Of OXFORDSHIRE. m 



fince, have been fo unmindful of fome fiell-fi.fi (and of ho 6v 

 ther Animals') astofufferany one ftecies to be loft. 



105. Fourthly, becaufe there are feveral formed fiones, that 

 no body pretends to know whether to refer, as reprefenting nei- 

 ther Animals or Plants, either in the whole or parts ; fuch as the 

 Selenites, Jfttoites, and Belemnites ; # which if thus tacitly confeft 

 to be Lapides fui genem, and formed by fome htentplafiick. power 

 of the Earth, why might it not as well produce all the reft ? e- 

 fpecially fince fcarce any of them are reduced to Animals or Plants 

 without great inconvenience. Thus they that think the etfterkt 

 to be nothing but the Spina dor/ales, or tail- bones of fifi petrified 

 (they confifting, 'tis true, for the moil: part of pieces flicking to-* 

 gether like Vertebra) neither can tell us of what fort of Fifi), nor 

 give us any reafonable account why the tail-bones of fuch a parti- 

 cular Fifi (for the Jfieria of all places are Striated alike, and feem 

 to have had original from the fame Species) (Tiould be thus petrfc 

 fied, and not the tail-bones as well of fome others ? 



106. And they that fanfie the feveral Species of Brontia to be 

 nothing clfe but the petrified Jh ells of Echini Spatagi, or Briffl; 

 would be hard put to it to reconcile the different conditions of 

 that fhell-fijh and thefe ftones : for firft, the Fifi it felf is but 

 rarely found, mhayiot $ vatlvtot, fays 4riftoth\ which is alfo con* 

 firmed by Rondeletiu<s\ whereas the Stones are plentiful enough. 

 Again, the Echinus Spatagu* has but few briftlcs, aculek parvh ($r 

 yark fcptws, fays the fame Rondeletiu* u , and thofe, if we may be- 

 lieve the Cuts of Authors, but diforderly fet ; which how a* 

 grecable to our Brontia, Tab. 2. and 3. let any man judge. The 

 firft of them indeed in the grofs Figure, is like the Heriffbns Spa 

 tagi of Boccone which he faw in Holland, flat like zfrnall cake ; 

 but he tells us nothing of fuch numberlefs fmall annulets as there 

 are in our Stones, which if heretofore the places of fo many 

 hriftles, but ill agree with the defcription of Rondeletim. Befide 

 thefe of Oxford-fiire, there are feveral other forts that I have 

 feen in other Counties (hereafter to be reprefented, in cafe this 

 Ejfay prove acceptable) which I could heartily wifh the Ingenious 

 Sttno and Boccone^ or any other Curiofo's, for the better clearing 

 of this great Controverfie, would undertake to parallel (and fo 



* UiB. Animalium,lih.^..caf.^. * Detifcibtu, lit. 18. cap. 31. b Loco citato. w Recherches & oh- 

 (ervdtiont tiaturelles Lettrez6. 



P 2 Of 



