MACKIE — ON FOSSIL BIRDS. 



451 



curiosus, nobis imaginari, lapidem reprsesentare quoddam stagnum, mar- 

 gines cujus circumcirca fructicetis sunt obsessae, in hoc adparere insulas 

 majores, minores, minimas, easque fruticetis mollibus obductas, et quod 

 imprimis admiratione dignum, simul in illis videri sedem parvam cum fuma- 



tem, exactissime a natura ludente expressa quseque ; et quia notatse 

 figurge ipsum penetrant lapidem, in altero latere similiter indicata adparent, 

 hac solummodo variatione, ut dicta animalcula desiderentur, etiam hie vel 

 illic novus quasi efflorescat ramulus arboreus, imprimis, si lapis fissuras 

 parvas acceperit. Quando nunc secundum proverbium : Deus et natura 

 nihil faciunt frustra, sequum erit, hsec miracula adspicientes Deum mira- 

 bilem, inque operibus suis inperscrutabilem debite mirari, atque decentibus 

 laudibus extollere, namque testante Psalmista : Opera JeJiovce magna, expo- 

 sita omnibus qui delectantur illis, gloriosum et decorum opus ejus." 



The following is Eitter's account of fig. ii. (see PI. XXIII. Pig. 3, 

 nobis), referred to in the above quotation : — 



" Pig. II. An oblong squared stone, polished, exhibiting very 

 singular pictures ; a whole region, hills covered with very small 

 shrubs, mountains slightly rising, broken stones and rocks, grass, 

 and even reeds, a rustic cottage ornamented at its ridge with green 

 boughs of a tree, a strange bird, not unlike the ostrich, black clouds 

 as if disposed for throwing flashes," etc. 



The original we give below : — 



" Fig. II. Lapidem quadratum oblongum, politum, offerentem picturas 

 plane singulares, integram regionem, colles subtilissimis fruticetis ornatos, 

 montes parvos acclives, rupes ac saxa prserupta, cum gramine nec non 

 arundine, casam rusticam fronde quasi viridi in culmine ornatam, avem 

 peregrinam, struthioni non absimilem, nubem nigriorem, quasi fulgora 

 emittentem," etc. 



We quote now from { L'Histoire Natnrelle, eclaircie dans une de ses 

 parties principales, 1'Oiivctolooie, qui traite des Terres, des Pierres, 

 des Metaux, des Mineraux et des autres Possiles, enrichi des Figures 

 dessinees d'apres Nature.' By M. |4 # (Ant. Jos. Dezallier d'Ar- 

 gentville) des Societes Eoyales des Sciences de Londres et de Mont- 

 pelier. — Paris, 1755. 



Under the heading Birds, M. Argentville says " It is quite 

 certain that birds, owing to the faculty they possess of flying, 

 can more easily escape immersion than any other animal ; and this 

 is the reason of the scarcity of petrified birds, and why we only find 

 their debris, such as their feathers, nests, and eggs. The feathers 

 and the tail of a bird found on a stone at Oeninghen (Scheuchzer), 

 a beak of a petrified bird, on a black stone, in the same country 

 (Mus. Zannichelli) ; a petrified cuckoo, commonly called Pesce capone ; 

 eggs, birds' nests enclosed in stone ; feathers and petrified nails, ex- 

 hibited by the limestones of the parish of Karabglony, in the province 

 of Westrogothland, in Sweden (Bruckmann). Ornitholitus nidorum 

 Linarice : a stone containing a nest of a petrified Linnet, incrusted 

 with salt of tartar, from Artern. Tubidites full of small worms, 



