9 o HISTORT of the SOCIETT. 



ting the changes which mineral fubftances have gone through, 

 in the pafTage which, according to all theories, they have made, 

 from a foft or fluid, to a hard and folid ftate, and from immer- 

 fion under the ocean, to elevation above its furface. The fe- 

 ries of thefe changes, and the relative antiquity of the different 

 Steps by which they have been effected, were the objects which 

 he had in view to explain ; and his cabinet, though well adapted 

 to this end, with regard to other purpofes was very imperfect. 

 They who expect to find, in a collection, Specimens of all the fpe- 

 cies, and all the varieties, into which a fyftem of artificial ar- 

 rangement may have divided the fofTil kingdom, will perhaps 

 turn faflidioufly from one that is not remarkable either for the 

 number or brilliancy of the objects contained in it. They, on 

 the other hand, will think it highly interesting, who with to rea- 

 fon concerning the natural hiftory of minerals, and who are not 

 lefs eager to become acquainted with the laws that govern, than 

 with the individuals that compofe, the foflil kingdom. 



The lofs fuftained by the death of Dr Hutton, was aggra- 

 vated, to thofe who knew him, by the confideration of how much 

 of his knowledge had perifhed with himfelf,and, notwithstanding 

 all that he had written, how much of the light collected by a 

 long life of experience and obfervation, was now completely ex- 

 tinguished. It is indeed melancholy to reflect, that with all who 

 make proficiency in the fciences founded on nice and delicate 

 obfervation, fomething of this fort muSt unavoidably happen. 

 The experienced eye,, the power of perceiving the minute differen- 

 ces, and fine analogies, which difcriminate or unite the objects 

 of fcience ; and the readinefs of comparing new phenomena 

 with others already treafured up in the mind; thefe are accom- 

 plishments which no rules can teach, and no precepts can put us 

 in pofTeShon of. This is a portion of knowledge which every 

 man muSt acquire for himfelf, and which nobody can leave as 

 an inheritance to his fucceSTor. It feems, indeed, as if nature 



had 



