

MINERALOGY 



THE science of Mineralogy is that which treats of the 

 inorganic substances existing in and composing the earth's 

 crust mountains, rocks, ores, and earths. The study 

 of these various substances, and the mineral masses they 

 contain, belongs particularly to mineralogy, but the study 

 of their mutual relations, and the nature of the materials 

 which constitute the structure of our globe at present, is 

 the province of geology. In the first respect it is min- 

 eralogy in particular ; in the last it is geology (from the 

 Greek, ge, the earth, and logos, a discourse), or that 

 branch of natural history which treats of the structure 

 of the earth's surface, and the forces by which it has 

 been modified to its present form. We will, therefore, 

 commence by sketching the principal features of geology, 

 and afterwards give a more detailed description of the 

 subjects lying within the particular province of min- 

 eralogy. 



THE PRIMITIVE FORMATIONS OF THE EARTH. 



All the inorganic substances which we find upon the 

 surface of the earth, present one common feature, namely, 

 that one and all have been produced by igneous action, 

 or in other words, by the influence of fire. All the rocks, 



