Leitfaden der Mineralogie

Abstract

THIS “Guide to Mineralogy” is intended for the use of younger boys in German schools who have not yet received instruction in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Although it is customary to defer the study of mineralogy until after the latter subjects have been started, it is the author's belief that it is a subject that of itself can be made intelligible and interesting to younger boys. After a brief introduction of four pages, in which hardness and specific gravity are dealt with, he plunges into the subject, explaining such terms and principles as are necessary when occasion arises. The order in which the more common minerals are described follows the usual classification into elements, sulphides, oxides, carbonates, & c. Commencing with sulphur, an opportunity is given to explain some of the principles of crystallography in connection with the rhombic system of crystals; and under the sulphides, galena, zinc-blende, and iron-pyrites, the three important classes of the cubic system are described. A large amount of information is given in a very concentrated form, and possibly such an essence of mineralogy might not agree with quite young boys.