EASTMAN: DESCRIPTIONS OF BOLCA FISHES. ^' 11 



may pass over these authors with the bare mention of their nanies.^ 

 Throughout this period the growth of museums continued apao.e, and 

 attempts to describe their fossil contents succeeded better as Fracastoro's 

 ideas were revived and gradually gained acceptance. Descriptions ap- 

 peared of the AMrovandi collection in 1648, as has been stated, and in 

 1656 of Count Moscardo's'^ museum in Verona, both of which contained 

 interesting fish remains. Another museum famous for its fossils was that 

 of Zannichelli ^ of Venice, who prepared an elaborate catalogue of its 

 contents, published first in 1720, with additions in 1736. Attention 

 should also be called to the important essay by Vallisneri * " On Marine 

 Bodies found in the Mountains," published in 1721, in which reference 

 is made to the fishes and crustaceans occurring at Monte Bolca. Ap- 

 pended to the complete works of this author is a letter on Bulca fishes, 

 with a map of the locality, by Ferdinand Marsili.® 



As remarked by Lyell, the writings of Vallisneri are rich in geological 

 observations. He attempted the first general sketch of the marine 

 deposits of Italy, their geographical extent and most characteristic 

 organic remains, and was the principal opponent amongst his country- 

 men of Woodward's diluvian hypothesis. In 1702 the fossil fishes of 

 Monte Bolca were made the subject of a communication before the 

 French Academy by Maraldi,® an Italian astronomer, and the same body 

 was similarly addressed by J. J. Scheuchzer, whose " Piscium querelae 

 et vindidae " and other -writings provoked wide-spread discussion. No- 

 tices of vertebrate remains appear also in the dissertations of Spada,'' 



1 On these writers one may consult the following: Seguenza, G., Agostlno 

 Scilla. Messina, 1868. — Marsli, 0. C, History and Methods of Palaeontological 

 Discovery (Proc. Anier. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1879), 1880. — Ward, L. F., Sketch of 

 Palaeobotany, Fifth Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Surv. (1883-1884), 1885. — Zittel, 

 K. A., Geschichte der Geologic und Palaontologie. Munich, 1899. 



2 Note overo memorie del Museo di Lodovico Moscardo, dal medesimo de- 

 scritte. Padua, 1656. Some poor figures of Bolca fishes are given on p. 182. 



3 Zannichelli, Apparatus rariorum Musaei Zannicchelli. Venice, 1720. Idem, 

 Enumeratio rerura naturalium Musaei Zannichelli. Venice, 1736. This catalogue 

 contains the earliest mention of fossil hippopotami in Italy. 



* Vallisneri, A., De' corpi marini che su' raonti si trovano. Venice, 1721. 

 5 Vallisneri, A., Opere, II. p. 359. 



* Maraldi, J. P., Di verses observations de physique generale, § xi. (Hist. Acad. 

 Koy. Sci., annee 1703). Paris, 1720. This is tlie earliest communication on Bolca 

 fishes published by any learned society. The earliest in English is a paper by G. 

 Graydon, entitled "On tlie fish enclosed in stone of Monte Bolca," which appears 

 in the transactions of the Royal Irish Academy for 1794 (Vol. V., p. 281). 



^ Spada, J. J., DissertazioDe ove si prova che i corpi marini petrificati non sono 



