988 on the pholas. * Octe 232 
Italy, where tkey are found in the hardest stones, 
but most.commenly in marble, which is broken with 
large hammers to come at the fith, which is reck~ 
oned a great delicacy. It would not suit your miscel. 
lany to enter more at large into the! history of this 
eurious fith; hall therefore, only farther observe that 
T have often found stones that had been preforated 
by pholades, deprived oftheir first inhabitant, whose 
place was supplied by other fhell fith, such as ‘oys- 
ters, ‘muscles, fc. probably! forced from their na- 
tive beds by storms, when very yoting, and by a hea 
vy swell of the ‘sea driven’ into the deserted habita- 
tion of the pholasy where they continue to encreasé 
in size till they completely fill the original excava- 
tion.’ The pholas is also described by Rondelet lib. 
‘'t. p. 4g. Lister hist. anim. Anglia, p. 172. Ale 
drovandus de testaceis lib. 3. » Muctarium Batfourt- — 
ani t$c. (8c. By the by mentioning this last author 
brings to my remembrance what Mr D’Argenyille 
says when giving a history of the mest famous. ca- 
binets of mat. hist. in Europe, which you {hall have 
in his own words. , 
** Le fameux cabinet. d’André Balfourianus mes 
decin, se voit dans la bibliotheque publique de la 
ville d’Edinbourg capitale d’Ecofse ; c’est une com- 
posé de tout ce qu’on peut voir de plus rare en chaque 
genre, den juger par le livre imprimé que nous 
cn avons, sur tout depuis qu’on y a joint le cabinet 
de Robert Sibbaldus medecin, qui en a fait present 4 
Ja ville, A condition de le rendre publique,” 
Can you tell, Mr Editor, where this famous collec- 
tion is nowkept; I should like to have a peep at it. 
Z. 
