376 



MINERALOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



existence many have thought they could demon- 

 strate the impossibility. 



Werner, on the contrary, took induction for 

 his guide. He did not first form a theory, and 

 then examine the mineral kingdom for its confir- 

 mation ; but he examined this kingdom, and 

 thence drew a theory. He did, in short, for 

 mineralogy what LinntEUs had done for botany, 

 and Newton for general physics. His first ob- 

 ject was to distinguish, group, or arrange simple 

 and compound minerals in cabinet specimens, ac* 

 cording to their constant and most easily ascer- 

 tained properties, and to introduce into the science 

 a precise nomenclature. His next object was to 

 trace the manner in which the rocks and other sub- 

 stances forming the crust of the earth, were placed 

 with respect to one another ; and to ascertain whe- 

 ther nature here, as in other parts of her works, 

 observes a regular system of arrangement. He 

 found that she does, and that there is a regular 

 system of arrangement among the mineral masses 

 of the globe on the great scale. This part of the 

 subject, he distinguished by the name of Geognosy^ 

 — ^a new science, entirely created by him, and 

 which is nothing more than the inductive phi- 

 losophy of Bacon, applied to the subject of 

 geology. 



Having ascertained the nature and arrangement 

 of the substances constituting the crust of the 

 earth, Werner next ventured to speculate on the 



