PREFACE. V 



The first classification available for this purpose which 

 the author met with, was that of Mr. H. J. BROOKE, at the 

 end of his "familiar introduction to Crystallography ;"* 

 where crystallized minerals are distributed into orders ac- 

 cording to their primary forms. By this scientific method 

 he was often aided in the recognition of minerals ; and so 

 well convinced was he of its judiciousness, that he has 

 adopted it, as will be seen, for the grounds of his orders 

 in two of the classes in the Analytical System advanced in 

 this work. 



In the year 1826, the truly admirable treatise of Prof. 

 MOHS was made known to the American public through the 

 translation of Mr. HAiDiNGER.f This work immediately 

 caught the attention of the author, and realized in the most 

 perfect manner all he had wished for respecting the devel- 

 opement of the different departments of Mineralogy. Not 

 only the distinctions required for the determination of min- 

 erals, but a new arrangement indicating more exactly their 

 natural affinities, and a nomenclature expressive of such re- 

 lations, were all accomplished. 



While, however, the treatise in question seemed to have 

 settled Mineralogy in all its great points, and to have con- 

 ferred upon it the true marks of a science, advancing it to 

 its proper place among the Natural Sciences ; still, the ab- 

 struse manner in which that part of Terminology was treat- 

 ed which relates to Crystallography, (involving as it did a 

 familiarity with the higher branches of the mathematics,) 

 and the application of his Characteristic to the Synthetical 



* A Familiar Introduction to Crystallography. By HENRY JAMES 

 BROOKE. 8vo. London: 1823. 



t Treatise on Mineralogy, by FREDERICK MOHS ; translated from the 

 German, by WILLIAM HAIDINGER. 3 vols. 8vo, Edinburgh : 1825 r 



A* 



