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INTRODUCTION. Mineralogy is that branch of natural hiftory * Definition which makes us acquainted with all the properties ^ mncra '° and relations of minerals. As thefe properties and relations are very different from each other, we c 2 cannot (( ^ true « that defcription, when employed about events, conftitutes hiftory,” then certainly the ufual accepta- lion o the appellation, Natural Hiftory, is erroneous. That re- lation which afpires to the dignity of hiftory, muft embrace not only an exaft and full defcription of the objett or thing treated ® » but alfo afcertain the relative time as well as manner of its produdfion, aijd tlie change and alteration, if any, it has under, gone in arriving at its prefent ft ate. Natural hiftory therefore ompreliends two diftinCt branches, the one making us acquaint* with natuial objefts as they are prefented by nature, furnilh- hiilicient data and eaiily applicable criteria to diftin- ^ U ' 1cm ^ rom ea olt other, and this is Natural Defcription. e ot r branch, Natural Hiftory properly fo called, coniifts in t e inveftigation of the ancient and original ilate of natural ob- je • s, and the fuccedive changes and alterations they have under gone till the prefent time. Thus in botany and zoology the queftions, \\ ere all animals and plants originally created as we at