44 On the Teeth of Fishes, and Shells found 



to ascend to the philosophy of those Greeks who were an 

 honour to the art. This state of things continued to the 

 present day, and the conventions of the mannerists had 

 ail the force of law in the workshops. All the talents of 

 an infinite nvniiber of painters, very justly admired, do not 

 destroy their opinion. It was reserved to our sera, and 

 our schools, to abandon and annihilate prejudices so long 

 combated without success. Painting" and sculpture, alarmed 

 and ashamed at so many humiliating degradations, finally 

 threw themselves into the arms of nature: artists again re- 

 sumed the route which she pointed out. 



[To he continued] 



IX. On the Teeth of Fishes, and Shells found in the Vicinity 

 of Reading. By D. Plhnderleath, Ai.D., Reading. 



To Mr. Tillocfu 



Sir, In the vicinity of Reading, within a circumference 

 of three miles, there are four brick manufactories. The pits 

 which have been dug for the purpose of procuring materials 

 for the formation of bricks, afford an opportunity of ex- 

 amining the strata of earth in this vicinity; and of how- 

 ever small impoitance individual observations of themselves 

 may be — still, in a collective point of view, they may add to 

 a mass of evidence which may eventually lead to the most 

 interesting inductions in the science of mineralogy. 



The celebrated Cuvier, in his la e publication on Organic 

 Remains in the vicinity of Paris, has by patient investiga- 

 tion and indefatioabie industrv thrown considerable light 

 on this subject. Disclaiminij all speculative opinions, he has 

 continued by unwearied application to examine nature her- 

 self; and has described the appearances which presented 

 themselves, in plain and perspicuous language, avoiding as 

 much as possible those technical terms which may have a 

 reference to former and probably erroneous systems ; for 

 the knowledge of the constitution of the earth is still 

 in its infancy, and it is only to be forwarded by the means 

 which he has pursued. In reference to this opinion, I 

 transmit to you for insertion in the Philosophical Maga- 

 zine, the following appearances from actual observation of 

 the pits above described. The greatest in depth does not ex- 

 ceed eighty feet from the surface to the bottom ; and as they 

 all coincide pretty exactly in the nature of their stratifica- 

 tion, I shall select that one which has been longest opened, 



and 



