210 INQUISITION OF BODIES. 



Quaere, how much time is required, that the matter of 

 earth, in stone-quarries, may be converted into the stony 

 nature ? 



Water, as there is reason to think, is changed into 

 crystal; which may be seen in many caverns, where the 

 crystal hangs in drops. 



You may have an experiment of wood, or the stalks of 

 plants, buried in quicksilver, whether they will harden, and, 

 as it were, petrify, or no. 



Report has much prevailed of a stone&amp;gt; bred in the head 

 of an old and great toad. 



It is related, that a certain nobleman, digging in the bed 

 of his pool, found an egg turned into stone, the white and 

 yolk retaining their proper colour ; but the shell brightly 

 sparkling, like a diamond exquisitely cut in faces. 



Make experiment of some bodies, let down near to the 

 bottom of a well, as wood, or other softer substances ; but 

 let them not touch the water, lest they rot. 



They say that the white of an egg, through long insola 

 tion, or exposure in the sunbeams, has contracted the hard 

 ness of a stone. 



Mud, in water, is converted in the shells of fishes, as in 

 muscles, (the fish) which are found in pools of fresh-water, 

 that flow not, and are covered with moss. But the sub 

 stance of those shells is exceedingly delicate, clear, and 

 glistening. 



