book a 0f the various methods hitherto ufed to unite mercury
. _ ' , “ with the marine a c id ; and he proiecutes the- Mftory of
“ this combination in two fubfequent volumes o f the, fame
“ adts.
“ Some buildings at Stockholm having fuffered by light-
«< ening in the year 176 9, our author* and his fucceffor in
“ the profeflbrlhip of natural philofophy* Mr. Wilkie, both
“ publiihed ‘ on the fubjedt o f conductors to lightening.’
“ In 1 7 7 1 , Vol. XXXII. o f the Stockholm Adts*profeflor
“ Bergman gives * fome Inftrudtions concerning the beft
“ Clay Compofitions for making Tiles,’ In 1 7 7 3 iffued his
“ obfervations on fixed air ; or, as he chufes rather to call if,
“ the aerial acid: this paper, and feveral-others, printed be-
“ fore and after this time, either feparatelyr, or in the Stock-
“ holm Adts, have fince been colledted, and publiflied.bythe
“ author in Latin, in three volumes, odtavo, 17 7-9, 17-80,
“ 178 3, under the.title o f Qpufiula phyjica et chemical*,
« pleraquefeorfim ante a edit a jam ab auiiore colleRa, remfa
« et aucla; and have further contributed to extend his fame,
“ and moil defervedly raife his charadter to a high rank
“ throughout Europe. The author propofes to carry, on his
“ mifcellaneous publication on the fame plan.
“ Dr. Trail’s account o f Iceland contains a very curious
“ letter from the profeflor, written in 1776* in which he
“ introduces many judicious obfervations on the eflfedts of
“ fubterraneous fires, on the origin and formation o f bafal-
“ tes, and the lavas and foflil produdts o f Iceland f .
* T h e followin g plan o f this w o rk is thus
laid down b y th e au th o r h imfelf. “ Primo
14 völun.ini ptæfertim H a íu rg ica inferu i, in
‘ ‘ fecun do m ine ralogica e t m e ta l lu rg i c a p ro -
** dibun t, in te r tio a ttrà tSH o n um do& rin a,
“ u n a cum tmalyfi quorundam corporum or-
“ g anicorum, in qua rto v a r ia ad phyficaaa
“ e t h iflo r iam -n a tu r a l em p e r tin e n tin , e t in
“ • f e q u e n tib u s i t e r u m c h em ic a , fi Deus vi-
te t am v ire f q u e l a r g ì tu r .” O p u f .P h y f . Praef.
p . X V I .
Se T r o i l ’ s l e t t e r s on Ice lan d , p . 338*1
400.
“ Profeflor
“ Profeflor Bergman has not confined his refearches and CHAP-
“ inquiries to the mere analyfis o f bodies in the laboratory,
“ but has extended his views to what is called phyfical geo-
“ graphy ; and has ventured to give the world his lucubra-
“ tions on the ftrudture and formation o f the earth, in apro-
“ fefled treatile on the fubject*. His eflay on the ufefulnefs
“ o f chymiftry, lately tranflated into the Englilh language,
“ evinces, not only his extenflve acquaintance with this fci-
“ ence in a theoretical and pradtical way, but alfo his compre-
“ henflve view o f the good effedts its improvement muft
“ have on the interefts o f mankind.”
It may be proper to obferve, that Mr. Bergman has com-
pofed two academical diflertations t, replete with much accurate
information on the origin and progrefs o f chymiftry. In
the firft he treats o f the rife o f that art and its gradual improvement
in a chronological feries to the middle o f the 7 th
century ; in the fecond he carries his inquiries from that period
to the middle o f the 17 th century; and it is to be hoped
that he will in the fame manner profecute this fubjedt to the
prefent time.
In the fourth volume o f the Upfala Adts, the profeflor
has lately put forth Meditationes de Syjiemate Foffiltum Natu-
rali\ or, Confiderations on the Natural Syltem o f Foffils.
This learned work is divided into two parts: the firft, on
their arrangement, treats of natural bodies in general, of the
criteria o f foffils in general, o f their clafles, genera, fpecies,
varieties; the fecond lavs down rules for giving names to
foffils; a great dellderatum in this branch o f natural knowledge;
and which will tend to prevent that confufion and
• “ Ph yfick Bc fk riftiung o'efoer J o rd k lo - + D e Primordiis C h em ix in 17 7 7 . C h e -
“ ■ t e t , " o r P h y fica l D e fc r ip tio r fb f the E a r th , m ix Progreflus a Medio S x c . V I I . ad M e dium
S x c . X V I I .— 1782.
N n n 2 uncertainty