Tableau comparatif des résultats de la cristallographie et de l'analyse chimique, relativement à la classification des minéraux de HAÜY, René Just - 1809

Paris: Courcier, 1809. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 8vo (202x125 mm) [4], lvi, [2:errata], 312 pp., including half-title, 4 folding engraved plates. Contemporary full calf, spine and boards gilt, marbled endpapers (marginal staining by binders glue), minor browning (title stronger) and very little spotting. Good copy, collated complete. -----

Honeyman sale 4:1628; Ward & Carozzi 1025; Wellcome 3:224 . - FIRST EDITION OF HAUY'S SURVEY OF THE RESULTS OF CRYSTALLOGRAPHY AND CHEMICAL ANALYSIS AS THEY RELATE TO CLASSIFYING MINERALS. Chemical composition traditionally determines four classes in mineralogy (acidiferous, earthy, nonmetallic combustible, and metallic) and the order and genera. The form of the constituent molecule determines the species. In this work, Hauy "emphasized the invariability of the form and the composition of the constituent molecule of a species but was forced to admit that the definite proportions were often blurred by heterogeneous materials accidentally mixed with the compound" (DSB). By extension, he realized that chemical analysis cannot determine which components are accidental and which essential, since even a small amount of a substance may impress its form on a larger amount of "accidental" impurities. "Only for geometry are all crystals pure," was Hauy's conclusion.