INTRODUCTION. 



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butes which are peculiar to living substances. The terms 

 become wholly useless if they do not serve to distinguish and 

 discriminate ; and numerals, chemical marks, or any other 

 arbitrary symbols, would serve the purpose equally well. 



The impropriety of the present phraseology is often ad- 

 mitted, while it is considered as bold and adventurous to 

 hazard a new series of appellations j but in literature, as in 

 war, he who shrinks from the path of danger will never attain 

 the wreath of praise. 



In an attempt to establish a new nomenclature of arrange- New system, 

 ment, the first requisite is, that it be conformable to the 

 simplicity and harmony of nature ; and that it be free from 

 affectation, as even the novelty itself is apt to displease. For 

 this purpose it is necessary to revert to first principles, and 

 if possible to establish the edifice upon foundations univer- 

 sally admitted. Natural history, as already mentioned, has 

 been well and popularly divided into three Kingdoms, the 

 Animal, the Vegetable, and the Mineral. In the two former 

 the kingdom consists of living subjects, who of course may 

 be well considered as divided into Classes, Orders, Genera, 

 and Species ; but in the Mineral Kingdom the territory alone 

 constitutes the subject of discussion. It must therefore be 

 received as a fundamental truth or axiom, that the mineral 

 kingdom, being wholly inert, cannot admit distinctions which 

 belong to vital energy 5 and that an identity of appellations 

 cannot therefore be allowed, either in a grammatical or 

 philosophical view. But the very term Mineral Kingdom 

 may of itself lead to a new and more proper nomenclature : 

 for as a kingdom may be regarded as either vivified with 

 animal and vegetable life, or as an inert tract of country, 

 with certain geographical, chorographical, and topographical 

 divisions ; so the latter point of view can alone apply to mi- 

 neralogy, while the former belongs to zoology and botany. 



This simple induction will, it is hoped, lead of itself to easy 

 and natural, though new denominations. For what is more 

 usual than the division of a kingdom into provinces, districts, 

 domains, &c. ? while, as it would not only be pedantic, but 



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