MEMOIR OF WERNER. 
25 
kind of delicate instinct which formed the peculiar 
character of his genius. He has the appearance of 
adopting the identical composition of the molecules 
as the principle of species, and as the point from 
which he sets out. Perhaps he really believed him- 
self to have set out from thence ; but he never ac- 
tually applies the principle but when it is in perfect 
unison with the external properties, and, in all in- 
stances, it is on these properties that he has founded 
his distributions, leaving analysis to make itself har- 
monize with them as it best may. All unctuous 
stones, for example, are arranged in the magnesian . 
genus, although many of them contain a greater pro- 
portion of argillaceous or siliceous matter than of 
magnesia. So rigorously did he act on this prin- 
ciple, that he always persisted in placing the dia- 
mond among the siliceous stones, although it had 
been incontestably proved by experiment that this 
gem is a crystallization of carbon. Still more sin- 
gular is the fact, that, among all the external pro- 
perties, he paid least regard to the crystalline form, 
which is the most fundamental of the whole. 
It is true, that his investigations began ten years 
before Haiiy had commenced his labours, and, con- 
sequently, nearly thirty years before the doctrine of 
that great mineralogist had been developed in the 
admirable manner it afterwards attained ; and Wer- 
ner, on his part, had caused the science to make 
such remarkable progress, that he may easily be ex- 
cused for not entering fully into all the views of his 
