20 



impracticable or, at the best, circuitous and ver- 

 bose ; and therefore becomes, as far as this ob- 

 ject is concerned, either useless or noxious. 



And that, from the unavoidable influence 

 which terms exert both over our reasonings and 

 observations, it tends to mislead the student ; ren- 

 dering those things affinities in the history of 

 nature, which are little else than affinities in 

 words. 



IT is now necessary to examine in a more 

 concentrated point of view the several defects 

 and advantages which attend a geological me- 

 thod of classification. A few of these remarks 

 have been unavoidably anticipated ; as it was im- 

 possible to state the question of a mineralogical 

 arrangement in a manner sufficiently clear, with- 

 out occasionally adverting, for the purposes of 

 contrast or illustration, to the nature of a geolo- 

 gical one. 



In this statement no imprope^ bias will be 

 found towards that method in favour of which 



