f lj6 ON THE HIGHLANDS. 



study of nature, where the want of observation., 

 conducted with skill, and of description given 

 with fidelity, has been more felt ; and till the sa- 

 gacity of Werner led the way, these requisites for 

 advancing the science can hardly be said to have 

 existed in mineralogy. The extreme difficulty of 

 all investigations into the nature and connection 

 of the different substances which compose the 

 ' crust of the earth, must be acknowledged. Never- 

 theless, the doctrines of the Geognosy furnish a 

 clue, which conducts with surprising facility, 

 through the labyrinth of the mineral regions, on 

 the grand scale ; and in the light which they af- 

 ford to the skilful eye, the seeming confusion and 

 irregularity of nature vanish. — What importance 

 may be attached to any information which I am 

 able to communicate, it is not for me to decide. 

 Thus much at least, it will, however, establish, if 

 the clearest testimony of the senses can at all be 

 trusted, that the mode of describing the mineral 

 kingdom, adopted by Werner and his school, is 

 not altogether so full of theory, so unsupported by 

 fact, and so remote from experience, as has been 

 alleged. 



CALLENDER. 



The first object of my examination was the dis- 

 trict in the vicinity of Callender, comprehending 

 Ben-Ledi and the adjacent hills. Callender is 



