantly Permian formations, opinion has now swung back toward Bain's lacustrine view; cf. Rogers Andrew Geddes Bain Dictionary of South African Biography de Kock W.J. Cape Town 1968 I 31 32 in and Duncan Derry, A Concise World Atlas of Geology and Mineral Deposits (London, 1980), p. 59.
  • Bain to Richards, Bain Papers University of the Witwatersrand Library 1847 June 21 Bain to Owen, 25 September 1848—both in and partially quoted in Rogers (footnote 39), pp. 29–31.
  • Herschel to Murchison, Bain Papers University of the Witwatersrand Library 1852 March 21 Murchison to Pakington, 4 April 1852–both in
  • Owen to Murchison, Bain Papers University of the Witwatersrand Library 1852 March 30
  • De La Beche to Desart Bain Papers University of the Witwatersrand Library 1852 April and 10 November 30 Rogers (footnote 39), pp. 31–35.
  • Evans , David S. John Frederick William Herschel . DSB , VI 323 – 328 . in
  • Livingstone to Buckland, Richard Owen Papers British Library 1843 October 10 Add. MS 42581, ff. 53–58.
  • Livingstone , David . 1850 . Extracts of letters from the Rev. David Livingston, Dated from the missionary station at Kolobeng, South Africa, 25°S.lat., 26°E. long . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 20 : 138 – 142 . David Livingstone, ‘Second visit to the South African lake, Ngami’, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 21 (1851), 18–24; David Livingstone and William Cotton Oswell, ‘Latest explorations into Central Africa beyond Lake ‘Ngami’, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 22 (1852), 163–74.
  • Galton , Francis . 1852 . Recent expedition into the interior of South-western Africa . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 22 : 140 – 163 .
  • Murchison to Morgan, n.d. Edinburgh University Library 1849 DC.4/101-3, f. 21.
  • Vogel , Eduard . 1855 . Mission to Central Africa . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 25 : 237 – 245 . (p. 239); Addington to De La Beche, 28 May 1851, Institute of Geological Sciences, London, GSM 1/6, f. 75; Edward Forbes, ‘On the discovery by Dr. Overweg of Devonian rocks in North Africa’, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, (1851), Transactions of Sections, p. 58.
  • Murchison . 1854 . Siluria 17 – 17 . London
  • Anderson , Robert E. William Hopkins . Dictionary of National Biography , IX 1233 – 1234 . Robert P. Beckinsale, ‘William Hopkins’, in DSB, vi, 502–4; Warington W. Smyth, ‘Anniversary Address of the President’, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 23 (1867), xxix–lxxiv (pp. xxix–xxxii); for an excellent discussion of Hopkins' methodology in its institutional context, see Crosbie W. Smith, ‘Geologists and mathematicians: the rise of physical geology’, in Wranglers and Physicists: Studies on Cambridge Physics in the Nineteenth Century, edited by P. M. Harman (Manchester, 1985), pp. 49–83. See also Walter F. Cannon, ‘The Uniformitarian-Catastrophist debate’, Isis, 51 (1960), 38–55; Stephen G. Brush, ‘Nineteenth-century debates about the inside of the earth: solid, liquid or gas?’, Annals of Science, 36 (1979), 225–54; Joel S. Schwartz, ‘Three unpublished letters to Charles Darwin: the solution to a geometrico-geological problem’, Annals of Science, 37 (1980), 631–37.
  • Becher , Harvey W. 1986 . Voluntary science in nineteenth century Cambridge University to the 1850's . British Journal for the History of Science , 19 : 57 – 87 .
  • Smith . 1985 . “ Geologists and mathematicians: the rise of physical geology ” . In Wranglers and Physicists: Studies on Cambridge Physics in the Nineteenth Century Edited by: Harman , P. M. 49 – 83 . Manchester in Secord (footnote 14), pp. 63–68.
  • Hopkins , William . 1836 . An abstract of a memoir on physical geology: with a further exposition of certain points connected with the subject . The Philosophical Magazine , 8 : 227 – 236 . 272–81, 357–66 (pp. 365–66); also quoted in Smith (footnote 54), p. 74.
  • Smith . 1985 . “ Geologists and mathematicians: the rise of physical geology ” . In Wranglers and Physicists: Studies on Cambridge Physics in the Nineteenth Century Edited by: Harman , P. M. 49 – 83 . Manchester in For Cambridge geology in the succeeding era, see Roy Porter, ‘The Natural Science Tripos and the “Cambridge school of geology”, 1850–1914’, History of Universities, 2 (1982), 193–216.
  • Chorley , R.J. , Dunn , A.J. and Beckinsale , R.P. 1964 . The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology Vol. I , 225 – 225 . London see also pp. 174–75; Gordon L. Davies, The Earth in Decay: a History of British Geomorphology, 1578–1878 (London, 1969), pp. 244–54.
  • Cannon . 1960 . The Uniformitarian-Catastrophist debate . Isis , 51 : 1233 – 1234 . Hooykaas (footnote 12); Rudwick, while extending these pioneer analyses of theoretical viewpoints, has proposed the more neutral term ‘directionalism’ to replace the ‘progressionism’ for which Lyell taxes his catastrophist opponents: see M. J. S. Rudwick, ‘Uniformity and progression: reflections on the structure of geological theory in the age of Lyell”, in Perspectives on the History of Science and Technology, edited by Duane H. D. Roller (Norman, 1971), pp. 209–27; Rudwick (footnote 11), pp. 164–217.
  • Rudwick . 1970–80 . “ Roderick Impey Murchison ” . In Dictionary of Scientific Biography Edited by: Gillispie , Charles C. Vol. IX , 582 – 585 . New York in 16 Vols
  • Beckinsale . William Hopkins . Dictionary of National Biography , IX 1233 – 1234 . Brush (footnote 54).
  • Chorley , Dunn and Beckinsale . 1964 . The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology Vol. I , 225 – 226 . London 331, 340–44; Hooykaas (footnote 12); Rudwick (footnote 60); Rudwick (footnote 11), passim.; Nicolaas A. Rupke, The Great Chain of History: William Buckland and the English School of Geology, 1814–49 (Oxford, 1983), p. 193; Secord (footnote 14), pp. 317–18.
  • Chorley , Dunn and Beckinsale . 1964 . The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology Vol. I , 355 – 355 . London Davies (footnote 59), pp. 252–54. For recent, although opposed, arguments in defence of qualified catastrophism by evolutionary theorists, see George Gaylord Simpson, The Meaning of Evolution (New Haven, 1967); G. G. Simpson, Fossils and the History of Life (New York, 1983); Stephen Jay Gould, The Panda's Thumb (New York, 1980), especially pp. 179–85, 194–203.
  • William , Hopkins . 1838 . Researches in physical geology . Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society , 6 : 1 – 84 . pt. 1 for important supplementary points, see also Hopkins (footnote 57).
  • Hopkins . 1838 . Researches in physical geology . Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society , 6 : 56 – 56 . pt. 1
  • Hopkins . 1838 . Researches in physical geology . Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society , 6 : 83 – 84 . pt. 1
  • Chorley , Dunn and Beckinsale . 1964 . The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology Vol. I , 137 – 138 . London 225, 340.
  • William , Hopkins . 1845–56 . On the geological structure of the Wealden District, and of the Bas Boulonnais . Transactions of the Geological Society of London , 7 : 1 – 51 . second series
  • Beckinsale . William Hopkins . Dictionary of National Biography , IX 1233 – 1234 .
  • Davies . 1964 . The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology Vol. I , 244 – 244 . London
  • Obituary notice of Hopkins The Times 1866 Oct. 4 4 in 16 col. 6.
  • Hopkins , William . 1848 . On the elevation and denudation of the district of the lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London , 4 : 70 – 98 .
  • Hopkins , William . 1847 . Report on the geological theories of elevation and earthquakes . Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science , : 33 – 92 . Smith (footnote 54).
  • Hopkins , William . 1842–49 . On the motion of glaciers . Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society , 8 : 50 – 74 . 159–69; William Hopkins, ‘On the transport of erratic blocks’, ibid., pp. 220–40; William Hopkins, ‘On the granitic blocks of the south Highlands of Scotland’, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 8 (1852), 20–30.
  • Hopkins , William . 1852 . Anniversary Address of the President . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London , 8 : xxi – lxxx . (pp. lxv–lxx).
  • Murchison . 1839 . The Silurian System Vol. I , 505 – 505 . London 2 vols
  • Murchison , R.I. 1843 . Anniversary Address of the President . Proceedings of the Geological Society of London , 4 : 65 – 151 . (pp. 90–93).
  • Davies . 1969 . The Earth in Decay; a History of British Geomorphology 1578 – 1878 . London 245 Murchison, Verneuil, and Keyserling (footnote 9), 1, 23–24, 31–32, 345.
  • Chorley , Dunn and Beckinsale . 1964 . The History of the Study of Landforms or the Development of Geomorphology Vol. I , 355 – 355 . London
  • For Hopkins' views, see Hopkins William Anniversary Address of the President Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 1853 9 xxii xcii for the meeting with Humboldt, see journal entry, Geological Society of London, Murchison Papers, M/J23, 1853–56, f. 68.
  • Murchison . 1854 . Siluria 489 – 489 . London
  • Darwin to Lyell, 2 December [1859], quoted in The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin Darwin Francis London 1887 II 236 237 2 vols
  • Jukes to Hughes, Sedgwick Collection Cambridge University Library 1867 May 27 Add. MS 7652.V.F.1.
  • Murchison . 1845 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 15 : xli – cxi .
  • Secord . 1986 . Controversy in Victorian Geology: The Cambrian-Silurian Dispute 60 – 68 . Princeton Rupke (footnote 63).
  • Smith . 1985 . “ Geologists and mathematicians: the rise of physical geology ” . In Wranglers and Physicists: Studies on Cambridge Physics in the Nineteenth Century Edited by: Harman , P. M. 49 – 83 . Manchester in
  • Hopkins , William . 1852 . Anniversary Address of the President . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London , 8 : xxi – lxxx .
  • Hopkins and Hopkins , William . 1853 . Anniversary Address of the President . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London , 9 : xxii – xcii . Behind the scenes, however, Hopkins displayed an intense partisanship for Sedgwick which may have influenced Murchison's attitude towards him; see Secord (footnote 14), 231–3.
  • Hopkins to Murchison, Murchison Papers, M/H28/1 Geological Society of London 1855 January 13 See footnote 178.
  • For other instances of Murchison ingesting or suppressing the work of other scientists, see Rudwick The Great Devonian Controversy Chicago and London 1985 passim.; Secord (footnote 14), passim.; Stafford, ‘The long arm of London’ (footnote 18).
  • 1852 . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 22 : liii – liii . Jones to Bain, 24 Nov. 1852, University of the Witwatersrand Library, Bain Papers.
  • Bain , Andrew G. 1845–56 . On the discovery of the fossil remains of Bidental and other reptiles in South Africa . Transactions of the Geological Society of London , 7 : 53 – 59 . second series pt. 3 Andrew G. Bain, ‘On the geology of Southern Africa’, ibid., pt. 4, 175–92.
  • Sharpe , Daniel and Salter , J.W. 1845–56 . Description of Palaeozoic fossils from South Africa . Transactions of the Geological Society of London , 7 : 203 – 225 . second series pt. 4 Murchison (footnote 10), first edition (1854), p. 13, fourth edition (1867), p. 17.
  • Secord . 1982 . King of Siluria: Roderick Murchison and the imperial theme in nineteenth-century British geology . Victorian Studies , 25 : 413 – 442 . Rudwick (footnote 9), pp. 439–44.
  • See Wyld James Notes on the Distribution of Gold Throughout the World , third edition London 1853 45 45 Authored by the Royal Geographer, this pamphlet was dedicated to Murchison and so congruent with his views that the opinions expressed it may be taken as his own.
  • Forbes to Murchison, Murchison Papers British Library 1856 February 15 Add. MS 46126, ff. 166–67; see also A. F. Hattersley, ‘Peter Cormac Sutherland’, in De Kock (footnote 39), I, 281–82.
  • Murchison to Secretary of the Admiralty, with enclosure, Institute of Geological Sciences London 1855 July 220 222 3 GSM 1/7 These coals are now dated as Permian, not Carboniferous.
  • Childs , I.L. 1968 . Andrew Wyley Edited by: Kock , De . Vol. II , 863 – 944 . Cape Town Rogers (footnote 39), pp. 41, 50–54.
  • Rubidge , R.N. 1855 . On the occurrence of gold in the trap dykes intersecting the dicynodon strata of South Africa . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London , 11 : 1 – 7 . R. N. Rubidge, ‘Notes on the geology of some parts of South Africa’, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 12 (1856), 237–38; R. N. Rubidge, ‘On the copper mines of Namaqualand’, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 13 (1857), 233–39.
  • Murchison . 1852 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 22 : cxxi – cxxi . R. I. Murchison, ‘Address to the R.G.S.’, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 23 (1853), lxii–cxxxviii (pp. cix–cxii).
  • Murchison to Clarendon, Clarendon Papers Bodleian Library Oxford 1854 May 233 235 10 Dep. C.103
  • Baikie , William Balfour . 1855 . Brief summary of an exploring trip up the rivers Kwòra and Chàdda (or Benuè) in 1854 . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 25 : 108 – 121 . cf. William Stanger, ‘On the geology of some points on the west coast of Africa, and of the banks of the river Niger’, Proceedings of the Geological Society of London, 4 (1843), 190–93.
  • Murchison to Clarendon, Clarendon Papers Bodleian Library Oxford 1856 June 10 and 31 July Dep. C.103, ff. 679–84 and 687–90 respectively.
  • Murchison , R.I. 1866 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 36 : cxviii – cxcvii . (p. cxcvii).
  • Gavin , Robert J. 1959 . Palmerston's policy towards east and west Africa, 1830–1865 unpublished Cambridge University Ph.D. thesis
  • Baikie , William Balfour . 1856 . “ On recent discovery in Central Africa, and the reasons which exist for continued and renewed research ” . In Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 105 – 107 . Transactions of Sections
  • Manuscript of Baikie Baikie William Balfour On recent discovery in Central Africa, and the reasons which exist for continued and renewed research Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 1856 105 107 Transactions of Sections dated 6 August 1856, RGS Archive, Baikie Papers.
  • Livingstone , David . 1856 . “ Return journey across southern Africa ” . In Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 113 – 114 . Transactions of Sections
  • Draft of British Association petition to Clarendon, Murchison Papers RGS Archive 1856 October 29
  • Murchison , R.I. April 1857 . Geological suggestions for the guidance of Dr. Baikie , April , 394 – 398 . London : Institute of Geological Sciences . 21 GSM 1/7
  • Murchison . 1857 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 27 : clxiv – clxvi .
  • Murchison , R.I. 1859 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 29 : cii – ccxxiv . (pp. clxxxviii–cxc).
  • May , Daniel T. 1860 . Journey into the Yóruba and Núpe countries in 1858 . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 30 : 212 – 233 . William Balfour Baikie, ‘Report on the countries in the neighborhood of the Niger’, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 7 (1862–63), 66–68.
  • Murchison . 1866 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 36 : cxx – cxx .
  • Murchison . 1868 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 38 : clxxiv – clxxiv .
  • Nzemeke , Alexander . 1982 . British Imperialism and African Response: the Niger Valley, 1851–1905 Paderborn
  • See Livingstone-Murchison correspondence, 1854–56, RGS Archive, Livingstone Collection, much of which is printed in Livingstone David Explorations into the interior of Africa Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 1855 25 218 237 ibid., 26 (1856), 78–84; ibid., 57 (1857), 349–87. For Sutherland, see footnote 99.
  • Gregory , J.W. 1913 . Livingstone as an Explorer: an Appreciation 31 – 34 . Glasgow
  • Livingstone to Murchison, with enclosure of geological section and notes, RGS Archive, Livingstone Collection, DL/2/6/4–5; partially published in Livingstone D. Explorations into the interior of Africa Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 1855 25 229 235 same to same, 25 January 1856, DL/2/8/2, printed in D. Livingstone (footnote 119), (1857), pp. 357–67.
  • Livingstone , David . 1857 . Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa 500 – 500 . London
  • Livingstone to Murchison, 25 January 1856 Livinstone D. Explorations into the interior of Africa Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 1855 25 229 235 see also V. L. Bosazza's 1974 transcript of the original geological notes omitted from Livingstone's African Journals, 1853–56, edited by Isaac Schapera (London, 1953), copies of which are held in the libraries of the RGS and the Institute of Geological Sciences, London.
  • Livingstone , David . 1855 . Explorations into the interior of Africa . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 25 : 218 – 237 . David Livingstone, ‘Extracts from letters … describing his journey across tropical Africa’, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1855), Transactions of Sections, 148; Livingstone (footnote 110); Murchison (footnote 10), 17, 303–04.
  • Livingstone to Murchison, 5 August 1856, printed in The Zambesi Expedition of David Livingstone, 1858–63 Wallis J.P.R. London 1956 I xviii xxi 2 vols
  • Murchison to Clarendon Clarendon Papers Bodleian Library Oxford 1856 October 19 and 24 Dep. C. 103, ff. 691–94 and 695–97 respectively.
  • Livingstone to Murchison, Livingstone Papers National Archives of Zimbabwe 1856 December 12 LI/1/1/1, ff. 572–79; for Murchison's views, see footnote 133.
  • Jones to Shaw RGS Archive, General Correspondence 1856 December 233 249 13 Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society 1 (1856–57)
  • Wood to Shaw, RGS Archive, General Correspondence 1857 January 28 Cole to Murchison, with enclosure, 21 April 1857, Institute of Geological Sciences, London, GSM 1/7, f. 399, 1/15, f. 67.
  • Murchison to Clarendon, Clarendon Papers Bodleian Library Oxford 1857 March 243 246 17 Dep. C.80 see also same to same, 11 January 1857, ff. 212–15.
  • Cf. Livingstone to Clarendon Clarendon Papers Bodleian Library Oxford 1857 March 203 206 19 Dep. C.80 with Livingstone to Sedgwick, 6 February 1858 [copy], National Library of Scotland, Livingstone Collection, MS. 10779 (20), ff. 42–45.
  • See Palmerston to Clarendon Clarendon Papers Bodleian Library Oxford 1857 December 702 705 29 Dep. C. 69
  • Murchison . 1857 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 27 : clxviii – clxxii .
  • Murchison to Murray, John Murray Archive London 1857 July 31 5 and 13 Oct.
  • Livingstone . 1857 . Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa 500 – 500 . London
  • For example, Seaver George David Livingstone: His Life and Letters London 1957 239 239
  • Salter to Sedgwick, Sedgwick Collection Cambridge University Library 1857 December 23 Add. MS 7652.II.k.6b.
  • Murchison to Clarendon, Clarendon Papers Bodleian Library Oxford 1857 December 276 282 16 Dep. C.80
  • For biographical material see The Zambesi Papers of Richard Thornton Tabler Edward C. London 1963 I ix xx 2 vols
  • Murchison , R.I. March 1858 . Instructions furnished to Mr. Thornton the mining geologist , March , 520 – 523 . London : Institute of Geological Sciences . 1 GSM 1/7, For a slightly variant text, see Wallis (footnote 125), II, 429–30.
  • Thornton , Richard . April 1858 . Thornton Papers , April , Oxford : Rhodes House . journal entries for 5 and 6 MSS Afr.S.29.
  • Thornton , Richard . 1859 . On the coal found by Dr. Livingstone at Tete, on the Zambesi, South Africa . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London , 15 : 556 – 556 . Livingstone to Malmesbury, 17 Dec. 1858, RGS Archive, Livingstone Collection, DL/3/4/1.
  • Livingstone to Murchison, David Livingstone: His Life and Letters London 1859 Feb. 341 342 5 printed in Seaver (footnote 136) 1957
  • Tabler . 1963 . The Zambesi Papers of Richard Thornton Edited by: Tabler , Edward C. Vol. I , ix – xx . London 2 vols R. I. Murchison, ‘Address to the R.G.S.’, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 34 (1864), cix–cxciii (pp. cxxiii–cxxv); Richard Thornton, ‘On the geology of Zanzibar’, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 18 (1862), 447–49; Richard Thornton, ‘Notes on the Zambesi and Shire’, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 34 (1864), 196–99; Richard Thornton, ‘Notes on a journey to Kilima-ndjaro, made in company of the Baron von der Decken’, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 35 (1865), 15–21.
  • E.g., Livingstone to Murchison, Livingstone Papers National Archives of Zimbabwe 1859 November 1014 1017 9 May and 6 LI/1/1/1, ff. and 1078–81 respectively; same to same, 26 November 1860, RGS Archive, Livingstone Collection, DL/3/6/2.
  • Livingstone to Murchison, Livingstone Papers National Archives of Zimbabwe 1861 September 1317 1332 23 LI/1/1/1,
  • Cf. Livingstone to Murchison, Livingstone Papers National Archives of Zimbabwe 1861 September 23 and David Livingstone, ‘Explorations to the west of Lake Nyassa in 1863’ Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 34 (1864), 245–51.
  • Murchison , R.I. 1864 . On the antiquity of the physical geography of inner Africa . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 34 : 201 – 205 . R.I. Murchison (footnote 144), pp. clxxxv–clxxxviii; John Kirk, ‘On fossil bones from the alluvial strata of the Zambesi delta’, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 34 (1864), 99–101.
  • Wallace to Darwin, 29 May 1864, quoted in More Letters of Charles Darwin Darwin Francis Seward A.C. London 1903 II 37 37 2 vols For Wallace's continuing adherence to Murchison's views on the ancient stability of sub-Saharan Africa, see A. R. Wallace, ‘The comparative antiquity of continents, as indicated by the distribution of living and extinct animals’, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 21 (1876–7), 505–35.
  • Geikie . 1875 . Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison Vol. II , 346 – 347 . London 2 vols
  • Murchison , R.I. 1870 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 40 : cxxxiii – clxxviii . (p. clxxviii).
  • Murchison , R.I. 1858 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 28 : cxxiii – ccxviii . (pp. ccvii–ccviii); Murchison (footnote 114), pp. clxxix–clxxxvi.
  • Grant to Murchison, Murchison Papers Geological Society of London 1860 February 1 M/G30/1.
  • Murchison , R.I. 1860 . Annual Report of the Director-General of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, for the year 1859 London John Petherick, ‘Journey up the While Nile to the Equator, and travels in the interior of Africa, in the years 1857–8’, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 4 (1859–60), 39–44.
  • Murchison , R.I. 1863 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 33 : cxiii – cxcii . (pp. clxxii–clxxxii). Gold is mined today on a modest scale both near the eastern shore of Lake Victoria and in southern Ethiopia.
  • 1862–63 . Proceedings of the Royal geographical Society , 7 : 212 – 224 .
  • For the meeting with Speke, see Bain A. Bain J. Bain Papers, BC 543 13(s) University of Cape Town Library 1864 June 26 for Murchison's remark, see same to same, 6 June 1864, BC 543 13(r).
  • Murchison . 1864 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 34 : clxxix – cxc . R. I. Murchison, ‘Address of the President of the Geography Section’, Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, (1864), Transactions of Sections, pp. 130–36.
  • March 1864 . R.G.S. Council memo. to Palmerston March , 80 – 83 . 26 [draft], RGS Archive, letterbook, v. 1859–79
  • Baker , Samuel White . 1865–66 . Account of the discovery of the second great lake of the Nile, Albert Nyanza . Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society , 10 : 6 – 24 . R. I. Murchison, ‘Opening address of the session’, ibid. 2–6; R.I. Murchison (footnote 106), pp. cxc–cxcii.
  • Murchison . 1863 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 33 : clxxxii – clxxxii .
  • Derry . 1980 . A Concise World Atlas of Geology and Mineral Deposits 55 – 62 . London
  • Murchison to Layard, Layard Papers British Library 1866 February 322 324 15 Add. MS 39118,
  • Baker to Murchison, 8 March 1867, described and quoted in Sotheby's Sale Catalogue 1978 July 126 126 24
  • Baker to Murchison, RGS Archive, Baker Collection, copy of original in National Library of Scotland 1867 November 24
  • Murchison . 1868 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 38 : clxxxvii – clxxxviii .
  • Benthal to Murchison, Murchison Papers British Library 1867 September 153 154 24 Add. MS. 46125,
  • Markham , Clements R. 1867–8 . Geographical results of the Abyssinian Expedition . Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society , 12 : 113 – 119 . For a humourous description of this discussion which portrays Murchison (wrongly, in my view) as too feeble to intervene and call the opponents to order, see Percy Smythe, A Selection From the Writings of Viscount Strangford, 2 vols (London, 1868), ii, 335–39.
  • Murchison . 1868 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 38 : clxxxix – clxxxix .
  • Clarendon to Baker, Clarendon Papers Bodleian Library Oxford 1869 April 23 [copy] Dep. C.476, folder 6, f. 285.
  • Murchison , R.I. 1869 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 39 : cxxxv – cxcviv . (pp. clxxvi, cxciii-cxciv).
  • Murchison . 1868 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 38 : clxxxii – clxxxvii . The Zimbabwean Craton is now known to be Precambrain in age.
  • Sutherland , Peter C. 1869 . Note on the auriferous rocks of south-eastern Africa . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London , 25 : 169 – 171 . Murchison to Markham, 12 March 1869, referee's comments on ‘Notices of gold discoveries in Natal, by the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, communicated by the Colonial Office’, or Keate to Buckingham, 14 Dec. 1868 [copy], both in RGS Archive.
  • Murchison , R.I. 1869 . Address to the R.G.S. . Journal of the Royal Geographical Society , 39 : clxxvi – clxxviii .
  • Erskine , Vincent . 1868–69 . Journey of exploration to the mouth of the River Limpopo . Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society , 13 : 320 – 342 .
  • Baines , Thomas . 1870–71 . Exploration of the gold region between the Limpopo and Zambesi Rivers . Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society , 15 : 147 – 158 .
  • See Murchison Papers Geological Society of London 1855 January 13 M/H28/1
  • Law , John . 1986 . “ On the methods of long-distance control: vessels, navigation and the Portuguese route to India ” . In Power, Action and Belief Edited by: Law , John . 234 – 263 . London in John Law, ‘Heterogenous engineering and technological systems: the case of the Portuguese expansion’ (forthcoming in Technology and Culture). Although focused on the deployment of technology within a social context, Law's study of the development of seafaring capability demonstrates clear links between science and imperialism. For similar studies regarding other empires, see Lewis Pyenson, ‘Astronomy and imperialism: J. A. C. Oudemans, the topography of the East Indies, and the rise of the Utrecht Observatory, 1850–1900’, Historia Scientiarum [Japan], no. 26 (1984), 39–81; Lewis Pyenson, Cultural Imperialism and Exact Sciences: German Expansion Overseas, 1900–1930 (New York, 1985); Russell Dionne and Roy MacLeod, ‘Science and policy in British India, 1858–1914: perspectives on a persisting belief’, Proceedings of the Sixth European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Colloques Internationaux du C.N.R.S. (Paris, 1979); Lucile Brockway, Science and Colonial Expansion: the Role of the British Royal Botanical Gardens (London, 1979); Stafford (footnote 25).
  • Helly , Dorothy . 1969 . “Informed” opinion on tropical Africa in Great Britain, 1860–1890 . African Affairs , 68 : 195 – 217 .
  • Derry . 1980 . A Concise World Atlas of Geology and Mineral Deposits 55 – 62 . London
  • Smith . 1985 . “ Geologists and mathematicians: the rise of physical geology ” . In Wranglers and Physicists: Studies on Cambridge Physics in the Nineteenth Century Edited by: Harman , P. M. 49 – 83 . Manchester in Rudwick (footnote 9), p. 438.
  • Secord . 1982 . King of Siluria: Roderick Murichison and the imperial theme in nineteenth-century British geology . Victorian Studies , 25 : 413 – 442 . Stafford, ‘Geological surveys’ (footnote 18); Stafford (footnote 25); Rudwick (footnote 9), pp. 439–44.
  • See, for example, Murchison to Harkness, Sedgwick Collection Cambridge University Library 1859 November 29 Add. MS 7652.IV.B.15; Murchison's retrospective comments of 1863 in a fair copy of an earlier journal, Geological Society of London, Murchison Papers, M/J18, 1845–47, ff. 356–357.
  • See, for example, the comment of Bishop Samual Wilberforce in his address at the RGS ‘Festival’ organized by Murchison to celebrate Livingstone's first return to Africa Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society 1857–58 2 116 142 (p. 135); Grote to Murchison, 15 January 1864, British Library, Murchison Papers, Add. MS 46126, ff. 346–47.
  • Geikie . 1875 . Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison Vol. II , 131 – 138 . London 2 vols
  • For the imperialism implicit in Murchison's stratigraphy, see Secord King of Siluria: Roderick Murchison and the imperial theme in nineteenth-century British geology Victorian Studies 1982 25 413 442 Secord (footnote 14); Stafford, ‘Geological Surveys’ (footnote 18); Stafford (footnote 25).
  • Murchison began part of his Welsh Silurian campaign in advance of even the Ordnance Survey. For his procurement of proofs of the unfinished Ordnance maps through his friend Thomas Colby, Director of the Ordnance Survey, see Thackray John C. R. I. Murchison's Silurian System (1839) Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 1978 7 61 73 (pp. 68–69); Secord (footnote 14), p. 206. For Murchison's anxiety to complete his research in the area containing his Silurian type sections before the arrival of De La Beche's surveyors, as well as his success at inducing Colby, then De La Beche's superior, to delay official work in this district, see Buckland to Murchison, 12 [June?] 1835, Devon Record Office, Exeter, Buckland Papers; Rudwick (footnote 9), pp. 125, 269; Secord (footnote 14), pp. 236–37.
  • For the Scottish campaign, see Geikie Life of Sir Roderick I. Murchison London 1875 II 195 239 2 vols
  • Forster , E.M. 1941 . The new disorder . Horizon , 4 : 379 – 380 .
  • Hopkins , William . 1836 . An abstract of a memoir on physical geology: with a further exposition of certain points connected with the subject . The Philosophical Magazine , 8 : 227 – 236 .
  • Having begun his career as a Tory, Murchison had, significantly, shifted his political allegiance to Palmerston's special brand of ultra-patriotic Whiggery by the early 1860's; see Murchison's retrospective comments of 1863 in a fair copy of an earlier journal, Murchison Papers Geological Society of London 1818–25 28 28 M/J5
  • For science as an instrument of imperial control and prestige, see footnote 179. For discussion of organized knowledge in general in this context, see Said Edward Orientalism New York 1979
  • Porter . 1978 . Gentlemen and geology: the emergence of a scientific career, 1660–1920 . The Historical Journal , 21 : 830 – 830 . suggests that the cognitive shift brought about in mid-nineteenth century geology caused many potential upper-class recruits to follow Murchison in deserting geology for less demanding, exploration-oriented disciplines. For contemporary developments in geography, see D. R. Stoddart, ‘The R.G.S. and the “new geography”: changing aims and roles in nineteenth-century science’, The Geographical Journal, 146 (1980), 190–202; David N. Livingstone, ‘The history of science and the history of geography: interactions and implications’, History of Science, 22 (1984), 271–302.
  • 1818–25 . Murchison Papers , 28 – 28 . Geological Society of London . M/J5

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Order Reprints Request Corporate Permissions

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

Request Academic Permissions

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.