b o o k J t jn the fame Adts, vol. XVIII. for 1 757, he publiihed an
. _' .u ingenious paper, with a view to detedt the colouring prin-
« ciple in the cow-wheat (Mejatnpyrum arvenfe), the ftalks
u o f which, when faded, acquire a fine blue colour. They
« yield this •colour to water, and it is not deftroyed either
** by vinegar, or fpirit o f vitriol, or by alkalis, unlefs boiled
«* together with thefe latter 5 which led him to fufpedl
<c that a vegetable dye, or pigment, might be extracted from
this plant. In 17 58 , at which time he was diredtor o f the
n mines o f Dalecarlia and Weftmanland, Gronftedt publiihed
“ his 1 Effay towards a fyftem o f Mineralogy.’ It was printed
*• in the Swedifh language, and without the name of the au-
“ thor. In 1760, it was tranilated into German; and in
** 17 70 , into Englifh; and is now in the hands o f all dili-
« gent inquirers into the knowledge o f foffils. Wallerius
« himfelf has called it Opus Jtne pari. The author, not be-
“ ing led away with what he calls Figuromania, but neg-
0 ledting the external appearances o f mineral bodies, has fuc-
ceeded beyond all others, in claffing them according to their
« conftituent principles. This method obliges him to make
■** no diftindtion between earths and ftones; and to throw
“ into an appendix all that are called figured extraneous fof-
ills, which had held fb diftinguiihed a rank in former
*l fyftems.
“ In the Stockholm Adts for 1 7 6 1 , he has given fome in-
“ ftrudlions relating to the choice o f ftone for building;
0 and hints at 'the practicability o f ufing the flag o f iron
“ fmelting houfes, by running it into* moulds for bricks;
“ which hint is profecuted in a fubfequent paper o f the year
u 1 7 6 3 , advifing, that the lime which is ufed fhould be re-
* This is now pra&iied at the forges at Brifiol j and there are long ranges o f w all near
Bath covered with this material*
“ duced
M duced into fine powder. In the fame volume he comma* CHAr-
■ _ * V I I I .
“ nicates fome obfervations 1 on the Phyfieal Geography o f . ■
u the Province o f Jemtland in Sweden.’ In the 25 th volume
“ for 176 4 , Gronftedt delivered in a procefs on platina,when
“ melted with nickel and fulphur; which he found reco-
** verable in the form o f a black powder, by diftblving the
“ mixed fubftanee in aqua-fortis.
“ It is to be lamented that this able man did not live
“ longer, to improve ftill further that fcience he fo much
“ enlightened. He died in 1 7 6 5 , in the 43d year o f his
age."
A pofthumous work o f this accurate mineralogjft has
lately made its appearance. For fome time before his death
he was employed in arranging and preparing for the prefs
an account o f the mines o f Weftmanland and Dalecarlia, o f
which he was fuperindent. A copy o f this performance,
originally written by the author in the S wediih tongue, which
he completed but did not live to publiih, was fortunately
procured by Mr. Georgi, adjunct to the Imperial Academy o f
Sciences at St. Peterlburgh ; who has given to the World a
German tranilation o f it under the following title*, “ Cron-
“ ftedt’sMineralogical Account o f the Mines o f Weftmanland
“ and Dalecarlia, from his own obfervations and refearches ;”
a work replete with much curious information, and remarkable
for that accuracy and precifion, which fo highly diftin-
guiih all his other writings.
“ I regret that it is not in my power to furnifh the reader
“ with more particular anecdotes of profeffor Bergman. He
“ very early diftinguiihed himfelf by a ftrong attachment to
A< fcience; and was, at a young period o f his life, made pro-
* “ M in e p IG e f c h ic h t e u e b e rW e i lm a n - “ a u f Beobach tungen u n d U n te r fu e ch un -
“ landifche u n d D ale car lifch c E rd g eb u rg e “ gen g eg ru en d e t.” & c .j
“ feilor