Werner according' to Cuvier. 249 



have since been made by others, have confirmed his, and if we 

 except his opinions respecting ignigenous rocks, most of his 

 ideas have only met with a temporary opposition. 



Such, then, is the explanation of the geognosy, or of the position 

 of minerals above one another, and when they are considered 

 in their vertical situation. But there are other differences in 

 their horizontal position, that is, as they are placed by the sides 

 of each other, of which it is not less important to give an account ; 

 these form, therefore, a fourth point of view under which mine- 

 rals may be considered, and which Werner designated by the 

 name of geographical mineralogy. 



Indeed, the latest formed rocks, or generally those which 

 cover the others, ai-e generally less elevated ; they are pierced by 

 the more ancient rocks, which form the lofty mountains. From 

 this we conclude, that the fluid became lower in its level as its 

 solid productions were m ultiplied *. It divided itself into basins, 

 of which the productions were different. The surface of differ- 

 ent countries is different, and the more so, the more attentive- 

 ly their structure is considered. 



But every mineral may be turned to some use; and on its 

 greater or less abundance in particular places, on the greater or 

 less facility with which it can be procured, depend frequently 

 the prosperity of a people, — their progress in civilization, — all 

 the details, indeed, of their manners. 



It is thus that in Lombardy we see only houses of brick, 

 though contiguous to Liguria, which is covered by palaces of 

 marble. Its quarries of travertine made Rome the most beautiful 

 city of the ancient world. Those of coarse limestone (calcaire 

 grossicre) and gypsum, have made Paris one of the most agree- 

 able of the modern world. But Michael Angelo and Bramant, 

 could not h.ave built at Paris in the same style as at Rome, be- 

 cause they could not have found the same materials ; and the 

 same local influences extend to things of a very different nature. 



Under the shelter of those limestone ridges which intei*- 

 sect Italy and Greece, which are of all heights, — which are 

 ramified in all directions, — and which abound in springs ; — in 



• Werner did not attempt to explain the sinking of ilw level of the ocean, 

 which some referred to the disappearance of the water, or changes in the at- 

 mospherical pressure., others to the rising of the land — Edit. 

 JII.V — sEI'TKftritF.U 18.31. It 



