Reflections on some Mlneralogical Systems, s 410 



to exculpate him*. Among the metals, indeed, he considers 

 it as of great weight, and in this he is supported by chemistry. 

 It is because the colour attracts the sight, that sense which 

 first informs us of the presence or* objects in general, that it 

 occupies the first place. The other universal external cha- 

 racters are cohesion^ unctuOsity, coldness, gravity, smell, 

 and taste. They are called universal, because they belong 

 to all minerals. It must be confessed, however, that among 

 them there are some which are of very little importance, and 

 merit slight attention. But specific gravity is not of this 

 number, and it will not be uninteresting to see the manner 

 in which it is treated. 



A good hydrostatic balance or an areometer is all that if 

 necessary to take the specific gravity of a body, and the 

 operation is one of the most easy. Only a little patience* 

 Jess knowledge, and no reasoning are necessary to succeed. 

 But Werner banishes all exact modes, and says in general, 

 that a body swims on water ; that it is light when, water 

 being I,o00, it does nojt weigh 2,000 ; moderately heavy, if 

 from 2,000 to 4,000 ; heavy, from 4,000 to 6,000*; and very 

 heavy, if above 6,000. All that we can say from these for* 



* This is candid and liberal, becoming a man of science i But how does 

 Werner's pupil estimate this character ? " In giving (says Mr. Jam. vol. i.) an 

 account of the crystallization of a mineral, we meniion its fundamental figure 

 or figures, describe their varieties, and arrange them according to their na* 

 tural alliances. Colour, which is a very important character, must also be 

 treated in a similar manner: the species and varieties must be correctly de- 

 termined, and arranged according to their affinities with each other? other- 

 wise, particularly in minerals possessing extensive suites of colour, as diamond 

 and sapphire, it would be very difficult to recollect them, and when remem- 

 bered would not convey to the mind a very distinct picture of this highly z'/j- 

 ferestiiig character. (Here the truth has transpired involuntarily.) I have 

 therefore been careful in the descriptions to determine the colours with pre- 

 cision, and to arrange them as much as possible in a natural order. In the 

 treatise of Haiiy, the colours are not arranged, and very seldom accurately 

 determined : this is the case, although not in so great a degree, with a more 

 useful work, The Miner;- logy of Brochant.'' It is true, the colours are not 

 arranged by Haiiy; as he, like a man of real science, treats them as purely 

 accidental characters. But what is the intrinsic value of the arranged 

 " suites of colours ? " There are perhaps no two persons living who have 

 identically the same ideas of colours, still less can any two equally find 

 ■terms to describe their own notions of the matter. It follows then that each 

 individual will have his peculiar H suite of colours," arid that this " suite" 

 must be ranked with the " mineralogical instinct" of the Wernerians. I 

 have seen a German, a French, an Italian, a Spanish, a Portuguese, and an 

 English* mineralogist make the experiment together; each described sepa- 

 rately his own ideas of the colour of a Certain mineral in his native and in 

 all the other languages i the descriptions were then compared, first with 

 respect to the individual and nation, and next with respect to the six lan- 

 guages; and the disparity was such as would make any delicate mind feel 

 ashamed of the system built on such a sandy and indefinite basis. Yet Wer- 

 ner has not hesiuted to give his idea of the colour of a mineral as a name to 

 k U— Trans. 



2 D 2 mulae 



