THE
EDINBURGH
\ \ \
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,
EXHIBITING A VIEW OP
THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, NATURAL HISTORY, PRACTICAL MECHANICS, GEOGRAPHY, NAVKiATION, STATISTICS, AND THE FINE AND USEFUL ARTS,
FROM
OCTOBER 1. 1820, to APRIL 1. 1821.
CONDUCTED BY
Db BREWSTER and Pkofessor JAMESON.
TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY.
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VOL, IV. s-u 'i i.
A -
EDINBURG. '
PRINTED FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY.
1821
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CONTENTS
E'-i7X
VrM
OF
No. VII.
Page
Art. I. Historical Eloge“of Abraham Gottlob Werner, read at a sitting of the Royal Institute of France. By M.
Le Chevalier Cuvier, - - 1
II. Account of the recent Chemical Researches of M. Ber- zelius and his Pupils.
1. Account of M- Berzelius’s Analysis of the Fer-
ruginous and Sulphuretted Prussiates, - l6 Account of M. Mitscherlich’s Experiments on the Forms of artificially crystallized Salts, 19
3. Account of the Analyses of the Pyroxenes and
Amphiboles, by MM. Rose, Nordenskold, and " Bohnsdorf, - - - 21
4, Account of M. Rose’s Analyses of several Spe- cies of Mica, containing Fluoric Acid, - ib.
III. On Isothermal Lines, and the Distribution of Heat
over the Globe. By Baron Alexander de Hum- boldt. (Continued from Vol. III. p. 274.), - 2S
IV. Account of the Captivity of Alexander Scott, among
the Wandering Arabs of the Great African Desert, for a period of nearly Six Years. Drawn up by T. S. Traill, M. D., F. R. S. E. With Geographi-
cal Observations on his Routes, and Remarks on the Currents of the Ocean on the North-Western
Coast of Africa, by Major Rennell, F. R. S. &c. &c. 38
V. Table for determining accurately the Time of High Water at any given Port. ' Computed by Major- General Sir Thomas Brisbane, C. B., F. R. S. E. 54
VI. Outlines of Professor Mohs’s New System of Crystal-
lography and Mineralogy, - - 56
VII. Account of Mr R. Bowman of Irthington, who has
completed his 115th year. By Dr Barnes, - 67
VI T I. Observations on the Florida or Gulf Stream, - 73
IX. Account of a map of the country north from Ava. By Francis Hamilton, M. D., F. R.S. & F. A. S.
76
IX
CONTENTS.
Art. X. Continental Observations on the Solar Eclipse of the 7th September 1820^ with the times of Con- junction, calculated from Burckhardf s Eleinents,
By M. Charles Rumker, - 87
XI. On the Volcanoes of Auvergne. By Charles
Daubeny, M. D., M. G. S., - 89
XII. On a New Method of Working Lunars. By Mr William Marrat, Member of the Philosophi- cal and Literary Society of New York, &c. 98
XIII. On the Respiration of Plants, By W. H. Gilby,
M. D., M. G. S,, - - 100
XIV. Account of the Earthquake which occurred in In-
dia in June I8I9. By Captain Macmurdo, IO6 XV, A Method of constructing Bee-Hives of Wood, so as to resist the Cold of the severest Winter. By the Rev. Andrew Jameson, - 109
XVI. Observations on the Currents and Animalcules of the Greenland Sea. By William Scoresby jun.
F. R. S. E., M. W. S., &c. - 111
XVII. Remarks on Professor Hansteen’s Inquiries con- cerning the Magnetism of the Earth,” - 114
XVIII. Historical Account of Discoveries respecting the
Double Refraction and Polarisation of Light, 124 XIX. Account of Comptonite, a New Mineral from Ve- suvius. By David Brewster, LL. D., F. R. S.
Lond. and Sec, R. S. Edin. &c. &c. - 131
XX. Observations on Bees, made by means of the Mir- ror-Hive. By the Rev. William Dunbar, Mi- nister of Applegarth, - - 133
XXI. Description of an Apparatus for Restoring the
Action of the Lungs. By Mr John Murray, 139 XXII. Notice of the Progress of the Arctic Land Expe- dition under the command of Lieut. Franklin, 141 XXIII. Notice of Captain Parry's Voyage of Discovery.
By Professor Jamesqn. With a Chart of Captain Parry's Discoveries in the Arctic Seas, - 144
XXIV. On the existence of two ^Burning Volcanoes in
Central Tartary, - - 156
XXV. On Sounds inaudible by certain Ears. By Wil-
liam Hyde Wollaston, M. D., F. R. S., 158
XXVL Description of a New Double Image Micrometer for Measuring the Diameter of Celestial Objects.
By David Brewster, LL, D. F. R. S. L. & E. &Co 1 64
CONTENTS.
iii
Art. XXVIL Account of the Discoveries of M. Oersted, re- specting the Connection between Magnetism and Galvanism, and the subsequent Researches of Sir H. Davy, Bart., M. Ampere and M. Biot, 1 67 XXVIII. Account of the Piezometer, for Measuring the
Compressibility of Water. By J. Perkins, Esq. 175
XXIX. Account of Mr Oxley’s Observations on the Va-
riation of the Needle, &c. in New Holland, 177
XXX. Reply to a Note in the Annales de Chimie by M.
Arago, on the Phosphorescence of Fluor-Spar, 1 80 XXXL Experiments on the Specific Gravity of Sea-Wa- ter drawn in different Latitudes, and from va- rious Depths in the Atlantic. By Thomas Stewart Traill, M! D., F. R. S. E., &c. &c. 185
XXXII. General View of the Monthly Mean Variation, and the Mean Monthly Diurnal Variation of the Needle, with Tables of the State of the Atmosphere at the time of the Magnetical Ob- servations. By Colonel Beaufoy, F. R. S. 188 XXXIII. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 192 XXXIV. Proceedings of the Wernerian Society, - 194
XXXV. Scientific Intelligence, - 197
I. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.
Astronomy. 1. Observations on the Solar Eclipse of Sept. 7*
1820. 2. Belzoni’s Observations of the Annular Eclipse of
the Sun, of the 5th May 1818. 3. Opposition of the New
Planets Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta, observed by Mr Groom- bridge. 4. Obliquity of the Ecliptic, - 197, — I9S
Magnetism. 5. Effect of Magnetism on the Balance of Chro- nometers. 6. Diurnal Variation of the Needle, &c. 199
Electricity. 7. Experiments in favour of one Fluid. 8. Ex- periment in favour of two Fluids, - 199, — 200
Meteorology. 9- Meteorological Committee for procuring Meteorological Journals. 10. On the Cause of Regular Fi- gures formed by Hoar-frost on Windows, - 200, — 201
11, chemistry.
11. Carbonic Acid, &c. in Sea-Water. 12. Muriate of Potash in Rock-Salt. 13. Appparatus for the» Combustion of the Diamond, by Mr John Murray, Lecturer on Chemistry.
14. On the Alloys of Platinum. 15. Fulminating Silver.
16. Iodine in the Crab and Lobster. 17* Method of re- storing the White Colours in certain Paintings, 201, — 203
IV
CONTENTS.
III. NATURAL HISTORY.
Botany. 18. Fig-Trees. 19. Bemains of Trees in the Ork- ney Islands, 20. Discovery of the Linnaea borealis in Nor- thumberland. 21. Sternberg’s Flora of a Former World.
22. Plants and Animals living in the Water of the Hot- Springs of Gastein. 23. Remarkable Internal Combustion
of the Trunks of Scots Fir Trees^, - 204 207
Zoology. 24. Notice of a peculiar Habit of the Starling, (Stur- nus vulgaris). 25. Notice of a prolific cross-breed between the Common Cat and the Pine-Martin, (Mustela martes). 26. Swainson’s Zoological Illustrations. 27* Selby’s Natural His- tory of British Birds. 28. Natural History of Sumatra and Java. 29* Affinity of the Genera Echidna, &c. with Amphi- bia. SO. Respiration of the Alimentary Canal. 31. Serpent W'ith Two Heads. 32. Stony Concretions found in the Hu- man Muscular System. 33. Hermaphrodite Butterflies, 207 — 212 Mineralogy. 34. Rock-crystals containing globules of Wa- ter formed, and forming, in decaying Granite in Elba.
35. Strontites and Precious Opal, &c. in the Faroe Islands.
S6. Boue’s Geology of Scotland. 37. Mohs’s Characteristic.
38. Hausmann’s New Mineralogical Work. 39. Alpine Limestone same Age as Oolite and Lias. 40. Discovery of Green Fluor-Spar in Banffshire. 41 . New Localities of Ores of Titanium. 42. Extraordinary Mass of Platina discover- ed in Peru. 43. Alpine Limestone of the Carpathians, 212 — 215
IV. GENERAL SCIENCE.
44. Earthquake at Lead-Hills. 45. Fall of a Mountain into the Moselle. 46. Height of Snowdon, as determined by Mr Wollaston’s Therm ometrical Barometer* 47* Clay-slate Axe found inaWhale. 48. Luminosity produced by Compression, Friction, and Animal Bodies. 49- On the Luminosity of the Ashes of Wood steeped in solutions of Lime, &c. 50. Spon- taneous Combustions. 51. Description of the Mummy-Pits at Thebes by M. Belzoni. 52. Antidotes against Poisons.
53. Expeditions to the Frozen Ocean. 54.. State of the Ice off the East Coast of West Greenland in Summer 1820, as observed by Captain Scoresby. 55. Bottle found on the Coast of Brazil. 56. Report on Captain Scoresby’s Account of the Arctic Regions, - - 215 — 224
Prizes. 57- Adjudication of the Copley Medal. 58. Appro- priation of Mr Keith’s Legacy, - - 224
Art. XXXVI. List of Patents granted in Scotland since 11th
August 1820, -» - ib-
CONTENTS
OF
No. VIII.
Page
Art. I. Account of the Captivity of Alexander Scott, among the Wandering Arabs of the Great African Desert, for a Period of nearly Six Years. Drawn up by T.
S. Traill, M. D. F. R. S. E. (Continued from p. 54. and concluded), - 225
II. Observations on the Geography of Mr Scott’s Routes in
North Africa. By Major Rennell, F. R. S. &c. &c. 235
III. Remarks on the Currents between the Parallels of Cape
Finisterre and the Canary Islands, which may be supposed to have carried the Montezuma out of her , course. By Major Rennell, F. R. S. &c. &c. 241
IV. On the Submarine Current at the Strait of Gibraltar,
and at the Sound near Elsinore, - 243
V. Observation on the Mineralogy of Halkin Mountain, in
Flintshire ; with a particular account of the recently discovered Buhrstone and Porcelain-Clay of that place. By Thomas Stewart Traill, M. D. F. R. S. E. M.G.S. &c. - - - 246
VI. On Isothermal Lines, and the Distribution of Heat
over the Globe. By Baron Alexander de Hum- boldt. (Continued from Vol. IV. p. 37-) - 262
VII. Description of a Machine for raising Stones. By Da-
vid Low, Esq. - - - 281
/VIII, Analysis of Mr Scoresby’s Account of the Arctic Re- gions, being a Translation of the Official Report of MM. Rossily and Rossel to Baron Portal, Minister of the French Marine, - - 285
IX. Account of the Recent Magnetical Discoveries of Pro- fessor Hansteen. Being the substance of a Letter from Professor Hansteen to M. Rumker, Director of the Nautical Academy of Flamburgh, - 295
X. On the Ancient Volcanoes of Auvergne. By Charles Daubeny, M. D. M. G. S. and Fellow of Magdalene College, Oxford, - - . 300
CONTENTS.
ii
Art. XI. Observations on the Resistance of Fluids. By Wil- liam Watts, Esq. - - SI 5
XII. Description and Use of a very Sensible Electrome-
ter, for indicating the Kind of Electricity which is applied to it. By Professor Bohnenberger, S24
XIII. Observations on the Countries of Congo and Loango
as in 1790. By Mr Maxwell, Author of the Letters to Mungo Park, &c. &c. - 327
XIV. On the Method of finding the Dip or Depression of
the Horizon. By Adam Anderson, A. M. F.R.S.E. 331
XV. On certain remarkable instances of deviation from Newton’s Scale in the Tints developed by Crystals with one Axis of Double Refraction, on exposure to Polarized Light. By J. F. W. Herschel, A. M.
F. R. S. Loud. & Edin. and of the Cambridge Phi- losphical Society, - - S34
XVI, On the Antiseptic Power of the Pyrolignous Acid
upon Fresh Meat. By J. Stanley, M. D. 344
XVII. Notice of the Voyage of Mr Edward Barnsfield, Mas- ter of his Majesty’s Ship Andromache, to New South Shetland, - - 345
XVIII. Observations on the Diurnal Variation of the Needle
from 1775 to 1780, at Zwanenburg in Holland, 348 XIX. Notice regarding the Working and Polishing of Gra- nite in India. By Alexander Kennedy, M. D.
F.H. S. Edin. - - - 349
XX. Account of the Native Hydrate of Magnesia, disco- covered by Dr Hibbert in Shetland. By David Brewster, LL. D. F. R. S. Lond. & Sec. R. S. Ed. 352 ' XXL Experiments on the Going of a Clock with a Wooden
Pendulum. By Colonel Beaufoy, Fb R. S, &c, &c. 355 ' XXIL Account of the Establishment of a Scientific Prize by
the late Alexander Keith, Esq. of Dunottar, 358
XXIII. Description of a Magnetimeter, being a New Instru- ment for Measuring Magnetic Attractions, and Finding the Dip of the Needle ; with an Account of Experiments made with it. By William ScoresbY, Esq. jmw. F. R. S. E. M. W. S. &c. 360
XXIV. Notice respecting Professor Hansteen’s Chart of the
Variation and Dip of the Needle, - 363
XXV. Account of a Remarkable Shower of Hail which fell in Orkney on the 24th of July 1818. By Patrick Neill, F. R, S. E. F. L. S. &. Sec* Wern. Soc. 365
CONTENTS.
iii
Art. XXVI. Abstract of Mr Herschefs Experiments on Cir- cular Polarisation, - - 371
XXVII, Observations on the Nature of Flame, drawn from several Experiments performed with an Appa- ratus for Discharging Ordnance without the use of a Match or Priming Tube. By John DEUCHARj M. W. S. and Lecturer on Chemis- try in Edinburgh, - - 374
XXVIII. On a New Method of Calculating the the Paral- laxes for Occupations of the Fixed Stars. By M. Charles Rumker, Rector of the Nautical Academy of Hamburgh, - - 387
XXIX. On the Movements of Camphor upon Water, and of different Alloys of Potassium when in con- tact with Water or Mercury, - 389
XXX. An attempt to Analyse the Automaton Chess*
Player of M. De Kempelen, - S93
XXXI. Observations on the Natural History and Struc- ture of the Proteus Anguinus. By Sig. Con- FiGLiACHi and Dr Rusconi, - 398
XXXII. Description and Use of ,^e Apparatus employed by M. Ampere in his Electro-Magnetic re- searches, - 4o6
XXXIII. Quarterly Abstract of the Diurnal Variation of the Magnetic Needle. By Colonel Beaufoy, F.R.S. - - 417
XXXIV. Analysis of the Transactions of the Royal Society
of Edinburgh, Vol. IX. Part I. - ib,
XXXV. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
(Continued from p. 395.) - 423
XXXVI. Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History
Society. (Continued from p* 19d.) - 426
XXXVII. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical So- ciety, - - - 427
XXXVIII, Scientific Intelligence, » ?» 429
I. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.
Astronomy. 1. Volcanoes in the Moon, % Occultation of ^
Pisces on the 6th February 1821. 3. Elements of the Cpr met which is expected in 1822. 4. New Comet of 1821.
5. Observations on the Solar Eclipse of the 7th September,
6. Geocentric Places of Pallas from April 1. to July SO. 1821.
7* Geocentric Places of Juno, from May 5. to October 20,
1820. 8. Astronomical Society of London. 9. Geocentric Places of Ceres and Vesta, » - « 429-433
I
h CONTENTS.
Optics. 10. Optical Structure of Melted Quartz. 11. Sin- - gular Properties of Chlorophaeite, found in Scotland and Iceland, . - - - - 433, 434
Magnetism. 12. Dr Wollaston’s Explanation of the Electro- Magnetic Phenomena. 13. Ampere’s Electro-Magnetic Te- legraph* 14. Cause of the Diurnal Variation of the Needle.
15. Mr Lecount’s Method of finding the Dip of the Needle.
16. Account of two large Loadstones, - 435-437
ElectricitV. 17. Excitement of Muscular Fibre by Voltaic
Electricity. 18. Experiments on the Electric Spark, 437, 438 Hydrodynamics. 19. Compressibility of Water. 20. Per- kins’ Method of keeping off the Back-Water from Mills, 438, 439 Meteorology. 21. Meteorological Table, and Temperature of Springs at Leith for 1820. 22. Mean Temperature at
Carlsruhe for 20 years, &c. 23. Meteorological Table kept at Kinfauns for 1820. 24. Vegetation on the Himalaya Moun-
tains. 25. Mean Temperature of I8I9 and 1820 at Chu- nar* 26. Mean Temperature of Melville Island, 439-443
II. CHEMISTRY,
27. M. Grotthus’s Method of Freezing Water in vacuo the same as Nairne’s. 28. Solution and Crystallization of Lime.
29. Mercurial Atmosphere. 30. Bicarbonate of Ammonia.
31. On the Alloys of Platinum. 32. Composition of Rhu- barb. 33. On the Colouring Matter of the Shell of the Crab. 34. On the Colouring Matter of the Membrane which lines the Shell of the Crab. 35. On the Alloys of Potassium and Sodium with other Metals. 36. Doberei- ner on the chemical action of Capillary Tubes. 37. Exist- ence of Alcohol in Pyrolignous Acid, - 443-448
hi. General science.
38. Mr Campbell’s second Journey in Africa. 39* Destruc- tion of the village of Stron. 40. Weight of the Dutch Pound Troy. 41. Black Resinous Varnish used at Silhet in Ben- gal. 42. Manufacture of Catgut Strings. 43. On the Se- lection of Ice for Ice-houses. 44. Printing from the Fusible Metal, . - - - V 448-451
Art. XXXIX. List of Patents granted in Scotland since 23d
November 1820, - - 451
List of Plates, - 452
INDEX, - - . . 453
THE
EDINBUEGH
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.
Art. I. — Historical Eloge of Abraham Gottlob Werner, read at a sitting qf the Royal Institute of France. By M. Le Chevalier Cuvier, Perpetual Secretary to the Royal Institute of France, &c. &c. &c.
TD HE end of the seventeenth century saw a new science arise, which assumed, in its infancy, the proud name of the Theory of the Earth. Setting out from a small number of ill-observed facts, — connecting these together by fantastical suppositions, — it pretended to remount to the origin of worlds, to amuse itself, as it were, with them, and to form a history of them. Its arbi- trary methods, its pompous language, all seemed to disunite it from the other sciences ; and in fact, philosophers by profession excluded it, for a long time, from the circle of their studies.
At last, after a century of ineffectual attempts, it has entered within the limits assigned to the human mind. Submitting it- self to the modest occupation of observing the globe as it ac- tually exists, it has penetrated into its bowels, and has made £t kind of dissection of it. From that period, it has taken its place among those departments of knowledge that are positive ; and, what is very remarkable, it has done so, without losing any thing of the marvellous which it had always possessed.
The objects which have been given to it, to see and to touch, — the truths which it has every day been placing under our eyes, — are more admirable and more surprising than any which rash imaginations had amused themselves with conceiving.
Two celebrated men, Pallas and Saussure, had prepared the way for this happy reform, — a third has accomplished it, — I VOL. IV. NO. 7. JANUARY 18S1. A
2 Cuvier’s Historical Eloge of Werner.
mean Werner. With him, the most remarkable epoch of the science of the Earth commences ; and we may even say, that he alone has filled that epoch. For he has had the good fortune to see those ideas, which were so novel, and those vieAvs, which, be- fore his time, were so unknown to naturalists, universally prevalent during his own life. He has left as many inheritors of his me- thods and his doctrine, as there are observers in the world ; and wherever mines are explored, or the history of minerals is taught, some distinguished man is to be found, who boasts of having been his disciple. Entire academies have been formed, which have taken his name, as if they had wished to invoke his genius, and to make him, in a manner before unknown, their patron.
On hearing of such extraordinary success, who would not sup- pose, that it had belonged to some of those keen propagators of their own doctrines, who have overwhelmed their contemporaries by numerous and eloquent works, or who have acquired partizans by the ascendancy of great riches, or of an elevated rank in the social order.? Nothing of all this was the case with Werner. Confined to a small town of Saxony, and destitute of any autho- rity in his own country, he had no influence on the fortunes of his disciples. He had no connection with persons in power. Of a disposition singularly timid, — at all times unwilling to write, — he has left behind him but a few sheets of print. Far from seeking to make himself of consequence, he was so little sensible of his own merit, that the trifling rewards granted him at a time when his fame was spread throughout all parts of the world, surpassed to a great degree whatever he had hoped for or de- sired.
But this man, so little occupied with himself, — believing him- self so little called upon to write, or to instruct others, had in his language and in his conversation an indefinable charm. When once any person had listened to him,-— when, over some fragments of stones or of rocks, arranged almost by accident, he had deve- loped, as it were by inspiration, all those general conceptions, all those innumerable relations which his genius had discovered, it was impossible to detach one’s self from him. The scholars of Werner, subdued by his talent, respected him us a great master, —allured by the affection which he shewed for them, they often dierished him as a father,— wherever they went, they propa-
Cuvier’s Historical Eloge of Werner, %
gated his doctrine, and spoke of his person with respect and with tenderness.
It was thus, that in a few years the small school of Freyberg, intended only at first to form some miners for Saxony, renewed the spectacle of the first Universities of the middle ages, — -that scholars flocked to it from every country in which any civiliza- tion exists, — and that, in the most distant countries, men far advanced in life, and philosophers who had already obtained ce- lebrity, were seen addressing themselves to the study of the German language, solely that they might be in a condition to hear, in their own person, this great oracle of Geology.
A fame so rare, has deservedly placed Werner on the list of our foreign associates ; — it demands this day this tribute of our regrets ; — it will dispose you, I doubt not, to listen with some indulgence to the history of a life, altogether secluded, — altoge- ther devoted to science, — perhaps altogether monotonous, — but the labours of which have been rewarded by such great renown,
Abraham Gottlob Werner was born on the 25th September 1750, at Wehrau on the Queiss, in Upper Lusatia. From his earliest years, he saw himself surrounded by objects which were to form the occupation and the glory of his life. His father, who was the director of a forge, used to give him brilliant mi- nerals of different sorts as playthings ; and before he could pro- nounce their names, the child had accustomed himself, whilst occupied in heaping, in throwing, or even in breaking them, to compare them together, and to recognise them by their more marked appearances.
From that time, he kept during his whole life, some of those specimens ; and when he shewed his collection, after it had be- come one of the richest in Europe, he never failed to point out - these small beginnings of it, as if he had wished to express a sort of gratitude to those first sparks from which such great lights had proceeded.
He was intended for the employment of a miner; and as the regulations of Saxony require that those who are to enter on this branch of service should be regularly licensed, he proceeded, after having attended a course of Metallurgy at Freyberg, to follow out that of Jurisprudence at the University of Leipsic.
A 2
4
Cuvier’s Historical Eloge of Werner.
Two tastes, — we might even say two passions, — attended him through life, — the love of minerals, and the love of method. He was fond of dividing, and of classifying objects, as well as ideas. He was pleased with all those things which could be dis- posed in regular order; and from this period of his life, he used to purchase books, more for the purpose of arranging them ac- cording to a plan, than that of perusing them.
This double propensity was observable in his first work, the Treatise on the External Characters of Minerals, a pamphlet of a few sheets, which he published at Leipsic, at the age of twenty-four.
This work is an analysis and minute subdivision of all the varieties in the apparent properties of minerals ; every one of these varieties is marked by a fixed term ; and the whole of these terms was intended to form a definite language, by means of which all mineralogists might understand one another.
This was to render Mineralogy a service similar to that which Linnaeus had rendered to Botany ; but it was a service pur- chased at the same expence.
It is certain, that this Vocabulary has given more detail and more precision to the science : those who take the trouble to apply it, acquire a surprising facility of distinguishing mine- rals at first sight ; and the attentive examination which is ne- cessary to accommodate the description of these substances to the prescribed formula, has led to the discrimination of many of them, which would otherwise, perhaps, have long remained confounded in the crowd. Yet one cannot help confessing that this idiom, which is necessarily pedantic, and which is confined in its terms of expression as well as in its words, has given to those works which have too servilely employed it, an air of pomposity,— a dryness and a tediousness which are more fre- quently fatiguing than useful.
These inconveniences, however, were never greatly felt. Tech- nical and semi-barbarous terminologies had been long in fashion. For thirty years the fascinating science of Botany had em- ployed no other language, and Naturalists, already accustomed to so many fetters, were not dismayed by the fear of submitting to another.
5
Cuvier’s Historical Eloge of Werner.
We might almost believe, that if any one was dismayed by this new creation, it was Werner himself, and that if he wrote so little after his first Essay, it was that he might escape the trammels which he had imposed upon others. Fortunately this performance, accommodated as it was to the taste of his nation, became a source of fame to himself, and procured for him the means of communicating his ideas in a manner less troublesome to him.
In 1775 he was appointed Professor and Inspector of the Cabinets at Freyberg. It thus became his duty to devote himself without interruption, to that which formed the most lively of his inclinations, — and he was stationed in that can- ton which was best adapted to satisfy his wishes, — that can- ton, indeed, of all Europe, in which the greatest variety of minerals is produced, and which has been traversed in all di- rections, for the greatest length of time, by the labours of mi- ners.
Accordingly, from this period, all his labours were devoted to one object, — to Mineralogy. But this single science, made fruitful by his genius, has become a science of immense extent.
His first step had been to create for it a language ; his se- cond necessarily was to form for it a Method. But this second step, which was by much the most important, was also by far the most difficult.
Organised existences have two bases of classification evident- ly given them by nature, — that of the Individual resulting from the union of all the organs of the body to produce some com- mon action ; and that of the Species, resulting from the con- nections which generation has established among individuals.
More remote resemblances, however natural the relations on which they are founded may be, are always more or less de- pendant on ahstractities of the mind.
In mineralogy, classifiers have sought in vain for some principle which might correspond in all respects with these primary bases. The mysterious power of crystallization is the only one which seems to have some resemblance with the genera- tive power ; it even determines the composition of a body, al- though it does so only within certain limits. Becent experi- ments have shewn, that there are substances whose crystallize
6
Cuvier’s Historical Ehge of Werner.
ing power is such, that they constrain very considerable quan- tities of different bodies to accommodate themselves to their form ; and it has long been observed in nature, that crystals in all respects are alike ; those of sparry iron, for instance, may contain more or less of iron, or more or less of lime, as there may be in two animals of the same species a greater or less quantity of fat, of gelatine, or of the earth of bones.
In mineralogy, then, crystallization ought to be the funda- mental principle of the species, of the visible species. But in an immense majority of minerals, the crystalline form is not apparent, and in these cases composition cannot give us this principle, for the composition of such bodies Varies still more than that of crystals, and foreign mixtures more easily corrupt their purity.
What then is to be done We must have recourse to those properties which are most nearly allied to the fundamental principle, — to the cleavage, which is but one of its phenomena, to the fracture, to the hardness, to the lustre, to the effect of the body on the touch, which are its more or less immediate consequences.
This is what Werner has done, not perhaps that he has exactly proceeded upon these reasonings, but he has done it by that sort of delicate instinct which was the peculiar character of his genius. He has the air of considering the identical com- position of the molecules as the principle of species, and the point from which he sets out, — perhaps because he really be- lieved himself to have set out from thence ; but he never ac- tually applies this principle, except when it is in agreement with the external qualities, and in all cases it is upon these properties that he has founded his distributions, leaving analy- sis to reconcile itself to them as it may. All the unctuous stones, for instance, are classed in the Magnesian Order, al- though many of them contain more alumina or silica, than mag- nesia. He carried this rule so far, that he always persisted in leaving the diamond among the siliceous stones, notwithstand- ing the incontrovertible experiments which prove that this gem is only a crystallization of carbon. What is more remarkable, is, that among all these external properties, the one on which
Ciivier^s Historical Eloge of Werner. 7
he bestowed the least attention, was the most fundamental of the whole, I mean the Crystalline Form.
It is true, that the labours of Werner l)egan ten years before the first attempts of Haiiy, and, consequently, almost thirty years before the admirable developement which the doctrine of this great mineralogist has received ; and Werner, on his part, has done so much for the progress of the science, that he may eaaly be excused for not having kept pace with all that his ri- vals have done ; but the inexcusable thing is, that some of his dis- ciples, from a mistaken zeal, and contrary to his uniform avow- al, have shewn a desire to depress an order of truths, with Avhich he had made them too little acquainted.
The reverse ought to have happened ; the results of the two methods ought to be united and combined : far from being op- posed to each other, they are the same in spirit, and are, in reality, but two branches of the same stem. Both of them, without pretending to deny that species do, in some respects, depend on composition ; yet establish them without sufficiently consulting chemistry. They suppose for them, tacitly at least, a principle of individuality, which does not belong to the mat- ter that composes them. Chemistry reproaches both of them with sometimes establishing Species gratuitously, and yet she is obliged to confess that both of them have frequently anticipated her, by indicating distinctions of substances, of which she has only been able to give an account by her analysis, after the fact had been ascertained.
The only difference is, that each of these two great minera- logists gives too exclusive a preponderance to those characters which he has most attentively studied.
Haiiy, considering crystallisation as alone worthy to be set in competition with analysis, has resorted to methods which are more rigorous and more scientific, but from which a great many substances escape.
Werner, admitting subordinate properties to the same privi- lege, embraces more easily all kinds of minerals, but he has overlooked what is most profound and mysterious in tlieir na^ ture ; and when, in the conflict of these two methods, he has en- deavoured to set his subordinate properties in opposition not merely to analysis, but to crystallisation itself, he has almost al-
8
Cuvier's Historical Eloge of Werner.
ways brought himself under the condemnation of that funda- mental law, of which the properties he wished to employ are on- ly corollaries.
Werner had thus devised a language for describing minerals; —he had arranged them ; — he had assigned to each its distinc- tive characters, and had, in this manner, formed a Mineralogy, strictly so called, or what he named Oryctognosy^ that is to say, the knowledge of fossils.
The history of their arrangement on the globe, or what he called Geognosy^ that is the knowledge of the Earth, was the third point of view under which he considered them.
The Earth, in fact, is composed of mineral masses, and mo- dern observers have satisfied themselves, that these masses are not thrown together at random.
Pallas, during his laborious travels to the extremity of Asia, had remarked that their superposition could be referred to fun- damental laws.
Saussure and De Luc in traversing, in many directions, the most elevated mountain chains of Europe, had confirmed these joint observations.
Werner, without quitting his small province, has carried the knowledge of these laws to its utmost, and he has been able to read, in these laws, the history of all the revolutions of which they are the work.
Tracing every bed throughout its whole length, without per- mitting himself to be led astray by the interruptions which di- vide it, by the mountain crests and difierent elevations which rise above it, he has determined, in some sort, their different ages, and the age of all the accessory matters which are inter- mingled with the principal substances.
The different fluids by which the globe has been surrounded, —the changes of their composition, — the violent movements by which each change has been accompanied ; — all of these have been found written, to his eye, in the monuments which they have left.
A universal and tranquil ocean deposites, in great masses, the primitive rocks, — those rocks which are distinctly crystallised, and in which silica is the first predominating ingredient. Gra- nite forms the base on which all the others rest. To granite
Cuvier’s Historical Eloge of Werner^ 9
succeeds gneiss, which is only a granite beginning to be slaty. By degrees, argil predominates. Schists of different kinds ap- pear ; but in proportion as the purity of the precipitations is changed, the distinctness of the crystalline grain is diminished. Serpentines, porphyries, and traps succeed, in which this grain is still less distinct, although the siliceous nature of these rocks evinces the returning purity of the deposition. Intestine agita- tions in the fluid destroy a part of these primary deposites : new rocks are formed from their debris united by a cement. It is amidst these eonvulsions that living nature arises. Carbon, the first of these products, begins to shew itself. Lime, which had already been associated with the primitive rocks, becomes more and more abundant. Rich collections of sea salt, to be one day explored by man, fill immense cavities. The waters, again tranquillised, but having their contents changed, deposite beds less thick, and of greater variety, in which the remains of living bodies are successively accumulated, in an order not less fixed than that of the rocks which contain them. Finally, the last retreat of the waters diffuses over the land immense collec- tions of alluvial matters, the first seats of vegetation, of cultiva- tion, and of social life.
The metals, like the rocks, have had their epochs and their successions. The last of the primitive, and the first of the se- condary rocks, have received them in abundance. They be- come rare in countries of later formation. Commonly they are found in particular situations, in those veins which seem to be rents produced in the great rocky masses, and which have been filled after their formation. But they are not all of equal age. Those which have been last formed are easily known, because their veins intersect those of the more ancient, and are not themselves intersected. Tin is the oldest of them all ; silver and copper are the latest formed. Gold and iron, those two masters of the world, seem to have been deposited in the bowels of the earth, at all the different epochs of its formation ; but iron appears at each epoch under different forms, and we can assign the age of its different mines.
The necessity of abridging obliges me thus to unite under one view, results which, we may easily imagine, could only
10
Ciivier'’s Historical Eloge of Werner.
have been obtained by many thousand observations. But Wer- ner made all these observations with so much care ; he com- bined them with such scrupulous correctness, that all those which have since been made by others, have confirmed his ; and if we except his opinions respecting volcanic countries, of which I shall have another opportunity of speaking during this sitting, all the rest of his ideas have only met with a temporary oppo- sition.
Su<;h, then, is the explanation of the Geognosy, or of the po- sition of minerals above one another, and when they are consi- dered in their vertical situation. But there are other differences iii their horizontal position, that is, as they are placed by the sides of each other, of which it is not less important to give an ac- count. These form, therefore, a fourth point of view under which minerals may be considered, and which Werner desig- nated by the name of Geographical Mineralogy.
Indeed, the latest formed rocks, or those which cover the others, are less elevated : they are pierced by the more ancient rocks, which form the lofty mountains. From this we con- clude, that the fluid became lower in its level as its solid pro- ductions were multiplied. It divided itself into basins, of which the productions were different. The surface of different coun- tries is different, there, and the more so, the more attentively their structure is considered.
But every mineral may be turned to some use ; and on its greater or less abundance in particular places, on the greater or less facility with which it can be procured, depend frequently the prosperity of a people, — their progress in civilisation, — all the details, indeed, of their manners.
It is thus, that in Lombardy we see only houses of brick, though it is contiguous to Liguria, which is covered by palaces of marble. Its quarries of travertin made Rome the most beauti- ful city of the ancient world. Those of coarser limestone and of gypsum have made Paris one of the most agreeable of the mo- dern world. But Michael Angelo and Bramant could not have built at Paris in the same style as at Rome, because they could not have found the same materials ; and the same influ- ence of local soil, extends itself to things of a very different nature.
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Cuvier’s Historical Eloge of Werner.
Under the shelter of those limestone ridges which intersect Italy and Greece, which are of all heights, — which are rami- fied in all directions, — and which abound in springs ; — ^in those charming valleys, rich in all the productions of living nature, Philosophy and the Arts first sprung to life. It is there that those minds have arisen, of which the human race has most rea- son to be proud ; whilst the vast sandy deserts of Tartary and Africa have always been inhabited by fierce and wandering shepherds. And even in countries which have the same laws, and the same language, a practised traveller is able, from the manners of the people, from the appearance of their houses and