Buch

Buch, LEOPOLD VON, German geologist, was born at Schloss-Stolpe, near Angermünde, in 1774, and received instruction under Werner at the Mining Academy, Freiberg. He afterwards travelled in pursuit of his favourite science, through all the states of Germany, through Scandinavia as far as the North Cape, and through several parts of Great Britain, France, and Italy, visiting the Canary Islands in 1815. He strenuously upheld the now exploded theory of 'Elevation Craters,' according to which volcanic mountains have been formed by a single sudden swelling-up into a hollow bladder of previously existing horizontal beds of lava and scoriæ. He died in Berlin, March 4, 1853. His collected works fill 4 vols. (1867-85).