B o t a n y ..
Z o o lo g y .
Mineralogy.
,.T h e indigenous V egetables of the Pruffian- dominions have hitherto
been viewed in only a very curfory manner. A m o n g , thefe there do
mot feem to be an y which have not already been fuffieiently noticed in.
the p re c ed in g ' accounts, o f Britain, and Auftria. T h e mountainous
ridges of; Pruffia being few, and o f little, importance, there is in conic
quc nee a great .deficiency o fjilp in e plants, the prevailing, vegetables
being thofe that inhabit level and fandy d if tr i^ s 1 the few following
ones are all th a t it feems nCceflary to notice confiftently with our general
plan. Calla pa luftris; afarnrn e u ro p ium , , a fa r a b a c c a iris Sibirica,
'S ib e ria n iris; lilium bulbiferum and martagon, oraiige and w a rta g o nM cs;
laferpitium ktifoliu m, la fe rw o rt; and nicqtiania tabacum, tobacco, this
plant, originally a native o f America, and probably alio o f the eaft, having
been long cultivated in Pruffia, has at- length eftablifhed itfelf in the foil,
and is found in th e ploughed fields, and hedges; as a common yqed.,..
The breeds of horfes, and cattle feem ,not tb have -itppreffied ffaye|lers
■with any drftin&ion from- thofe o f ;the. adjacent ^QU^rres^ and,-few
parts are calculated for exeellentrbreeds of ffieep v ^ h e , urus, fop large
and ferocious wild cattle of Lithuania, have alfo appeared in, Pruffia
proper, but the racevfeetns nearly extindt. ' Qne -of its c'hife£,f haunts
wasTthe foreft of1 Mafovia not far from Warfaw. The 'marmo^ aad;a
fpecies of caftor, may alfo be claffed among the }wild .animals;.,and
among. the mpre ferocious the lynx, an animal of the 'cal^&clim&tes,
about the fize of a fox, -but the face and motions rather-refemblevthpfe
of the cat. Nor are thefe regions unvifited b y the bear and the elk.
The Oder fometimes affords fturgeon o f a large fize.
-pbe mineralogy o f the Pruffian dominions will n o t afford an ex-
tenfive theme. Sand and plains rarely contain minerals, and eveffthe
mountains o f Silefia boaft o f few hidden treafures. Yet in the
fouthern diftrifts o f th a t province there were formerly mines o f gold
and filver, b u t the produce did n o t .'defray .the expence, though in the
time o f Bufehing tw o or three o f the latter metal continued to employ
fome' labourers. Mines o f copper and lead however ftiffj exift, and
there are confiderable jo u n d e rie s o f iron. I n ' the mines of Silefia is
fpund abundance p f chryfoprafe, which has been detected in various
ftages
ftages ;oj| tranfitipm, and appears to be a femi-bpal deriving .its green
ffindure -ffom'.-'nickel. 'Agates', jafpers, and clear çryftals of quartz,
vulgarly’.mailed diamohfl^Tar^ a^q. fq|nd0 n the Silefian mountains.
Cbal, a those üfeful mineral, c^cuP iphyafioijb'^aftSfc o f Silefia, and
the level diftridts Ibmetimes offer'good peat
But the moft'difthtguiffiecb a‘ndspe@ffiliap»ineral production of Pruffia
is amber, whiclyts* chiefly-found on ,the fi^tufkiid ffior'e of the Baltic,
near Pilku;À©n a neck o f land formed by the Frifch Haff, which feem 3.
to have>/bèè<àf;he ehief ffatlpjffhis mirieral from tl^earliefl k ^ s . Amber'
is allowed b y the beâ^mineralogifts tQ -be decidedly,of .ybgqtahl'e ojiginÿ,
but mineralized Tomeo operation/..of; .nature# ifhul^r<|^ that by .
■which animal fleffi jkf eonverted into a fubftaQce'<refemblirigfpefmaceîiA-
fft is found at.-.the d^pth qf ,abqut, ii^q feeg'U^ofing, qnv wmadtcoal, in
Jyrnps *bf varions' fizea, .fqme'^nye^ pounds in «weight^^än’d is often
waffied on ffiore by tempefts. By fridkion it bgçoimfes efedkeic, and haß
imparted .its Greek name.to the moderngpMJbfqpHy anffi dnArinpiqnf
1 eledkricity. It adds ahduf jopoL .yearl-fetp,tnef&yal* revenue. ' ''
.. Silefia prefents one fpHog offho't wate^at; V^arnibrun; near Hirfchberg,
which is,'as is believed, the bhiy mineral wafer yforfb ^rmtice in the
^Pruffian' domipidns.' _ ‘
/ JThe Sudetic chain qf mountains has been lîftl'ê explored*, and’ thy
ï^tèl päits of the Pruffian domimods can, ‘ëP cburfe, afford fejjSt^oïÿèixs
of natural curiofity, if we‘except the mines of amber abbvermentiöüddf!
A K irw.. ii, 66*. ■ it.
3 *
M in e r a l o -
Amber.
Mineral W iv
ters. ■ .:
NatureilCu*.
tfofitieétl V
VOL. I .