b o o k « claflification o f the foffil kingdom.’ This is a work o f
. “ much labour and erudition ; and is highly gratifying to a
“ curious fearcher into nature. He begins with the earlieft
<£ writers on the fubjedt, and follows them, through each
“ century to the prefent time. He has exemplified the latter
“ part o f his lucubrations in his own fyftem, o f which he
“ publiihed the firft volume in a Latin edition in 1 7 7 2 ;
“ and the fécond in 17 78 . This work muft be confidered
v as his capital performance. The French edition of 1754
“ had been in great eftimation and confiant ufe t this is much
“ enlarged ; and, by being rendered into Latin, is become
“ more fcieutifick, arid better adapted to general ufe. The
great treafure o f erudition and experimental knowledge
“ which it contains, makes it unqueftionably one o f the moft
“ valuable books on the fcience , and, in defiance ; o f all
« changes o f fyftems or circumftances in mineralogy and
‘“ .chymiftry, it muft long remain a ftriking inftatice o f the
“ .labour, learning, and fcience, o f its author. Befide theex-
“ cellent arrangement given to the whole fubjedt, and the
well-defined charadters-of each clafs, order, and genus, it is
“ enriched at the end of each genus with copious Jcbolick,
containing the opinions o f preceding authors on the fe veral
££ fubftances ; and, after all thefe, his own idea o f the true
“ nature or compofition of each. One o f the lateft of his
“ works is his Meditationes de OrigineMundi, printed at Stock»
“ holm, in odtavo, 17 79 , pp. 242. It is to be expedted, that
“ many of the principles contained in this work, relating to
“ fire, light, fixed air, &c. and much o f his reafoning,. par»
“ ticularly on the inflammable, faline, and aqueous princi-
“ pies in bodies, will not be received by all the philofophers
“ o f this country ; nor his theory of the formation of this
“ globe, be thought fatisfactory. Yet, the learning he has
7 “ difj|
difplayed, and his well-intended fclicitude to. reconcile his
“ fyftem and the changes o f the elements-, to the Mofaick1— *-—>
fi account of the creation, will enfure his work a candid re-
“ ception among all who are inclined to fpeculate on thefe
“ intricate fubjedls, and are friendly to religion.
“ This learned roan,after having filled the chair for thirty
“ years with high reputation, refigned in 176 7 the profef-
“ forlhip, and was honoured by his fovereign with the or>-
“ der o f Yafa. Wallerius is now above eighty, and ftill
“ continues to enjoy, at his houfe near Upfala, a literary
“ retirement.
“ Axel Frederick Cronftedt, the excellent Crohftedt, as
<£ he is j.uftly called, defcended from a noble German family
“ naturalized in Sweden, was a native o f Sudermanland, and
££ was born in 172 2 . He ftudied meneralogy under Walle-
<£ rius,.Swab, and Til as. He commenced his walk in this
“ field o f fcience by a difcovery w hich. foon rendered him
“ confpicuous, that of a new femimetal, called Nickel. He
gave the firft intimation o f it in a paper publiihed in the
“ Stockholm Adis, for the year 1 7 5 1 ; , and he detailed fome
“ experiments made upon it, in the fame work, for the year
“ 17 5 4 . I n i7 5 3 h e publiihed Obfervations £ on Gypfum
££ and in the fixteenth volume o f the Adts for 17 5 5 , gave a
“ curious account o f filver precipitated from water in th e
“ Kongiberg mines. In 1756 Cronftedt diftinguiilied him-
££ felf by the difcovery o f the zeolite, which he firft named,
<£ and feparated as a diftindl ftone, confifting o f a peculiar
“ earth, as its bails : his obfervations on it were printed in.
“ the Stockholm Adts for that year. Profefior Bergman has-
“ fince found, by analyzing zeolite, that it confifts o f amixture
of iiliceous, argillaceous, and calcareous earth.
In