9 



position of minerals by chemical analysis 

 was attended to, that Mineralogy was fairly 

 entitled to take the rank of a science. No 

 part of Natural History, perhaps, presents 

 greater charms to the youthful student. 

 The attempt to classify and arrange, in a 

 connected series, the different stones and 

 earths, is often the first essay of the young 

 inquirer into nature ; and, as in a new coun* 

 try, it was natural to anticipate the disco- 

 very of new forms and combinations of mi- 

 nerals, the attention of our naturalists was 

 early directed to this science. 



The experiments of Mr. Cloud on the fu- 

 sion of metals, the treatise of Mr. Cooper 

 on the blue earth of New-Jersey, and those 

 of Mr. Cleaveland, as contained in the Ame- 

 rican Phil. Trans, are among the early Ameri- 

 can essays in this department. In recurring, 

 however, to the early history of Mineralogy 

 in the United States, we cannot pass over 

 in silence the labors of Dr. Archibald 

 Bruce of this city. Early imbued with a 

 taste for this pleasing study, he improved 

 the opportunity afforded by an intercourse 

 with the learned in Europe, and by a care- 

 ful investigation of the mineral products of 



B 



