He took the greatest pains over his catalogues, and wrote elaborate accounts of the various minerals in a shorthand he invented out of Greek letters and crystal forms.
Grafted on this mineralogy, and stimulated by the Swiss tour, was a new interest in physical geology, which his father so far approved as to give him Saussure's "Voyages dans les Alpes" for his birthday in 1834.
In this book he found the complement of Turner's vignettes, something like a key to the "reason why" of all the wonderful forms and marvellous mountain-architecture of the Alps.

He soon wrote a short essay on the subject, and had the pleasure of seeing it in print, in Loudon's _Magazine of Natural History_ for March, 1834, along with another bit of his writing, asking for information on the cause of the colour of the Rhine-water.
He had already some acquaintance with J.C.Loudon, F.L.S., H.S., etc., and he was on the staff of that versatile editor not long afterwards, and took a lion's share of the writing in the _Magazine of Architecture_.

Meanwhile he had been introduced to another editor, and to the publishers with whom he did business for many a year to come.

The acquaintance was made in a curious, accidental manner.

His cousin Charles Richardson, clerk to Smith, Elder, and Co., had the opportunity of mentioning the young poet's name to Thomas Pringle, editor of the "Friendship's Offering" which John had admired and imitated.