5 
been so arranged as to precede the more compound subjects on 
which we are now about to commence. 
It may at first sight appear trivial and unnecessary to insist 
on the definition and objects of mineralogy ; but, in addition to 
the importance of a clear understanding of the purport of any 
branch of education, there are in the present case special reasons 
for adopting such a course. This science has in Britain, for 
many years past, been cultivated by so small a number of inves- 
tigators, that by the public at large it has been almost lost sight 
of, and is not unfrequently confounded with chemistry, geology, 
or metallurgy. Nay, there are not wanting among scientific 
men those who assert, that as a mere department of chemistry 
it can hold no independent place, nor offer a foundation for a 
special course of study. The above definition, however, may 
aid in fixing its true position, and will show, that whilst we con- 
tend with such opinions on the one hand, we would oppose on 
the other the vain struggles of those who have endeavoured to 
disconnect the science from that chemical aid which has so much 
advanced its progress and heightened its interest. 
The prime and grand interest attached to our studies of the 
products of the earth is to be found in the fact that the mineral 
properties of different lands, in conjunction with their geogra- 
phical features, have determined the distribution, the physical 
and social character, and the well-being of the various races of 
man. Whether we examine the vestiges left by the peoples of 
gray antiquity, or study the modifications produced in branches 
of the same race located in regions of different aspect, or inquire 
into the origin of the chief seats of modern civilization, we shall 
be assured that most of these phenomena are dependent imme- 
diately, or through the medium of vegetation, on mineral produce, 
and the particular conditions under which it can be made avail- 
able to human convenience. 
In the remains of ancient Egypt we learn how a stupendous 
architecture arose by the aid of the soft yet massive sandstones 
piled by nature on the banks of the Nile, and how monolith 
statues and obelisks were suggested by the presence of a syenite 
capable of taking a high polish, and admitting of the sharpest 
intaglio tooling. In Attica the marble of Pentelicus and the 
