viii PREFACE. 



To avoid a tedious enumeration, we lliall 

 only mention our wonderful mines of rock 

 fait; our alluin and our vitriol works; our 

 various marbles, alabafters, and ftones ; our 

 moft excellent clays and earths * ; all which 

 articles, and many more unnoted here, might 

 have furnifhed us with an ample field for pa- 

 jiegyric. 



Our botanical produdiions are not lefs abun- 

 dant ; but the works of Ray^ which have 

 lately been much enlarged and methodized, 

 according to the Linncean fyftem, by the in- 

 genious Mr. Iludfony in his Flora Anglica^ 

 are a fufficient difplay of our vegetable riches. 



Our Zoology would be a copious fubjedl 

 to enlarge on, but the work in hand re- 

 trains us from anticipating our reader's curi- 

 ofity. We might expatiate on the clouds 

 of Soland geefe which breed on the Bafs 

 ijland, or Puffins on that of Prieftholmc : on 

 our fiili, and other marine animals ; on our 

 infeds, and the various other fenfitive pro- 

 dudions of this kingdom ; but we forbear a 



* If the inquifitive reader is defirous of a farther account 

 of the number and excellence of our fubterraneous produc-, 

 tions, we refer him to the learned Dr. Wood^ixard^^ Cata- 

 logue of 4he Englijh FoJJih, London 1729, particularly to p. 5, 



parade 



