167 
TAB. CCLXXXIII. 
CALX_ carbonata dura. 
Hard Carbonate of Lime. 
Div. 2. Imitative. 
Tue elegant specimens of Hard Carbonate of Lime from 
Eizenarzt in Styria have long been recognised under the 
misleading name of Flos-ferri. The no less elegant speci- 
mens of our isle lately discovered at Dufton in Lan- 
cashire are, if possible, more truly interesting to us, as a 
product of our own country, rich not only in the conve- 
niencies of life, but in materials for that sort of instruction 
which teaches the ways of Providence, so that we cannot 
forget to adore the infinite wisdom which even provides for 
our curiosity, and thus proves an incitement to knowledge 
of the first utility. In this fossil we see so much of the 
vegetable, and even of the animal structure, that our asto- 
nishment is heightened beyond all common sensation. 
The substance is a stone, though its formation is like 
that of a plant or animal. The Agaricus tubiformis—see 
English Fungi, tab. 382—or its variety, Ramaria ceratoides, 
often has as little resemblance to vegetation as this; and 
the Spheria digitata—English Fungi, tab. 69— shows, 
when broken, very nearly the same conical and fibrous 
surface, or fracture, as this stone, as I have endeavoured 
to express, besides other analogies, whilst the coralliform 
appearance or structure of it has been universally acknow- 
ledged. The specimens I possess are so large and elegantly 
