MODE I. GRAPHITE. 545 



It is sometimes of a scaly appearance, which 

 Werner has arranged as a subdivision. 



In the perusal of books of mineralogy, every 

 judicious reader must have remarked that, ac- 

 cording to the various dispositions of the authors, 

 they are fertile and satisfactory on some topics, 

 and barren on others : whence the great utility 

 of compilation, whose office, from the days of 

 Aristotle and the first dawn of science, has been 

 to collect, and arrange for the universal benefit, 

 facts and observations, which became more va- 

 luable from being concentrated. The prince of 

 the Roman poets compares this practice to that 

 of the bee, who prepares her elegant edifice and 

 useful honey from various flowers, some of which 

 only perfume the desert air. This work has, 

 therefore, without hesitation or apology, adopted 

 interesting descriptions from former writers, 

 whether domestic or foreign, but especially the 

 latter; for many excellent works are published 

 which will not bear complete translation, but of 

 which detached portions are highly satisfactory 

 and interesting. Such is the elementary treatise 

 on mineralogy by the ingenious Brongniart, di- 

 rector of the celebrated manufacture of porcelain 

 at Sevres, whose accounts of graphite and an- 

 thracite (which will follow in its proper place), 



VOL. i. 2 N 



