138 CLASSIFICATION. 



ANALYTICAL SYSTEM. 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



j 



The first object with the student in mineralogy being the names 

 of minerals, it becomes necessary to point out with as much clear- 

 ness as possible the course he must adopt. The most obvious meth- 

 od, and indeed the one which has hitherto been most in practice among 

 learners, is to derive them from a living Instructor ; but this be- 

 ing out of the reach of many persons, who would otherwise be glad 

 to form some acquaintance with the mineral kingdom, and where 

 enjoyed being without any certain mode of verification, is exceed- 

 ingly unsatisfactory. The second thought is to have recourse to 

 books containing descriptions of every species ; but the number has 

 now become so great, that the labor of reading them over in suc- 

 cession, in order to assure ourselves of a single mineral, is too great 

 to be encountered without considerable fatigue and loss of time, 

 and consequently, danger of disgust. An analytical method, there- 

 fore, whose sole object is, to lead us in an easy and sure manner 

 to the names of minerals, becomes desirable. Its utility in the veg- 

 etable kingdom has been abundantly tested ; and the only question 

 to be decided is, what shall become the grounds of our divisions in 

 the mineral kingdom, in order to apply to it the same benefit. 



If we except the synthetical method of Prof. Mohs, no system 

 is to be found in which the requisite assistance, above alluded to, is 

 afforded. If, for example, we bestow a moments attention upon the 

 arrangement of the Abbe Haiiy, the most celebrated hitherto con- 

 structed, and which has been made the basis of several popular 

 treatises upon the science, we shall find it incapable of accomplish- 

 ing this end. It is true, it contains classes, orders and genera ; but 

 surely, neither their author nor any other person, ever supposed it 

 possible, that the learner could derive advantage from them in the 

 way in which a Botanist does from similar ideas in the determina- 

 tion of an unknown plant ; viz. by first ascertaining its class, then 

 the order, then the genus, and lastly, by reading over the essential 

 differences among the unities within this last general idea, to. ar- 

 rive at the appropriate species. Now, who avails himself of this 

 method as respects the classification of Hatty ? Who analyzes a min- 

 eral to determine its class, order and genus, with a view of arriving 

 at its name ? No one certainly. It might be asked, who can do it ( 



