Online Encyclopedia

SIR JAMES HALL (1761-1832)

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 847 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR JAMES HALL (1761-1832)  , Scottish geologist and physicist, eldest son of
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Sir John Hall, Bart., was born at Dun-glass on the 17th of
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January 1761; and became distinguished as the first to establish experimental research as an aid to
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geological investigation . He was intimately acquainted with James Hutton and John Playfair, and having studied rocks in various parts of
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Europe he was eventually led to accept and to demonstrate the truth of Hutton's views with regard to intrusive rocks . He commenced a series of experiments to illustrate the
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fusion of rocks, their vitreous and crystalline characters, and the influence of molten rocks in altering adjacent strata . He thus assisted in proving that granitic
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veins had been injected into overlying deposits after their consolidation . He studied the volcanic rocks in Italy and recognized that the old
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lava flows and the numerous dikes in Scotland must have had a similar origin . He made further experiments to illustrate the contortions of rocks . The results were brought before the Royal Society of
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Edinburgh . He died at Edinburgh on the 23rd of
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June 1832 . He represented in parliament (1807–1812) the old borough of Michael in Corn-wall; he also wrote an Essay on the Origin,
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History and Principles of
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Gothic Architecture (1813) . His eldest son, John Hall (1787–186o), who succeeded him, was a
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Fellow of the Royal Society; the second son, Captain Basil Hall (q.v.), was the distinguished traveller; the third son, James Hall (1800–18J4), was a painter,
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art-
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patron, and a friend of Sir David Wilkie .

End of Article: SIR JAMES HALL (1761-1832)
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