Observations on the Study of Mineralogy. 45 



going on; and he who views the mineral kingdom as an inert mass 

 of heterogeneous elements, and confines his attention excluiively 

 to cabinet collections, in order to obtain a knowledge of nature, 

 is " seeking the living among the dead." 



Unfortunately the objects of miperalogical research are placed 

 at a considerable distance from tiie residence of men of science, 

 who are therefore seldom able to observe them in their native re- 

 positories, and working miners are little qualified to describe the 

 phaenomena presented to their notice. 



It was said bv one of the ancients, ^hat the world would be 

 well governed whenever kings were jjhilosophers, or philosophers 

 became kings. We may say with greater truth, that minerhlogy 

 will become a perfect science, whenever working miners are en- 

 lightened mineralogists, or enlightened mineralogists l)ecome 

 working miners : but as these events are beyond the sphere of 

 probable occurrences, neither the ])olitician nor the naturalist 

 need stop to anticipate the result of th.eir accomplishment. 



The attention of mineralogists has been too much devoted to 

 the discoverv of new sjiecies that possess no importance in nature, 

 and can be of no use in the arts ; or thev have been engaged in 

 the useless labour of inventing new names, and classing as new 

 species everv variety they meet with, attaching the names of di- 

 stinguished characters, to minerals which have neither use nor 

 beauty to recommend them to our notice. Can Werner or Haiiy 

 derive honour from having their names affixed to such minerals ? 

 What should we think of tlie taste or good sense oTthe naturalist 

 who affixed the names of Linnaeus, Lamarck, or Cuvier, to any 

 newly- discovered variety of gnat, flea, or bug ? But a similar ab- 

 surdity is frequently counnitted by mineralogists. This frivolous 

 practice of changing and multiplving names probably originated 

 with mineral dealers on the continent, who were thus enabled to 

 mult!|jly their s]')eciniens,and to obtain a high price forsubstances 

 wiiicii possessed no recommendation whatever, but their sup- 

 posed rarity. 



As some apology for the attention which has been devoted to 

 substances of little use or im|)ortance on account of their scarcity, 

 it may l)e right to remark, that in the present state of the science, 

 mineralogists are like the searchers for diamonds in the mines of 

 India, whoare obliged to pass every stone between the eye and the 

 light, lest they should inadvertently throw away a diamtHid. That 

 I may part in good temper with those who attach more import- 

 ance than I do to the discovery of new mineral sjjecies merely 

 on c-iccount of their rarity, I shall beg leave to conclude with a 

 few observations connected with the subject that I have some- 

 times delivered in my lectures, when treating on crystalline and 

 magnetic polarity:— We ought to be extremely cautions in de- 

 nying 



