NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



LETTER III. 



TO THE SAME. 



THE fossil-shells of this district, and sorts of stone, such as have 

 fallen within my observation, must not be passed over in silence. 

 And first I must mention, as a great curiosity, a specimen that was 

 ploughed up in the chalky fields, near the side of the Down, and 

 given to me for the singularity of its appearance, which, to an 

 incurious eye, seems like a petrified fish of about four inches long, 

 the cardo passing for an head and mouth. It is in reality a bivalve 

 of the Linnaean genus of Mytilus, and the species of Crista Galli ; 



OSTREA CAKINATA. 



called by Lister, Rastellum; by Rumphius, Ostreum plicatum 

 minus j by D'Argenville, Auris Porci, s. Crista Galli; and by 

 those who make collections, Cock's Comb. Though I applied to 

 several such in London, I never could meet with an entire specimen ; 

 nor could I ever find in books any engraving from a perfect one. 

 In the superb museum at Leicester House permission was given to 

 me to examine for this article ; and, though I was disappointed as 

 to the fossil, I was highly gratified with the sight of several of the 



