Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/460

412 fellow-students there being the illustrious Alexander Von Humboldt. At the age of twenty-three he published his Attempt at a Miner aloyical Description of Landeck, and also an Attempt at a Geognostic Description of Silesia. He was at this time a zealous upholder of the Neptunian theory of his illustrious master. In 1797 he met his old school-fellow Von Humboldt at Salzburg, and with him explored the geological formations of Styria and the adjoining Alps. In the spring of the following year. Von Buch extended his excursions into Italy, where his faith in tin Neptunian theory was for the first time shaken. In his previous works he had advocated the aqueous origin of basaltic and other formations ; he was now not less clearly convinced that thess owed their existence to volcanic action. In 1799 he paid his first visit to Vesuvius, which he did not again see till 1805, when he was accompanied by Humboldt and Gay-Lussac. They had the good fortune to witness a remarkable eruption, which supplied Buch with data for refuting many erroneous ideas then entertained regarding the activity of volcanoes. Three years before he had explored the south of France, and directed special attention to the extinct volcanoes of Auvergne. The aspect of the Puy de Dome, with its cone of trachyte and its strata of basaltic lava, induced him to abandon as untenable the doctrines of Werner on the formation of these rocks. The scientific results of his investigations he embodied in his Geognostical Observations during Travels through Germany and Italy, Berlin, 1802-9, 2 vols. 8vo. From the south of Europe Von Buch repaired to the north, and spent two years among the Scandinavian islands, making many important observations on the geography of plants, on climatology, and on geology. He also estab lished the fact that the whole of Sweden is slowly but continuously rising above the level of the sea from Frederickshall to Abo. The details of these discoveries are given in his Travels through Norway and Lapland, Berlin, 1810. In 1815 he visited the Canary Islands in company with Christian Smith, the Norwegian botanist. His obser vations here convinced him that these and other islands of the Atlantic owed their existence to volcanic action of the most intense kind, and that the groups of islands in the South Sea are the remains of a pre-existing continent. The physical description of the Canary Islands was pub lished at Berlin in 1825. After leaving the Canaries Von Buch proceeded to the Hebrides and the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. His geological excursions even into countries already repeatedly visited were continued without inter ruption till his 78th year. Eight months before his death, he visited the mountains of Auvergne ; and on returning home he read a paper on the Jurassic Formation before the Academy of Berlin. The circumstances of Von Buch s life were singularly favourable to scientific pursuits. He in herited from his father a fortune more than sufficient for all his wants. He was never married, and was completely unembarrassed by family ties. His excursions he always undertook on foot, with a staff in his hand, and the large pockets of his over-coat filled with papers and geological instruments. Under this guise, the passer-by would not easily have recognized the man whom Humboldt pro nounced the greatest geologist of his time. He died at Berlin on the 4th of March 1853. In addition to the works already mentioned Von Buch published others, of which we may specify the magnificent Geological Map of Germany, in 42 sheets, Berlin, 1832.  BUCHANAN, (1506-1582), a celebrated Scottish historian and scholar, was born in February 1506. His father, a younger son of an old family, was the possessor of the farm of Moss, in the parish of Killearn, Stirling shire, but he died at an early age, leaving his widow and children in poverty. George, the third son, is said to have attended Killearn school, but not much is known of his early education. In 1520 he was sent by his uncle to the university of Paris, where he prosecuted his studies with great ardour, and especially trained himself in poetical composition. In 1522 his uncle died, and Buchanan being thus unable to continue longer in Paris, returned to Scot land. After recovering from a severe illness, he joined the French auxiliaries who had been brought over by the duke of Albany, and took part in an unsuccessful inroad into England. In the following year he entered the university of St Andrews, where he graduated as B.A. in 1525. He had gone there chiefly for the purpose of attend ing the celebrated John Major or Mair s lectures on logic ; and when that teacher removed to Paris Buchanan accompanied him. In 1527 he became B.A., and in 1528 M.A. at Paris. Next year he seems to have been appointed regent or professor in the college of Ste Barbe, and taught there for upwards of three years. In 1532 he became the friend and tutor of Gilbert Kennedy, earl of Cassilis, with whom he returned to Scotland about the beginning of 1537. While residing at Paris Buchanan had been converted to the Protestant faith, and his first production in Scotland was the poem Somnium, attacking with keen satire the Franciscan friars and monastic life generally. This assault on the monks was not displeasing to James V., who engaged Buchanan as tutor to one of his natural sons, and encouraged him to a still more daring attack. Under these circumstances the Franciscanus was written, and it is not surprising that the author became an object of bitterest hatred to all of the Roman Catholic faith. Nor was it yet a safe matter to assail the church. In 1539 there was a bitter persecution of the Lutherans, and Buchanan among others was arrested. He managed to effect his escape, and with considerable difficulty made his way to London and thence to Paris. At Paris, however, he found his resolute enemy, Cardinal Beaton, and on the invitation of Andrew Govea, proceeded to Bordeaux. Govea was then principal of the newly-founded college of Guienne at Bordeaux, and by hi&amp;gt; exertions Buchanan was appointed professor of Latin. During his residence there several of his best works, the translations of Medea and Alcestis, and his two great dramas Jephthcs and Baptistes, were completed. After three years he returned to Paris, and in 1544 was appointed regent in the college of Cardinal le Moine, a post he held till 1547. He then accepted Govea s invitation to a chair in the new Portuguese university of C oimbra, afterwards one of the most celebrated seats of learning in Europe. But he had not been long in Portugal when Govea s death exposed him to the unwearied persecution of the priests. Buchanan was several times examined by the officers of the Inquisition, and finally was confined to a monastery, where he was condemned to hear edifying lessons from the monks. During his imprisonment, which lasted several months, he began his famous version of the Psalms. On his release he sailed for England, but soon made his way to Paris, where, in 1553, he was appointed regent in the College of Boncourt. He remained in that post for two years, and then accepted the office of tutor to the son of the Marshal de Brissac. In 1560 or 1561 he returned to Scotland, and in April 1562 we find him installed as tutor to the young queen Mary, who was accustomed to read Livy with him daily. Buchanan now openly joined the Protestant or Reformed Church, and in 1566 was appointed by the earl of Murray principal of St Leonard s College, St Andrews. Two years before he had received from the queen the valuable gift of the revenue resulting from Crossraguel Abbey. He was thus in good circumstances, and his fame was steadily increasing. So great, indeed, was his reputation 