INTRODUCTION. 21 



general interest in fossils. Numerous books and treatises 

 began to appear, sometimes describing the fossils in particular 

 localities, sometimes of a more dilettante character. 



In Switzerland, Johann Gesner's work continued the lines of 

 research initiated by Scheuchzer. Bourguet in Neuchatel, and 

 afterwards Burtin in Belgium, published handsome plates of 

 fossil illustrations, but the descriptions in the text are not of 

 much value. Johann Baier, the Altdorf Professor, published 

 in 1712 his Oryctographica Norica, one of the best works of 

 the time, and in 1757 a supplement of fifteen folio plates was 

 added under the direction of his son P'erdinand. 



France, until the middle of the eighteenth century, had 

 a remarkably poor palseontological literature. Antoine del 

 Jussieu in 1718 described the Carboniferous plants of St.j 

 Chamont, near St. Etienne, and said they had been brought by I 

 the flood from India and the New World to Europe. In a 

 second treatise, Jussieu described fossil Ammonites; he 

 certainly compared these with Nautilius Pompilius of the 

 Indian Seas, but he explained them as having been brought 

 from the Oasis of Ammon to France by inundations of the 

 sea. Bertrand's Dictionary of Fossils and other minor 

 works testify that France was not devoid of interest in fossils, 

 although activity in this field of research was much more 

 prolific in the neighbouring countries. 



In France, during the eighteenth century, only the writings 

 of Guettard can be placed in the same rank with the 

 monographs of particular fossil groups prepared by Rosinus, 

 Wagner, Erhart, Breyn, and Klein. 



The outstanding work of this period is undoubtedly that of 

 Knorr and Walch in four volumes, Die Sammlung von 

 Merkwilrdigkeiten der Natur und Alterthumer des Erdbodens. 

 The first volume was written by the Niirnberg collector and 

 artist, George Wolfgang Knorr (born 1705, died 1761), and 

 the other three volumes were prepared after the death of 

 Knorr by Professor Walch 1 of Jena. 



The first volume bears on its title-page an illustration of the 

 famous Solenhofen quarries, and contains figures of fossil crabs, 

 fishes, crinoids, together with dendrites, and "ruin marble" 



1 Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch (1725-78) was a son of J. G. 

 Walch, Professor of Philosophy and Poetry in Jena. In 1759 Walch 

 succeeded his father as Professor, but his chief delight was in Mineralogy 

 and Palaeontology, and he made a famous collection. 



