32 On the Third Edition of 



Let us now ask, What, is tlie most evidently natural mode of 

 arranging the subjects of the mineral kingdom ? Is it in forming 

 orders from the various combinations of the most obviously di- 

 stinct substances ? or, Does it consist in collecting from various 

 quarters, those minerals which possess an agreement in some ex- 

 ternal characters, however they may differ from each other in 

 more material points ; separating them without remorse from 

 species which nature has established as their nearest kindred ? 

 According to the first method, what can be more natural than 

 forming an order from each particular metal, commencing with 

 it }n its pure state, and following it through its several combina- 

 tions with oxygen, sulphur, and the different acids, in every one of 

 which the metal will still form the most characteristic ingredient? 

 — What can be more umiatural than the second plan of huddling 

 together a most heterogeneous collection of species, merely because 

 they have the same colour, the same kind of lustre, or are nearly 

 of the same weight; without ever inquiring of what they consist ? 



Since the earliest attempts to reduce the mineral kingdom into 

 order, it has almost invariablv been the practice to divide it into 

 four principal sections, or classes ; viz. the earth)', metallic, sa- 

 line, and inflammable bodies : the two latter being very few, it 

 folk/ws that nearly the whole science is divided between the two 

 former; which might be expected to have some obvious and con- 

 siderable distinctive characters. How are they separated by 

 Professor Jameson ? 



Class 1st. Earthy minerals, tasteless; specific gravity above 1*8. 



Class 3d. Metalliferous minerals, tasteless; sp. grav.above 1*8. 



What a wonderfully scientific division ! 



Following the external system, Jameson arranges under his 

 class of earthy minerals, above .')0 kinds which had hitherto been 

 considered as metallic ores ; and of which above 40 do not ap- 

 pear to have one particle of any kind of earth in their composi- 

 tion ! — Can this be scientific ? and of the few which yielded a 

 portion of earth, on analysis, several did not contain 4 per cent, 

 which most probably was accidentally derived from the matrix. 



We will state as an example the copper ores as arranged in 

 the second edition of the Professor's system ; and show how they 

 are distributed in the third, in order to judge whether the science 

 advances or retrogrades under his direction : premising that the 

 coppers are selected as being one of the most numerous, and not 

 by any means in consequence of their having been more parti- 

 cularly disjointed. 



into the investigation of botany, the sexual system of Linnaeus afFords faci- 

 lities which could not be derived from any other extant ; but it is invariably 

 distinguished by the appellation of the " artificial system," in consequence of 

 its occasioning the separation of many genera naturally very nearly allied. 



Sp. 



