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  James 
  Dwight 
  Dana. 
  

  

  The 
  chief 
  scientific 
  results 
  of 
  this 
  long 
  life 
  of 
  continued 
  

   and, 
  except 
  for 
  its 
  limitations, 
  ever 
  happy 
  labor 
  for 
  science 
  

   have 
  been 
  already 
  indicated. 
  To 
  estimate 
  properly 
  their 
  value 
  

   and 
  originality 
  belongs 
  to 
  another 
  place 
  and 
  time 
  and 
  demands 
  

   the 
  services 
  of 
  specialists 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  three 
  departments 
  of 
  

   Mineralogy, 
  Geology 
  and 
  Zoology. 
  Some 
  further 
  general 
  

   words 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  them 
  seem, 
  however, 
  to 
  be 
  required. 
  

  

  The 
  subject, 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  earliest 
  attracted, 
  from 
  the 
  

   time 
  of 
  his 
  first 
  excursions, 
  as 
  a 
  boy, 
  after 
  minerals, 
  and 
  that 
  

   with 
  which 
  his 
  name 
  is, 
  perhaps, 
  most 
  frequently 
  connected 
  is 
  

   Mineralogy. 
  The 
  first 
  edition 
  of 
  the 
  System 
  of 
  Mineralogy 
  

   was 
  issued, 
  as 
  has 
  been 
  stated, 
  in 
  1837, 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  only 
  

   twenty-four 
  years 
  old. 
  This 
  large 
  volume 
  shows 
  a 
  close 
  study 
  

   of 
  the 
  great 
  works 
  of 
  Hauy, 
  Mohs 
  and 
  Naumann 
  and 
  of 
  

   others 
  who 
  had 
  preceded. 
  It 
  is, 
  however, 
  more 
  than 
  an 
  indus- 
  

   trious 
  compilation 
  from 
  earlier 
  authors, 
  particularly 
  as 
  regards 
  

   the 
  chapters 
  on 
  crystallogeny 
  and 
  mathematical 
  crystallo- 
  

   graphy. 
  The 
  classification 
  adopted 
  is 
  the 
  so-called 
  Natural 
  

   System, 
  the 
  serious 
  shortcomings 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  later 
  fully 
  

   appreciated. 
  The 
  nomenclature 
  attempted, 
  devised 
  by 
  him 
  to 
  

   suit 
  this 
  classification, 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  dual 
  Latin 
  plan 
  "so 
  advan- 
  

   tageously 
  pursued 
  in 
  Botany 
  and 
  Zoology." 
  The 
  second 
  edition 
  

   of 
  the 
  System 
  (1844) 
  preserved 
  these 
  features, 
  but 
  in 
  a 
  supple- 
  

   ment, 
  a 
  classification 
  based 
  on 
  chemical 
  principles 
  is 
  proposed 
  

   and 
  this, 
  further 
  developed, 
  is 
  adopted 
  in 
  the 
  third 
  edition 
  

   (1850) 
  while 
  the 
  Latin 
  nomenclature 
  is 
  abandoned. 
  

  

  In 
  connection 
  with 
  this 
  fundamental 
  change, 
  it 
  seems 
  worth 
  

   while 
  to 
  quote 
  from 
  the 
  preface 
  of 
  this 
  edition, 
  since 
  what 
  is 
  

   said 
  here 
  was 
  so 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  author's 
  attitude 
  of 
  mind 
  

   to 
  scientific 
  truth 
  in 
  general. 
  

  

  . 
  . 
  . 
  To 
  change 
  is 
  always 
  seeming 
  fickleness. 
  But 
  not 
  to 
  

   change 
  with 
  the 
  advance 
  of 
  science, 
  is 
  worse 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  persistence 
  

   in 
  error 
  ; 
  and, 
  therefore, 
  notwithstanding 
  the 
  former 
  adoption 
  

   of 
  what 
  has 
  been 
  called 
  the 
  Natural 
  History 
  system 
  and 
  the 
  

   pledge 
  to 
  its 
  support 
  given 
  by 
  the 
  author, 
  in 
  supplying 
  it 
  with 
  

   a 
  Latin 
  nomenclature, 
  the 
  whole 
  system, 
  its 
  classes, 
  orders, 
  

   genera 
  and 
  Latin 
  names 
  have 
  been 
  rejected. 
  . 
  . 
  . 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  fourth 
  edition 
  of 
  the 
  Mineralogy, 
  in 
  1854, 
  that 
  

   the 
  chemical 
  classification, 
  essentially 
  as 
  now 
  understood, 
  takes 
  

  

  