34 On the Third Edition of 



Now, in the name of common sense, what business can these 

 latter have amongst the earths ? What business can the sulphate, 

 molybdate, chromate, phosphate, carbonate, muriate, and arse- 

 niate of lead ; together with the carbonates of zinc, manganese, 

 and iron, have amongst the earths jumbled into an order with 

 the combinations of barytes and strontian, and the tungstate of 

 lime ? while other combinations of the same metals are trans- 

 ferred to the various divisions of ores, pyrites, glance, blendes, 

 &c. — We used formerly to hear a great deal about the dismem- 

 berment of Turkey : but I trust no plan of dismemberment was 

 ever actually carried into execution with such a vengeance as 

 this. 



However inconsistent the book may be with nature and rea- 

 son, we might at least expect it to be consistent with itself. Is 

 it so ? — The essential characters of the order ** Spar/* and with- 

 out which I should presume nothing could be a spar, are " no 

 metallic or adamantine lustre — streak white — hardness 3*5 {i.e. 

 half-way between calcareous spar and fluor) to 7 (?•• <?. equal to 

 quartz) — specific gravity 2* to 3'7 ; if 2*4 and less, it is not 

 amorphous." Independently of the inimitable improvement of 

 introducing neg^a/iye characters into natural history, are the above 

 requisites complied with ? Have we not in the order " Spar," 

 bronzite, schiller spar, hypersthene and anthophyllite with a 

 metallic- pearly lustre — common hornblende, hornblende slate, 

 schiller spar and hypersthene with greenish-gray streaks — rock 

 cork, amianthus, commoji asbestus, and rock wood, very soft — 

 rock cork with a specific gravity of 0679 to 0'99I, and mealy 

 zeolite ^' sometimes so light as nearly to swim on water?" Is 

 not the latter, with its low specific gravity, " massive, reniform, 

 coralloidal, sometimes forming a crust over the other subspecies 

 of zeolite, and sometimes disposed in delicate fibrous concre- 

 tions?" And are these amongst the scientific forms which exempt 

 a mineral from being considered amorphous ? Have we not, 

 thrust into the middle of the order •' Spar," a collection of clays, 

 &c. not possessing the essential characters ? with an admission 

 that they have no real business there ; but that "on account of 

 their affinity with some members of the felspar genus," they are 

 as well there as any where else ? 



It is observed that heavy spar is known ** from all other earthy 

 minerals by its great specific gravity." So it is in every former 

 rational system : yet in the face of this observation the Professor 

 includes in the very order of which heaw spar forms a part, 

 eleven of his earthy minerals, whose specific gravities far exceed 

 that of the substance in question, many of them being above half 

 as high again) and in the other new earthy orders will be 

 found about as many more. — Aye, but we could not separate 



these 



