1^ Of the Petrified City, 



pour, that is conftantly circulating in thofe, no lefs cold and 

 chill, than moift and damp Caves. Others were, not only be- 

 come heavier, but incruftated over, in fome Parts, with a 

 Jlalagmit'tcal or fparry Subftance, that is perpetually drop- 

 ping from thofe Caves. 

 Some skeie- The kttcr is the very Cafe of the Skeleton at Rome ; the 



tons &c. CO- , . , i • /- 1 1 1 



vered over gones of which are not properly petnned, but covered over 

 w/V/v*/ Sub- Qjjiy {cortice lapideo, in Alrc^^r's Phrafe) with a Coat of Stone. 

 It is probable alfo, from the like Situation and the Concur- 

 rence of the like Circumftances, that the petrified Bodies in 

 the Cave near TergamuSy were not properly petrified, but in- 

 clofed only, in fuch like fparry or ftalagmitical\nc'c\j&z.t\ons. 

 And I am apt to fufpedl, that the like pretended Petrification 

 of Boats, Mails, Oars &c. in the {Bahar hel Oyna or) Sea with- 

 out Water ", betwixt Egyp and Ras Sem, is nothing more than 

 a nitrous Incruftation, (for thefe Deferts are full of that Salt ;) 

 in the fame Manner, we fee Stones and Potlherds crufted over 

 and chryftalized, by arrefting and condenfing the faline Va- 

 pour that arifes from the Sulfatara, near Naples. There 

 is nothing extraordinary therefore in thefe Thcenomena : inaf- 

 much as it may be eafily accounted for, why thefe animal or 

 indeed any other Bodies, that lye under, or are more immedi- 

 ately expofed to the Influence of a lapidefcent Vapour or Fluid, 

 (or in the latter Cafe, of a faline one,) fliould be fubjed: to 

 and fufceptible of thefe Changes and Alterations. 

 Bodies, ex- The Difficulty will be, to account for fuch Bodies, as are 

 Sir%ot ca- pretended to lye expofed, or to ftand upright, in the open 

 fng petrified. Air, without haviug been ever lodged in any proper Beds ; or 

 fheltred and influenced by Caves and Grottos. Here, as it can- 

 not well be imagined, that any lapidefcent Vapour or Fluid, 

 Ihould have Power to exert itfelf, or indeed be capable of 

 being any way admitted and received into the Pores of thefe, 

 whether animal or other Bodies ; fo neither could the Bodies 

 themfelves acquire thereby, in their refpedive Textures and 

 Compofitions, any additional Augmentation, or permanent Al- 

 teration whatfoever. Such a Situation, ( except in the hot 

 fandy Deferts, where the Sun ufually drys up thefe Bodies,) 



I Vid. Memoires des Miflions de la Companie de Jefus dans le Levant. Tom. 2. p.73. 



would 



