'220 7>io<jr<t}>hi/ of Berzelht*. 



is, indeed, very appropriate. Every man of science must, 

 however, admit, that in this case another system of classifica- 

 tion must come into use in Mineralogy than is adopted in Bo- 

 tany and Zoology. The inorganic substances with which that 

 science has to do consist of a large number — more than 60 — 

 simple bodies : the organic substances, on the contrary, of very 

 few — only three or four. Since, moreover, the intimate con- 

 nection existing between the chemical composition and all 

 the external characters of minerals cannot be detected, it is 

 obvious that minerals might be more easily and certainly 

 recognised, distinguished, and classified, as soon as their 

 chemical composition was studied ; but not so plants and 

 animals, in the case of which we do not yet know that there 

 is such an intimate connection, and which, notwithstanding 

 the greatest diversity in form, have almost all the same com- 

 position. Were it possible, likewise, to recognise their spe- 

 cies by means of an easy chemical analysis, we should call 

 every botanist and zoologist one-sided who neglected to avail 

 himself of this means of recognition. > $d$ oi 



Before Berzelius' time it had often been attempted to 

 classify minerals according to their constituents, but before 

 the doctrine of definite proportions, and the correct views of 

 the composition of bodies were known, this could only be 

 imperfectly effected. Such systems were those which Karsten 

 had put forward in his mineralogical tables, and Hauy, in 

 his mineralogy, but the achievements of Berzelius in this 

 respect, caused the attempts of his predecessors to be entirely 

 forgotten. 



The mineral system put forward by Berzelius met with 

 opposition, especially from those who followed the so-called 

 natural systems. 



In the natural systems of mineralogy, the minerals are all 

 placed according to their similarity in external characters. 

 But all these systems differed from each other, because they 

 were constructed in accordance with subjective principles. 



Werner had, in addition, based his natural system, to a 

 certain extent, upon chemical principles, which were not ear- 

 ned out very consistently, as indeed was impossible, consider- 

 ing the state in which the science then was. But Mohs put 



