*259 



tithophytis, in schisto carbonaria observasse : hoc jam ulteriore experientia 

 edoctus aperte assero. Alias icones habeo qua:; ad Scarabseorum genus 

 quam proxime accedunt. In posterum ergo non tantum Lithophyta, sed 

 et quaedam insecta in hoc lapide investigare conabimur." Lithophylacii y 

 p. 112. 



Plate XVII. Fig. 3, 4, 5, and 6, are sketches of these insects, as given 

 by Lhwydd, Ichnograph. Tab. 4. 



The petrified nests of bee& and wasps, of which some have spoken, 

 may, I believe, be all referred to deceptive specimens of rnadreporites, or 

 of septaria, in which the loose matter forming the tali, has allowed the 

 crystallization to have formed small and numerous polygonal cells. The 

 insects,, which have been said to have been found in these cells, must 

 have originated in an active imagination. 



The only specimens which can have any pretensions to the term Hel- 

 mintholites, are those of which the representation of one species is given 

 Plate VI. Fig. 12, and of which the impression of another is shown 

 Fig 13. Both these fossils are from Oeningen. 



The enormous length of this animal, and its knotted or jointed struc- 

 ture, with its numerous contortions, and its general form, serve to distin- 

 guish it decidedly from the earth-worm, with which it has been con- 

 founded by some authors. These peculiarities do not, however, enable 

 us to discover any known genus in which it may be placed. Knorr, 

 Wolfart, and other oryctologists, have figured several varieties of this very 

 curious kind of animal. Baier denominates it Lumbriciis marinus petri- 

 ficatus. 



The analogue of Plate XVII, Fig. 9, is, I believe, entirely unknown. By 

 some it has been considered as the wing or wings of a moth or butterfly, 

 and by others it has been supposed to be the scale of some species offish 

 or tortoise. For my own part, I acknowledge, that I can offer no conjec- 

 ture respecting it ; and therefore introduce its representation here, with 

 the hope of obtaining some illustration of it, from any one who may have 



