Ail. account of fame pieces of Amber prefented to the Author ; alfo of a 

 fnbftance refembling burnt paper, reported to have fallen out of the 

 clouds in Courland. 



x\ PrufTian Gentleman, by profcflion aphyfician, on a certain time, 

 earneflly requefted me, by letter, to receive a vifit from him, and, 

 \\ itii the lame letter, tranfmitted to me, Ibme i'mall pieces of Amber, 

 which, he faid, were fent as a preient to me, from fome perfons of 

 note in Pruflia. 



In thefe pieces of Amber were feveral fmall animals, namely, a 

 Fly, a Gnat, a Spider, and an Ant. In the two firft of thefe crea- 

 tures, I not only plainly iaw the wings, but, by the microfcope I 

 could difcover the featliers and hairs on them, and alfo thofe protu- 

 berances or appearances like coral beads, of which the eyes of thofe 

 inlec^ts arc compofed ; I alfo faw the hairs, azid nails or claws on all 

 of them, as plainly as if they had been placed before the microfcope, 

 without any intervening medium. In one of thefe pieces of Amber, I 

 law a little piece of ftraw, in which I could diftinguilh the tubes or 

 veflels of which ftraw is compofed. 



The manner how tliefe animalcules became inclofed in the Am- 

 ber, and the nature and compofition of Amber, are equally unknown 

 to me ; and I cannot llibfcribe to the theories or opinions of others, 

 which do not feem fufficiently fupported, nor am I at prefent parti- 

 cularly called upon, to make any farther enquiry into this matter. 



The fame Gentleman, among other fubjedls of converfation, told 

 me, that in Courland, there had been found in a field, fomething re- 

 fembling burnt paper, being as much as two or three flieetsinquan- 



