250 CORRESPONDENCE OF RAY. 



cation of the learned and inquisitive, as for your own 

 deserved honour, that some other man might not prevent 

 you, and by some means or other intercept what is yours. 

 I am glad you make such progress, and cannot but 

 approve your deliberation and circumspection ; and 

 agree with you that the clearing up of difficulties, and 

 reconciling of authors, and reducing and settling the 

 several histories and relations of species, will be a thing 

 of eminent use, and of as much advantage to the reader 

 as pains to the author. 



The little plant you sent formerly you now conclude 

 to be the Cattitriche Plinii of Columna \_Callitriche 

 verna |3, Linn.], and so it may be, I having never seen 

 that. I find it overseen and omitted by me in my 

 history ; I suppose because, being seminiferous, I deferred 

 it when I entered the Lenticulce [Lemna, Linn.], thinking 

 to put it in another place, and afterwards forgot it. 



Those instances you would have added to my discourse 

 concerning the wisdom of God I know are so consider- 

 able, that I am sorry my book wants them, which might 

 have recommended it to the reader. If I had thought 

 you would have been willing to spare time to peruse it, 

 you should have had a sight of the copy before it had 

 been committed to the press. 



I am this morning sending away my discourses con- 

 cerning the Primitive Chaos and Creation of the World, 

 the General Deluge, and Future Conflagration, with 

 additions for a second edition. If you please to revise 

 and correct it before it be printed, I will order Mr. 

 Smith to deliver the copy to you for that purpose. 



Mr. Beaumont is a person that hath been very diligent 

 in searching out and collecting, and curious in observing 

 of, petrified shells and other bodies, and I suppose well 

 qualified to write concerning them. I heard that he 

 once threatened to write something in contradiction to 

 Mr. Burnet's Theory of the Earth, which piece I could 

 wish to see. 



I am now upon a methodical synopsis of all British 



