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DICTIONARY

OF

ARTS and SCIENCES;

COMPREHENDING ALL

The Branches of Ufeful Knowledge,

WITH

ACCURATE DESCRIPTIONS as well of the
various MACHINES, INSTRUMENTS, TOOLS, FIGURES,
and SCHEMES neceffary for illuftrating them,

AS OF

The Claffes, Kinds, Preparations, and Uses of NATURAL
PRODUCTIONS, whether ANIMALS, VEGETABLES,
MINERALS, FOSSILS, or FLUIDS;

. Together with

The KINGDOMS, PROVINCES, CITIES, Towns, and
other Remarkable Places throughout the WORLD.

Illuftrated with above Three Hundred COPPER-PLATES,
curiously engraved by Mr. JEFFERYS, Geographer and Engraver to
his Royal Highness the Prince of WALES.

The Whole extracted from the Beft AUTHORS in all Languages,

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Printed for W. OWEN, at Homer's Head, in Fleet ftreet.

MDCC LIV.

GEM

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59-11-1

THE

INTRODUCTION.

A

S mankind, at leaft in all the polite and civilized parts of the world, are abundantly convinced of the ineftimable value of knowledge, we fhall not detain the reader with needlefs encomiums of it; neither fhall we enter upon a tedious hiftory of the rife and progrefs of the feveral arts and sciences. It appears to us much more interefting, as well as more conducive to our present purpofe, to employ the few pages allotted for an Introduc tion, in fhewing how juftly this work merits the title of a Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; this we fhall attempt to do, by briefly explaining the defign and nature of the work, and afterwards giving a fhort analyfis of the fubject

matters contained in it.

In general, then, it is defigned, and, upon examination, we are confident will be found, to be more univerfal and comprehenfive, than any work of the like nature, hitherto published in any language: for not only are the larger branches of fcience, and general claffes of natural objects, here explained and illustrated; but, likewife, their various fubdivifions purfued throughout the most minute ramifications: thus, the properties of Points and Atoms, for inftance, are by no means omitted, though contained in much narrower bounds than thofe of Lines, Angles, Surfaces, and Solids: here too the smallest Infects and Plants find a place, only a lefs one than thofe allotted for the defcription of the Elephant and Oak: in a word, it will contain, fo to fpeak, the quintefcence of literature, extracted from loads of grofs materials, and especially from that chaos of words which fills up whole pages, where one paragraph might have ferved. But this is not all; for befides lopping off excrefcences, curtailing fuperfluities, and wholly rejecting ufelefs lumber, particular care has been taken to fupply the deficiencies, as well as to correct what appeared to be amifs in the plan of former fcientifical lexicographers: hence it is that fome of our articles are more full than theirs, others more concife, and a multitude of entirely new ones added; not to mention the different arrangement and difpofition which obtain on many occafions. Among the new articles may be ranked most, if not all, the geographical ones, many.com mercial and scientifical, and not a few in natural history.

This work, therefore, will make a Complete, though concife, Body of Arts and Sciences, Natural Hiflory, and Geography, difpofed in the commodicus form of a dictionary; concerning which form we find ourfelves obliged to remark, that fome have very injudiciously condemned the ufe of references. A thoufand inftances might be brought, to prove their being indifpenfibly neceffary to the perfection of fuch a work: thus, under the general article ANIMAL, after defining what is meant by the term, and diftributing it into the claffes QUADRUPEDS, BIRDS, FISHES, &c. the nature of a dictionary, which treats of every thing under diftinct articles, makes references to thefe heads, for the particular defcription and fubdivifions of each, not only useful, but an effential, part of the work. On the other hand, to avoid needlefs repetitions, it has been judged fuf

A.2

ficient.

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