SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS AT HOME
will come forward and hand me some bread in return.
"There are, however, some plans which I have entertained for some time, and which at last have assumed a definite shape. I should like to see how far they meet with your approval: First, to translate what I have published into Latin or French, and to send it then to Holland and England; to which I should like to add, by way of improvement, some of my discoveries about fire and stones, and about some improvements in mining matters; besides some other papers which are not yet printed. Would you be kind enough to give the names of some who write scientific papers and memoirs? Second, as I think I now in some measure understand the mechanics which are of use in mining districts and in mines, so far at least as to be able better than any one else to describe what is new and old there, and further to understand the theory of fire and stones, as to which I have made quite a number of discoveries, I intend to spend all my remaining time upon what may promote everything that concerns mining, and on the basis which has already been laid, in collecting as much information as possible. Third,
71
