154 CORRESPONDENCE OF RAY. 



" qui Aquis-grano imminet, tantum id genus fuisse pi- 

 scium quis crederet, quantum de Glossopetrarum copia 

 conjectari deberet?" 



8. It seems strange to me, that if these bodies were 

 formed after the manner of the shooting or crystallizing 

 of salts, it should happen that two shells should be so 

 adapted together at the heel, and shoot out to the same 

 extension round, and the upper and nether valve be of 

 different figure, as in natural shells, and that not only in 

 one or two rarely to be found, but in multitudes of them. 



4. Why should not nature as well imitate other na- 

 tural bodies, or their parts, as the horns and hoofs of 

 land animals, or the nuts and seeds of plants, as the 

 shells and bones only of some sea-fishes. 



5. Were these bodies produced by a concretion of 

 salts, it seems strange to me that there should be such 

 great variety of them, and their shapes so regular and 

 exactly circumscribed ; so great a diversity of figures 

 arguing a greater variety of salts, or of the modifications 

 and mixtures of salts, than are likely to be found in 

 nature ; and the curvilineous concretions of salts never, 

 that I have yet seen, appearing in that regularity of 

 figure and due circumscription as in these bodies, which 

 is an argument that the government of some principle 

 superior to matter figured and moved in their formation. 



6. Were these bodies nothing but concretions of salts, 

 it seems no less strange that so many liquors impregnated 

 with all sorts of salts and mineral juices in all proportions, 

 having been at one time or other industriously or acci- 

 dentally exposed to crystallize and let stand long in ves- 

 sels, there should never be found in them any such con- 

 cretions ; for, if any had happened, we should doubtless 

 have heard of them, and the observers would have im- 

 proved such an experiment to the production of the like 

 bodies at their pleasure, which would have been a suffi- 

 cient refutation of the opinion I incline to. 



Some of the arguments against this opinion admit of 

 an easy solution. Others I do not see any way as yet to 



