S E C T I O N XVIII.
An accotint o f Mr. Williams’s Book, called
the Mineral Kingdom.
Edinburgh 1789, 2 Vols. 8vo.
Vbl. I. 450, p. p. Vpl. II. 531.
T h is work is written in fb Angularly prolix
and confufed a manner» that an analyfis
of it may be ufeful to thofe who pcffels
the work, and to thofe who do not, may
afford an inftru£tive account of its contents.
The title page exprefies that it is divided
into three parts:
“ Part I. O f the flrata of coal, and the
concomitant flrata.”
“ Part
i77
Part II. Mineral veins and other beds,
and repofitories of the precious and ufeful
metals.
Part III. Of the prevailing flrata, and
of the principal, and mod interefling phenomena
upon and within the furface of our
globe*
O f thefe Part II. which - occupies about
a third part of the firfl volume, is the mofl
curious and interefling j but like the reft,
difgufts by its tedious prolixity, and want
of fcientific arrangement.
At the end of the fecond volume is a table
of contents which ought to have been prefixed
to the work. There are neither chapters
nor feftions, fo that the reader is bewildered
in a vaft mafs of matter; and this neglect
has led the author into many repetitions.
In the preface, the author explains the
importance of our coal and other mines to
the manufa&ures and commerce of the na-
N ticn;