iv PREFACE, 



by foreigners. At a ftill later period Mr. 

 Keir has poured upon us many valuable 

 treafures in his excellent notes on Mr. Ma- 

 guer's Chymical Di&ionary, a work gene- 

 rally known, and equally efteemed ; yet fince 

 this work appeared, (the laft of any note 

 among us) fuch rapid advances have been 

 made in the mineralogical art in particular, 

 that it has put on quite a new face. Several 

 new femi metals have been difcovered, the 

 number of primitive earths afcertained, many 

 analyfes accomplifhed heretofore attempted ia 

 vain, and the art itfelf of Mineral Analyfis 

 brought to a degree of certainty and precifioa 

 of which it was fcarcely thought capable. 

 A&uated by the fame views as the patriotic 

 gentlemen juft mentioned, I have endea- 

 voured to collecl: in the enfuing treatife all 

 that has been hitherto done in this fcience, 

 with fome few improvements of my own, 

 modelled and digefted in the method that 

 feemed to me moft ufeful. 



The point which I principally laboured 

 was not to prefent the reader with a minute 

 detail of the various external appearances of 

 minerals in various countries, nor of their 

 fituation, vicinity, or mixture with each 

 other, circumllances ever contingent and for- 

 tuitous, much lefs to entertain him with 

 prolix and plaufible accounts of their origin, 



enquiries 



