Xll 



THE PREFACE. 



Of Thefe I had not the good Fortune to pur chafe many 

 that were either 'valuable or curioits. Thoje that are purely 

 African, or carry along with them at leafl the Infignia 

 and Char aBeriftich of that Country, may he accounted the 

 rareft ; thou^ indeed fome of them have been already taken 

 Notice of by Agoftini , Paruta , and other Authors. 

 However as thoje which I have collected, may perhaps be 

 the compleatefl Series of the Kind, I have given the Draw- 

 ings and Defcriptions of them in the Collection ofTapers that 

 are inferted after the Obfervations. 



If we except the Miffilia, {as fome Medalijls call the 

 fmall Br ajs Coins of the Lower Empire,) themoft common 

 are thofe of the Antonines, 0/ Alexander Severus, of 

 the Tounger Gordian , and of Philip ; in whofe Times 

 Africa feems to have been the moft adorned with Roman 

 Edifices. Some Pieces of Glafs-Money alfo are found now 

 and then by the Arabs, in the Ruins of fuch of their antient 

 Buildings, as are fuppofed to have been raijedhy Occ'ba 

 and Ben Eglib. For thefe Buildings, no lefs than thofe 

 erected by the Carthaginians and their immediate Suc^ 

 ceffors, have been fubjeci to their Changes and Revolutions. 

 All the Coins, which I have feen of this Kind, were flat 

 on the one Side, andimpreffed on the other, with the Ma- 

 hometan Creed , =^^^^ J^-^ ^^^ ^^i ^^ ^^ ^ There is 



no God but God; Mo-hammed is the Apoftle of 

 God. 



In putting together the Phvjicaland Mifcellaneous Obfer- 

 vations, I have endeavoured to ufe all the Brevity and Me- 

 thod, the Subject would allow ; avoiding alfo, as much as 

 poffible, the Repetition of what has been already taken Notice 

 of by former Authors. The Regifter of the Weather , 

 (p. 2 1 9.) was kept at the Houfe of the French Miffionaries 

 above-mentioned, and therefore I can plead only the ^JMerit 

 of being an Affiftant in that Branch of the Natural Hiftory, 



In drawing up likewife the Catalogue of Plants, which 

 contains near a hundred and forty unknown Species, / re- 

 ceivedgreat Affifiance from Mr. Profefjor Dillenius, whofe 



Character 



