FAUJAS DE SAINT-FOND Barthélémy Recherches sur les volcans éteints du Vivarais et du Velay, avec un discours sur les volcans brûlans, des mémoires analytiques sur les schorls, la zéolite, le basalte, la pouzzolane, les laves & les différente substances qui s’y trouvent engagées.

Hoover coll., 294; Neville, I, 447 (note).

Faujas de Saint Fond, who had trained as a lawyer, moved to Paris and befriended Buffon. He first became assistant naturalist at the Muséum, then the king's commissioner for mines. Faujas then travelled throughout France and Europe studying the surface of the globe, its constitution and the materials that make it up. He extended his observations particularly to volcanic products. In this work, Faujas develops his theory on the formation of volcanoes, a theory that is more ingenious than any previously put forward on this subject. An important work in the history of chemistry, Faujas also refers here to the manufacture of cement, described in the chapter entitled Recherches sur la pouzzolane (pp.201-242).

"In 1775 [Faujas] discovered a rich pozzolana mine on mount Chenavary, which was used by the French government for building the port of Toulon. The use of pozzolana (a volcanic ash containing silica, alumina, lime, etc.) for the preparation of mortars and hydraulic cements is covered" (Neville).

The fine plates depict volcanos and minerals.

Some occasional foxing or toning, else a fine copy.