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PREFACE
It is now well on to
fifty years since the author of the present work began to turn his
attention to Mineralogy. During the time that has since elapsed he
collected an exceptionally large number of specimens from almost every
known mineral locality in Scotland, and made several hundred analyses.
In addition, he drew a large number of figures, and published various
papers containing the results of his investigations upon both the
Geognosy and the Mineralogy of his native land. The present work may be
regarded as the outcome of all this labour. Dr Heddle had been engaged
in the preparation of The Mineralogy of Scotland for so many years that
his friends had begun to despair of ever seeing it published, but when
his health finally gave way and he foresaw that he could no longer hope
to see the book completed in his own lifetime, he made over the
manuscript and the figures of crystals to Mr Thoms, expressing the wish,
as he did so, that he should get the book published.
In the case of a posthumous work to be completed and published under
these circumstances, it was but natural that the family of the author
should regard it as a point of the first importance that the book should
appear as nearly as possible in the form in which it is believed the
author would have completed it himself. Accordingly, as few alterations
as possible have been made, and but little additional matter has been
appended, except what appeared to be necessary for the full
understanding of the author’s meaning. The unfinished sections have been
completed as much as possible from material left by the author; and in
each case where any doubt arose with regard to the author’s latest
views, we have been guided by the information afforded by the Scottish
Mineral Collection in the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, which was
arranged under the author’s own supervision, with the assistance of the
Editor. All additional matter supplied by the Editor is enclosed within
square brackets.
A comparatively small number of the figures of crystals which have been
engraved were left in the condition of first sketches. The majority of
these have been carefully projected, in accordance with Dr Heddle’s
views, by Mr Wilbert Goodchild.
As Dr Heddle’s labours extended over so many years, it has happened that
he did not employ any particular crystallographic notation consistently
throughout the work. It does not seem to have occurred to him that he
might not finish the book himself, and it was, possibly, for that
reason, that he left no clue to either the meaning of his symbols or the
sources whence his figures of'crystals were taken. As far as possible
these defects have been made good; and Dr Heddle’s symbols are now given
with what are believed to be their indexes, which are accompanied by the
symbols employed by Dana (6th Edition, System of Mineralogy), in each
case where these differ from those employed by the author.
The author died before making the final selection of the illustrations,
and it has therefore been deemed advisable to have these all engraved,
just as they left his hands, even though some of them appear to have
been taken from other sources.
As regards the Scottish Mineral Localities, it is important to remember
that much of Dr Heddle’s collecting was done before there were many
railways in Scotland, and also before the Ordnance Survey maps appeared.
As a consequence, there existed much diversity in the spelling of many
place-names, and furthermore, many such of great importance as mineral
localities never found their way on to even the best maps. Dr Heddle
was, therefore, often led to adopt a phonetic spelling for the names of
some of these. These, and other reasons, have made the task of
identifying the exact localities whence the minerals were obtained one
of considerable difficulty. A large number of correspondents in all
parts of Scotland, as well as the officers of the Geological Survey,
have aided in lessening this difficulty. The chief helper, however, in
this as well as in other matters connected with the revision of the
proof sheets, has been Mr James Currie, who has gone over much of the
ground, especially on the west coast of Scotland, from which Dr Heddle
collected, and whose extensive knowledge of Scottish minerals and their
localities has been placed unreservedly at our disposal. Fortunately Dr
Heddle traced the course of his annual wanderings upon a set of the
Ordnance Survey maps of Scotland, which maps were bequeathed to the
Scottish Mountaineering Club.
The Editor of the present, work has also marked all the known localities
of Scottish minerals upon a set of the Ordnance maps, from data got from
the pages of this book, and from numerous other sources. These maps are
kept for public reference at the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art.
In an Appendix references are given to information which has been
acquired since the manuscript went to the printers. The Editor has drawn
some maps from data which are chiefly taken from the 6th Edition of
Dana’s System. The methods of construction of these maps is fully
described by the Editor in a paper published in the Proc. Boy. Phys.
Soc. Edin, for 1900. He has also drawn up a full Index to Localities,
and has added other indexes which the reader may find useful. Mr Thoms
has compiled the County List.
Messrs Macfarlane & Erskine’s engravings speak for themselves, and it is
certain that mineralogists will be grateful to Mr Wood for the care and
skill he has bestowed upon the reproduction of Dr Heddle’s delicate and
artistic drawings of crystals.
Edinburgh, 30th January 1901.
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