316 New Scientific Books. [April, 



written in pure and elegant Italian ; being a translation from the Latin 

 of the author. It has a preface by Michael Tramezzino, the printer in 

 Venice, 1550. Georgio Agricola states at leaf 421, that his mo- 

 tives for having entered so copiously into the study of metals, was 

 their utility in the practice of the Greek and Roman physicians, of 

 the fruits of which he modestly leaves others to judge, referring for 

 testimonials to Bartolomeo Baccho and Lorenzo Bermanno, men of 

 letters, as well as expert metallurgists, whom he has often, he says, 

 wearied with his inquiries. 



During the dialogue, they ascend to the mining country, and while 

 examining the operations of the mines, discuss many interesting sub- 

 jects relative to the acquaintance of the ancients with the nature of 

 metals, and to the uses to which they applied them in medicine; 

 also respecting the nature of plumbagine, pyrites, red silver ore, earths 

 of various colours, minium, cinnabar, rubrica, spars, gypsum, &c. 



In Froben's Folio, 1563, of Agricola's Arte Metalli, translated from 

 the Latin into Italian by Michelangelo Florio, of Florence, and> y 

 him dedicated to Queen Elizabeth of England, there is another 

 dedication of the work, by Agricola himself, to the Duke of Saxony, in 

 which, after recapitulating all that Greek and Latin authors have 

 written on the subject, he adds, " In our language, I find two only ; 

 one relating to experiments on ores and metals, which work is very 

 obscure, and its author unknown ; the other on mineral veins, which 

 is said to have for its author, Pandolfo, an Englishman," Query, who 

 was this Pandolfo ? A book in German also, he says, was written by 

 Calbo Fribergo, a physician of but little reputation ; and all these, it 

 should seem, wrote previously to Vannoccio Birenguccio ; but of him 

 he speaks so handsomely, that you will permit me to give it in his own 

 words : 



" Poco ha iziandio che Vannoccio Biringuccio da Siena, homo dotio 

 Sf ispcrimentato in mo/te cose, fece un libro in lingua Italiana, nel quale 

 tra trattato del modo di fondere, spartire, et congiugnere insieme i 

 metalli. Ha eziandio con brevita trattato del modo di cuocere alcune 

 vene et pue chiaramente ha dichiavato e mostrato il modo de fare 

 alcuni sughi : e quando. Io lessi queste sui cose, mi ternaron a mente 

 quei che gia vidi fare in Italia : ma Paltre cose che io scrivo, o egli 

 non l'ha punto toeche a legiermente ;" adding, that the book was given 

 him by Badoaro, a noble Venetian, when passing through Marienburg as 

 Ambassador to King Ferdinand. Might not, therefore, this work be 

 interesting to English artists, if carefully translated? 



I am, Sir, yours, &c. 



G. Cumberland. 



Article XIII. 

 NEW SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 



PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION. 



Dr. Pring, of Bath, will shortly publish an Exposition of the Princi- 

 ples of Pathology. 



Capt. Franklin's Narrative of his Journey from Hudson Bay to the 



