44 HISTORY OF 



fishes and corals in great abundance ; together 

 with almost every sort of marine production. 



It is extraordinary enough, however, that the 

 common red coral, though so very frequent at 

 sea, is scarcely seen in the fossil world ; nor is 

 there any account of its having ever been met 

 with. But to compensate for this, there are all 

 the kinds of the white coral now known ; and 

 many other kinds of that substance with which 

 we are unacquainted. Of animals there are va- 

 rious parts : the vertebrae of whales, and the 

 mouths of lesser fishes ; these, with teeth also of 

 various kinds, are found in the cabinets of the 

 curious ; where they receive long Greek names, 

 which it is neither the intention nor the province 

 of this work to enumerate. Indeed, few readers 

 would think themselves much improved, should 

 I proceed with enumerating the various classes 

 of Conicthyodontes, Polyleptoginglimi, or the 

 Orthoceratites. These names, which mean no 

 great matter when they are explained, may serve 

 to guide in the furnishing a cabinet; but they 

 are of very little service in furnishing the page 

 of instructive history. 



From all these instances we see in what abun- 

 dance these petrifactions are to be found ; and, in- 

 deed, M. Buffon, to whose accounts we have add- 

 ed some, has not been sparing in the variety of his 

 quotations, concerning the places where they are 

 mostly to be found. However, I am surprised 

 that he should have omitted the mention of one, 

 which, in some measure, more than any of the 

 rest, would have served to strengthen his theory. 



