Chemical and Mineralogical Nomenclature. 1 73 



original reafon of their impofition. Thus, though the name; 

 barometer was originally impofed on the inftrument fo called, 

 becaufe the terms that compofe this name, bans and metron, 

 denote its nfe in meafuring the weight of the atmofphere ; 

 yet the name is juft as well ur.derftood by thofe who are to- 

 tally unacquainted with its etymologv, as by thofe to whom 

 this is perfe&ly known. The inftrumeut itfelf, and not its 

 life, is denoted by the name, and equally occurs to both ; 

 the workman who knows not its ufe. knows what the name 

 immediately fignifics as well as the philofopher who employs 

 it, and as well as the German who calls it a fcbiuermeffe^ 

 whofe primitive components alio exprefs its ufe; nor is it 

 better underftood by either than the name Jbrezc or fcbraube s 

 which cannot, be refolved into any primitive component terms. 

 Who, on hearing the Latin name of a book, ever thinks of 

 its primitive lignilication — the bark of a tree? Languages 

 muft have been invented lono- before either chemiftry or mi- 

 neralogy were in any degree cultivated. In both the analytic 

 and fvnthetic branches of chemiftry as well as mineralogy, 

 many fubftances muft have occurred, to which, in common 

 language, no name was applied, yet the neceffity of denoting 

 them by fome name was urgent. Here, then, a difficulty 

 occurred, which fome fought to furmount by a name arbi- 

 trarily impofed, others bv names derived from fome real or 

 fanciful relation of the given fubftance to fome ufe, object, 

 perfon, or particular quality or circumftance. Thus, in che- 

 miftrv, alcohol appears to be a name arbitrarily impofed on 

 highly reclified fpirit of wine or very fubtile powder *. Mer- 

 curhts vita denotes an anlimonial preparation of great efti- 

 cacv, as kermes mineral docs one that refembles that fub- 

 ftance in colour; Glauber 's fait, a particular fubftance firft 

 formed by Glauber \ Egfom, a fait firft difcovered in the 

 fprings near that town, £cc. So in mineralogy, quartz 

 feems to be a name arbitrarily impofed; and fpatb, a name 

 originating from the relemblanee of Lhe integrant lamella; to 

 de; and felenite, from fome fiJ-titious refemblance to the 

 1. The etymology of thefe names was, however, foou 

 ten or not attended to, and confequently, fueh of them 

 • Some derive it from th» Arabic iu'xJa cv.ruit. 



