THK EAETH. 33 



From all these instances we may conclude, that fossils are 

 vny numerous : asd, indeed, independent of their situation, they 

 afTord no small entertainment to observe them as preserved in 

 the cabinets of the curious. The varieties of their kinds are 

 astonishing. Most of the sea-shells which are known, and many 

 others to which we are entirely strangers, are to be seen either 

 in their natural state, or in various degrees of petrifaction.' In 

 the place of some we have mere spar, or stone, exactly express- 

 ing all the lineaments of animals, as having been wholly formed 

 Irom them. For it has happened, that the shells dissolving by 

 very slow degrees, and the matter having nicely and exactly filled 

 all the cavities within, this matter, after the shells have perished, 

 has preserved exactly and regularly the whole print of their in- 

 ternal surface. Of these there are various kinds found in our 

 pits ; many of them resembling those of our own shores ; and 

 many others that are only to be found on the coasts of other 

 countries. There are some shells resembling those that are 

 never stranded upon our coasts j' but always remain in the 

 deep ;' and many more there are which we can assimilate with 

 no shells that are known amongst us. But we find not only 

 shells in our pits, but also fishes and corals in great abundance ; 

 together with almost every sort of marine production. 



It is extraordinary enough, however, that the common red coral, 

 though so very frequent at sea, is scarcely seen in the fossil 

 world ; nor is there any account of its having ever been met 

 with. But to compensate for this, there are all the kinds of the 

 white coral now kno\\Ti, and many other kinds of that substance 

 with which we are unacquainted. Of animals there are various 

 parts : the vertebrae of whales, and the mouths of lesser fishes ; 

 these, with teeth also of various kinds, are found in the cabinets 

 of the curious ; where they receive long Greek names, which it 

 is neither the intention nor the province of this work to enu- 

 merate. Indeed, few readers would think themselves much im- 

 proved, should I proceed with enumerating the various classes 

 of the Conicthyodontes, Polyleptoginglimi, or the Orthoceratites. 

 These names, which mean no great matter when they are ex- 

 phiined, may serve to guide in the furnishing a cabinet ; but they 

 are of very little service in furnishing the page of instruotiva 

 history. 



I Hill, p. 646. 2 LiftoralcB. 3 PflagfiL 



