W E R 



its rife in the times when weregild was in ufe. Blackft. 

 Comm. vol. iv. 



The weregild of an archbilhop, and of an earl, was 

 15,000 thrifmas ; that of a bifhop, or alderman, 8000 ; that 

 of a general, or governor, 4000 ; that of a prieft, or thane, 

 2000 ; that of a king, 30,000 : half was to be paid to his 

 kindred, and the other half to the public. The weregild 

 of a ceorl was 266 thrifmas. 



WEREMOUTH, Bishop's, in Geography, aparifhof 

 England, in the county of Durham, on the river Were, with 

 7060 inhabitants; 12 miles N.N.E. of Durham. This 

 parifh is now incorporated in the town of Sunderland. See 

 Sunderland. 



Weremouth, Monk's, a parifh of England, in the county 

 of Durham, at the mouth of the river Were, oppofite Sunder- 

 land, with 5355 inhabitants. 



WE REN, a river of Wurzburg, which runs into the 

 Maine, 6 miles below Carolftadt. 



WERFEN, a town and fortrefs of the archbifhopric of 

 Salzburg, on the Salza, with a callle, memorable for hav- 

 ing been the retreat of the archbifhop of Salzburg, whom 

 the duke of Bavaria had driven from his capital for having 

 married ; 15 miles N.W. of Radftadt. 



WERGELA, or Guergela, a town of Africa, in 

 Biledulgerid ; 300 miles S. of Algiers. N. lat. 31° 45'. 

 E. long. 4''' 10'. 



WERINAMA, a town on the fouth coaft of the ifland 

 of Ceram. S. lat. 3° 15'. E. long. 130° iS'. 



WE RING, or WoRiNGEN, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Roer ; 2 miles S. of Zons. 



WERK. SeeWARK. 



WERL, a town of the duchy of Weftphaha ; 13 miles 

 W.S.W. of Lippftadt. N. lat. 51° 33'. E. long. 7° 58'. 



WERM, or Worm, a river of France, which runs into 

 the Roer, near Waflembcrg. 



WERMSDORF, a town of Saxony, in the circle of 

 Leipfic ; 36 miles N.W. of Drefden. — Alfo, a town of 

 Bavaria, in the principality of Aichftatt ; 4 miles N. of 

 Aichftatt. 



WERNBERG, a town of Bavaria; 3 miles N. of 

 Pfreimbt. 



WERNBURG, a town of Saxony, in the circle of 

 Neuftadt ; 3 miles N.E. of Rahnis. 



WERNE, a town of Germany, in the bifhopric of 

 Munfter; 19 miles S. of Munller. N. lat. 51° 38'. E. 

 long. 7= 48'. _^ 



WERNECK, a town of the duchy of Wurzburg, on 

 the Weren ; 5 miles S.W. of Schweinfurt. 



WERNER, Abraham Gottlob, in Biography, a cele- 

 brated mineralogift, and profeffor of mineralogy at Freyburg, 

 in Saxony, was born on the 25th of September 1750. His 

 father was infpeftor of an iron-work in Upper Lufatia, 

 and at an early period intended to educate his fon for the 

 fame employment. The firft fcanty rudiments of his edu- 

 cation were received at a fchool at Bunfleur. He was after- 

 wards fent to the Mineralogical Academy at Freyburg, and' 

 from thence to the univerfity of Leipfic, where he applied 

 himfelf to the ftudy of natural hiftory and jurifprudence ; 

 but the former he found more attraftive, and it was here 

 that he employed himfelf in defining the external charafters 

 of minerals, for which he was endowed by nature with a 

 Angular quicknefs of perception. At this place, he pub- 

 Lftied, in 1774, his work on the external charafters of mine- 

 rals, which was confidered as the bafis of his oryftognoftic 

 or mineralogiclal fyftem. ( See Systems of Mineralogy. ) 

 It has been tranflated into various languages, but Werner 



W E R 



could never be perfuaded to publifh a new and enlarged edi- 

 tion. " In this work," fays profeflbr Jamefon, " he gave the 

 firft example of the true method of defcribing mineral fpe- 

 cies. In thefe defcriptions, all the charafters prefented by 

 the fpecies fuite are detailed with a certain degree of mi- 

 nutenefs, and in a determinate order ; fo that we have a com- 

 plete pifture of it, and are furnifhed with charafters that 

 diftinguifh it from all known fpecies, and from every mine- 

 ral that may hereafter be difcovered." It cannot be denied, 

 that previous to this time, the defcriptive language of mine- 

 ralogifts had been much too indefinite to convey accurate 

 information, or to enable mineralogifts in diftant countries 

 to underlland each other. Soon after this publication, Wer- 

 ner was invited to have the care of the cabinet of natural 

 hiftory at Freyburg, and to read leftures on mineralogy. 



This fituation, fo well fuited to the peculiar ftudies in 

 which he was engaged, offered abundant materials for the 

 exercife of his talent for obfervation and claflification. In 

 1780 he publifhed the firft part of a tranflation of Cron- 

 ttedt's Mineralogy. In his annotations on this work, he 

 gave the firft fltetch of his mineralogical fyftem, and pub- 

 lifhed many defcriptions in conformity with the methods 

 propofed in his treatife on external charafters. In this fyf- 

 tem, we find earthy minerals divided into four genera, filice- 

 ous, argillaceous, talcaceous, and calcareous ; and thefe fub- 

 divided into fpecies, fub-fpecies, and kinds. 



In 1 79 1 he publidied a catalogue of the great mineral 

 colkftion of Pabft Von Obaine, captain-general of the 

 Saxon mines. In this work, he gave a tabular view of the 

 whole mineralogical fyftem, in which the arrangement of 

 genus, fpecies, fub-fpecies, and kinds, is continued ; feveral 

 additions aie made to the external charafters, and the ar- 

 rangement of the fpecies is in fome initances changed, 

 owing to more extended obfervations. Werner, befides his 

 leftures on mineralogy, alfo delivered leftures on the art of 

 mining, which he is faid to have rendered extremely intelli- 

 gible by his fimplification of the machinery, and by draw- 

 ings and figures. His fyftem of geognofy, or geology, 

 was dehvered in his leftures, but never publifhed by himfelf. 

 (For fome account of this fyitem, fee Geology, and Sys- 

 tems of Geology.) " In lefturing," fays a writer in the Lite- 

 rary Gazette of Leipfic, " he ufed to abandon himfelf ( as he 

 was accuftomed to fay) to his mineralogical name, and 

 when his fpirit hovered over the waters and the ftrata, he 

 often became animated with lofty enthufiafm." He caufed 

 his leftures to be written out by his approved fcholars, and 

 by revifing them himfelf made them his own in manufcript. 

 Many parts of thefe leftures have been pubHfhed in differ- 

 ent countries by his pupils. Werner alfo publifhed fome 

 mineralogical papers in the Miner's Journal ; and in 1791 

 appeared his new theory of the formation of metallic veins. 

 This work was tranflated into French by DaubuifFon, and 

 into Englifh in 1809. 



Werner was appointed counfellor of the mines in Saxony 

 in 1792, and had a great Ihare in the direftion of the Mi- 

 neralogical Academy, and in the adminiftration for public 

 works. 



The cabinet of minerals collefted by Werner was un- 

 rivalled for its completenefs and arrangement, confifting of 

 loo.cco fpecimens. This he fold for 40,000 crowns, referv- 

 ing the intereft of 33,000 as an annuity to himfelf and his 

 fifter, who had no chddren ; and at her death, to be paid an- . 

 nually to the Mineralogical Academy of Freyburg. 



This iUuftrious mineralogift died Auguft 1817, greatly 

 regretted by all thofe wlio were perfonally acquainted with 

 him, to whom he was endeared by the Cmplicity of his 



manners. 



