The new lives inferted in this volume are those of Abernethy, John, a divine; Ainsworth, Robert, a grammarian; Akenfide, Mark, a poet; Amhurst, Nicholas, a poet and political writer;. Amory, Dr. Thomas, a divine; Anfon, Lord; Aram, Eugene; Arbuthnot, John; Aftell, Mary; Baillie, Robert; Baker, Thomas, an antiquary; Baker, Henry, a naturalift; Balguy, John, a divine; Baptift, John, a flower-painter; Barclay, William and John; Barnard, Sir John; Barrington, Shute, Viscount; Bafkerville, John, a printer.

If our prefent limits would permit, we fhould, with pleafure, make fome farther extracts from the new materials with which the Editor has enriched this volume: but we muft, for the prefent, content ourselves with remarking, in general, that thefe additions breathe a fpirit of manly freedom on political and theological fubjects, which is by no means uniformly ap parent in the original work.

[To be concluded in another Article.]

E.

ART. V. Mineralogia Cornubicnfis; A Treatise on Minerals, Mines, and Mining: containing the Theory and Natural History of Strata, Fiffures, and Lodes, with the Methods of difcovering and working of Tin, Copper, and Lead Mines, and of cleanfing and metalizing their Products, &c. By William Pryce, of Redruth in Cornwal. Folio. 21. 2s. White. 1778.

T

HIS is a production of a very different nature from the work which is the fubject of the fecond article in the prefent month's Review. The author of it is a plain man, who concerns himself very little about the quinteffences, and the mercuries, of metals; nor endeavours to amufe his readers with vifionary fpeculations, or to deceive them by unintelligible, impracticable, or fallacious proceffes: but communicates fubstantial and useful information, with refpect to the metallic productions of his native country, juft as they come out of nature's hands as well as with regard to the fubfequent operations of art upon them. His defcriptions, reflections, and precepts on thefe heads appear to have been the result of actual obfervation made by himself in perfon; or to be founded on materials which the Author feems to have been, for a long time paft, gradually collecting on the fpot, or the fcene of action. His performance is likewife the more valuable, as, notwithstanding the great national importance of the fubject, the art of mining, in Cornwal, appears to have been hitherto little indebted to any lights thrown upon it by English Writers.

The want of fuch affiftance,' fays the Author, in the direction of the ufeful art of mining, as it is hoped this treatise may afford, has been long complained of. It cannot, however, be denied that our mines are moftly well conducted; yet no fmall

I

fmall advantages may be derived from reducing the vague practice of common miners to a regular science, and bringing the experience of many into a fingle point of view.'-He further obferves that every corner of this ifland, as well as of Ireland, abounds with a variety of minerals, wholly unknown to the poffeffors; and that, were the knowledge of the indications of metals, and the mode of working mines, more diffused, new difcoveries would daily be made, to the great profit of landed proprietors, and the advantage of the public, by increasing its revenue, and employing confiderable numbers of the laborious poor.'-A ftriking proof is adduced by the Author of the great wafte and lofs fuftained in Cornwal, in confequence of a want of knowledge in the principles of metallurgy, fo late as the latter end of the laft century; when great quantities of rich copper ore were thrown away as abfolutely useless.

The great national importance of the tin and copper mines in Cornwal may be eftimated from the account, here given by the Author, of their produce. From this we collect that 3600 tons of block-tin have been lately coined into blocks in one year; and that, on an average for the laft twenty years, the annual product has been about 3000 tons; which is here faid to be double the quantity coined annually fixty years ago.

The mining for copper commenced only with the prefent century: the little which had been procured before having been merely adventitious, and accidentally met with in pursuit of tin. The quantity, and the rapid increafe, of this product will probably appear extraordinary to the greater part of our readers. From the Author's account of the quantities of copper ore fold annually from the year 1726 to the prefent time, it appears that, in the ten years included between 1726 and 1735, the produce fold was 64,800 tons; which (at an average price of 71. 15's. 10 d. per ton) amounted to 473,500 pounds fterling, or 47,350 pounds annually. During the ten years fubfequent to the year 1766, the quantity of copper ore difpofed of amounted to no lefs than 264,273 tons; which (being fold at 61. 14 s. 6 d. per ton) amounted in value to 1,778,337 pounds fterling; or about 177,833 pounds fterling annually.

The Author divides his work into five books. In the firft, he treats of metals and metallic fubftances in general, and proposes a theory concerning their formation. In the fecond, he defcribes the ftrata of the earth and the fiffures in which metals are inclosed; their formation, various inclinations, interruption, &c. The third book contains the practical part of mining; particularly the proceffes of digging and raifing the ores, the finking of hafts, driving adits, drawing away the water, &c. Thefe articles are preceded by an account of the various methods of difcovering mines.

Among these different methods, we did not expect to find the ufe of the Virgula Divinatoria or divining wand recommended in this practical treatife of mineralogy. Even Father Kircher, who was poffeffed of fufficient faith in fympathies, and other ghoft-like affections of matter, abfolutely denied the powers afcribed to the wand; though he attempted to conftruct others which had the appearance of being founded on more rational and philofophical principles. Of the virtues of the divining rod, nevertheless, our Author declares himself fully convinced; chiefly however, it feems, relying on the authority of a perfon of whofe veracity we can entertain no doubt.-Mr. Cookworthy of Plymouth, to whom the public are indebted for the capital improvements in the porcelain manufactory now established at Bristol. Our Readers may perhaps be curious to fee a part of what is here advanced on this ftrange fubject.

As many,' fays the Author, deny, or at least doubt of the attributed properties of the divining rod, I fhall not take upon me, fingly to oppofe the general opinion, although I am well convinced of its abfolute and improvable virtues. It does not become me to decide upon fo controvertible a point; particularly, as from my natural conftitution of mind and body, I am almost incapable of co-operating with its influence; and therefore cannot, of my own knowledge and experience, produce fatisfactory proofs of its value and excellence. I fhall, however, give thofe accurate obfervations on the virtues of the Virgula Divinatoria, which I have been favoured with by my worthy friend, Mr. William Cookworthy, of Plymouth; a man, not lefs esteemed for his refined fenfe and unimpeachable veracity, than for his chemical abilities, &c.

His firft knowledge of the rod,' he fays, was from a Captain Ribeira, who deferted the Spanish service in Queen Anne's reign, and became the Captain commandant in the garrison of Plymouth; in which town he fatisfied feveral intelligent perfons of the virtues of the rod, by many experiments on pieces of metal hid in the earth; and by the actual discovery of a copper mine near Oakhampton, which was wrought for fome years. The captain made no difficulty to let people fee him ufe the rod, but he was abfolutely tenacious of the fecret how to diftinguish the different metals by it, without which the knowledge of its attraction is of little ufe; but by a close attention to his practice, the writer (Mr. Cookworthy) has difcovered this, and made many other discoveries of its properties, which he is willing fhould be published, being fully perfuaded of the great utility of this inftrument in mineral undertakings; and the reader may be affured that he is fully convinced of the truth of what he communicates, from abundant and very clear experience.'

The

The rod, which confifts of two hazle sticks tied together, fo as to make an angle, with fome vegetable fubftance, as packthread, is to be held in a particular manner; and is then faid to be attracted, firft by all the metals, and next by coals, limeftone, &c. in the following order: the fubftances first mentioned, having the ftrongest attraction to it:-1. Gold. 2. Copper. 3. Iron. 4. Silver. 5. Tin. 6. Lead. 7. Coals. 8. Limestone and Springs of Water.-One method, fays the writer, to determine the different attractions of thefe fubftances, is this: Stand holding the rod, with one foot advanced; put a guinea under that foot, and a halfpenny under the other, and the rod will be drawn down; fhift the pieces of money, and the rod will then be drawn towards the face or backwards to the gold, which proves the gold to have the ftronger attraction.'

But the difcriminating power of the rod operates, it seems, in a manner more certain and ready' than the former; fo that wands may be prepared that will only operate on gold and copper, iron, the white metals, &c. fingly, or exclufively. Thus for example, if a rod is wanted for diftinguishing gold or copper, nothing more is requifite than to bore a small hole at the top of it, and procure filings of iron, lead and tin, fome leaf filver, chalk in powder, coal in powder, and rafped bones. The leaft imaginable quantity of this mixture is to be put into the hole, which is then to be stopped with a peg of the fame kind of wood that the wand is made of. The old maxim, fimile fimili gaudet, is here reverfed: for the wand, we are told, will not approach to iron, lead, or any of the fubftances included in the top of it; but, on the contrary, will only be attracted by what was left out, viz. the gold and copper-which, by the way, feems not a little whimfical in the rod.

It is furely a difadvantage that the rod dips, as we are here informed, with equal vigour to a poor mine, and to a rich one; and will incline as ftrongly to a fiiver penny placed under your foot, as to the mines of Potofi: but the Author is of a different opinion. This quality, he fays, by no means diminishes its ufe in mining; for if it difcovered only rich mines, or the richer parts of a mine, the great prizes in the mining lottery would be foon drawn, and future adventurers would be dif couraged from trying their fortune.'-But furely there would be fome difadvantage in digging into the bowels of the earth, under an affurance of finding a copper mine; in confequence of an unlucky boy's having ftrewed or planted a few farthings, or ftretched fome fathoms of copper wire, under the feet of the Diviner!

We should lose fome share of our credit with our philofophical readers, were we to tranfcribe the particular and very mi

nute

nute directions here given by Mr. C. for the fuccefsful manage ment of the divining wand; or even to enumerate a few of the ftriking inftances of courfes that have been cut by means of it in Cornwal.'

It may be alleged, however, that it is very unphilofophical to set bounds to the powers of nature; or to deny certain effects, or properties afcribed to bodies, merely because they are fingular, and we cannot account for them. It may be faid that there is nothing more extraordinary in the phenomena here attributed to the divining wand, than in those which are prefented to us daily by the powers of magnetism and electricity. Who, for inftance, a while ago, could have imagined it probable that, by the legerdemain of ftroking a bar of steel fixed to a pair of tongs, with the lower end of a poker, in a particular direction, it would acquire polarity, and an attractive power? or, to come fomewhat nearer the prefent case-that a perfon walking into the fields, with an electroscope, or an atmospherical divining wand in his hands, furnished at its farther extremity with only a couple of pith balls fufpended by threads, could divine, in confequence of their repulfion, that a cloud then over his head was replete with lightning, and name its fpecies?-To fay nothing of his afterwards bottling that lightning at pleafure: and the many wonderful feats he might perform with it thus bottled.

Thefe inftances, it is true, are to the full as wonderful as any thing here related of the divining rod:-But while every philofopher acknowledges the truth of the magnetical and electrical proceffes abovementioned; though their difcovery is of fo recent a date; scarce one is to be found who gives the leaft degree of credit to the fuppofed powers of the divining wand; although it may claim a feniority of fome centuries, and has had fufficient time to establish its reputation. The reason is obvious. The former experiments invariably fucceed with any perfon without exception, who will take the trouble of trying them. No particular conftitution of body or mind, in short, no knack is requifite to fecure fuccefs to the operator: whereas the failure of the divining wand, except in certain privileged hands, is notorious. Its indications, we are told, depend on the adroitnefs of the performer; his animal fpirits too are neceffary to the procefs; and to be fure, it is not every one who can command his animal fpirits. We are told, however, that it conftantly anfwers in the hands of peasants, women and children, who hold it fimply, without puzzling their minds with doubts or reafonings.

We have fhewn our refpect to the prefent patron of the divining rod, at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of our readers, by having faid fo much concerning it. We muft,

however,