Preface

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-gna stone, and its preparation into a beautiful phosphorus original: Phosphoro; here referring to a light-bearing substance or phosphorescent material—which a German nobleman introduced and made known in Paris to the great astonishment of the French—is described in detail and with high praise. This testimony, where a profoundly learned Frenchman speaks on behalf of the Germans against his own countrymen, certainly belongs among the defenses of the German name original: Vindiciis nominis Germanici. In this work, Mr. Cramer—the highly-appointed Counselor to His Electoral Serenity of Brandenburg—defends and maintains with commendable zeal and a gallant manner the merits of the Germans in the advancement of the arts and sciences against certain Pharisaical In this context, "Pharisaical" implies an air of intellectual or moral superiority. Frenchmen who would rather reduce them to mere zeros in the Republic of Letters Republic of Letters: the international community of scholars and intellectuals during the 17th and 18th centuries who shared knowledge across borders..

In general, however, all readers will find something here that will partly instruct them, partly provoke reflection, and partly entertain them. For the learned, the new and tangible explanation of chemical principles in the introduction will provide occasion for many fine thoughts. Artists and workers in gold, silver, and other metals shall, in the first part, learn of the