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77b.  Charles Bunbury wrote to Edward Bunbury on 13 March: [1837]

Many thanks for your agreeable letter about Mr. Darwin. I went to the Geological Society last Wednesday, in hopes of hearing some of his discoveries stated, but I was disappointed: the papers that were read were very dull, and it was not till after they were finished that there was some fun, in the shape of an animated debate between Sedgwick and Greenough; the former was in his glory, and very entertaining on the subject of raised beaches, which one would hardly have thought a very favourable topic for the exercise of wit or humour, Greenough still sticks to his notion of the sea having sunk instead of the land being raised, but I almost think he must cling to it more from caprice or habit than conviction.

Whewell introduced me to Mr Darwin, with whom I had some talk; he seems to be a universal collector, and among other things, to the surprise of all the big wigs, he discovered an entirely new quadruped (recent), a kind of tiger-cat, in the immediate neighbourhood of Mo, where I did not suppose there were any wild quadrupeds at all, except rats.

Lyell 1906, 1, p. 95

83a. Charles Lyell wrote to Leonard Horner on 12 March: [1838]

... about the last meeting of the G.S. where Darwin read a paper on the connexion of volcanic phenomena & elevation of mountain chains in support of my heretical doctrines; he opened upon de la Beche, Phillips & others, for Greenough was absent, his whole battery of the earthquakes and volcanos of the Andes & argued that spaces at least a thousand miles long were simultaneously subject to earthquakes & volcanic eruptions & that the elevation of the whole Pampas, Patagonia etc. all depended on a common cause & also that the greater the contortions of strata in a mountain chain the smaller must have been each separate and individual movement of that long series which was necessary to upheave the chain. Had they been more violent he contended that the subterranean fluid matter wd. have gushed out & overllowed & the strata would have been blown up and annihilated. He therefore introduced a cooling of one small underground injection & then the pumping in of other lava or porphyry or granite into the previously consolidated & first formed mass of igneous rock. [...]

PS. Monday - I found that Darwin, who was with us yesterday evening, had felt very different in regard to Wed's discussion for not being able to measure the change of tone in the last 4 years he translated de la B's & Co's remarks into a vigorous defiance instead of a diminishing fire & an almost beating of a retreat. But I have restored him to an opinion of the growing progress of the true cause.

Wilson 1972, p. 455, and Lyell 1881, 2, p. 39.

131.  1846, March 25

The following papers were communicated:

"On the Geology of the Falkland Islands", by C. Darwin, Esq., EG.S.

"Notice on the Coal-Fields of Alabama", by Charles Lyell, Esq., F.G.S.

1a. Andrew Ramsay wrote in his diary: Geological Society night. Had a luxurious hot bath & a cigar in it before going.
IC Ramsay

131b. Charles Bunbury wrote in his diary:

In the evening was at the meeting of the Geological Society, when a very good paper by Charles Darwin, on the Geology of the Falkland Islands was read, also Lyell's notice on the Coalfield of Alabama; and there was a good discussion.

Bunbury 1890-1891, 1, p. 128

138b. Edward Forbes wrote to Andrew Ramsay on 3 December: [no year stated]

Sharpe came on last night with his cleavage. The paper was too long & complicated for me to follow without sleeping so I lost much of the drift of it. His main point is to shew that pressure has been a main agent in the production of cleavage & he brought forward some very ingenious observations & inductions drawn from the manner & directions in which fossils are squeezed (of which he certainly had many very extraordinary & beautiful specimen illustrations). There was great ingenuity shewn in the paper on this point (which he made the prominent feature of it), & it elicited cautious but favourable comments from most men present especially Darwin. From a conversation this morning with Sir Henry [De la Beche] it appears to have made an impression on him, though last night they were scrimmaging. In this dispute, neither party was very clear & both rather sharp. Sir Henry appeared to lose his self command & the clue of his argument - mainly owing to his making the latter too lengthy. However they parted good Mends & I believe with mutual concessions. Except in the discussion Sharpe did not attack the Survey - & then it was not the Survey but the inferences drawn by Sir Henry (in debate) from Hunt's experiments.
IC Ramsay, f 18

143a, Andrew Ramsay wrote in his diary:

Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society. Homer prosy. Sat with Forbes & Darwin. At night Anniversary dinner of the Society. Sir Henry [De la Beche] being new President in the chair. On his right sat the American Minister, on his left Lord Morpeth. We made a pleasant party at our part of the table. Jukes, R. Chambers, Forbes, Reeks, Percy, Playfair, Ibbetson &c &c. Sir H did remarkably well, speaking loudly clearly & concisely & keeping down much of the ordinary adulation.
IC Ramsay

152a. Gideon Mantell wrote in Ms diary:

Read a paper on the Fossil birds bones from New Zealand, collected by Walter, before the Geological Society. A full attendance. Mr Darwin was present, and expressed himself much gratified. The Dean of Westminster [William Buckland] unfortunately indulged more than usual in buffoonery, and completely marred the discussion, which consequently was utterly unworthy the subject.

SAS Mantell, quoted in Curwen 1940, p. 219

152b. Andrew Ramsay wrote in Ms diary:

Dined at the Geological Club with Mallet for my guest ... Bristow was there, & we had a capital party. There was at the Society first a paper by Mantell on the Dinornis & then one by Sedgwick on Cumberland. I spoke on the latter, & was almost surprised at my own fluency. It was late then. Darwin left immediately after I was done, I ran out to shake hands with him on the stair. He said he highly approved of what I said, was delighted to hear me say so, & asked my address. Sedgewick [Sedgwick] made but little reply, for he did not seem well. I had a chat with him after, most amicably, tho' I had relieved my mind by repaying him for the slight he once put on me in the Society, by saying in a speech he did not believe a word of what I had uttered.
IC Ramsay

1851, December 17
186a. Andrew Ramsay wrote in his diary:

Dined at the Geological Club. Darwin there. Went to the Society after. Hopkins had a grand paper. Sir H. [De la Beche] spoke nonsense. I was obliged in self defence to destroy one of his suppositions, but otherwise I spoke badly. Hopkins behaved crossly in interupting me, in a point that was against him, when I am sure I was right.
IC Ramsay

186c. Leonard Horner wrote to his daughter on 18 December: [1851]

Charles Darwin was at the Geological Society's Club yesterday, where he had not been for ten years - remarkably well, and grown quite stout.

Lyell 1890, 2, p. 195.