MA.CKIE OX FOSSIL BIBDS. 
451 
curiosus, nobis imaginari, lapidem reprsesentare quoddam stagnum, mar- 
gines cujus circumcirca fructicetis sunt obsessse, in lioc adparere insulas 
majores, minores, minimas, easque fruticetis mollibus obductas, et quod 
imprimis admiratione dignum, simid in illis videri sedem parvam cum fuma- 
rio, non procul hinc animal quoddam quadrupes, cui spectatores nomen 
ursi indiderunt, quipp cujus non dissimilis, adhuc avem cauda iongiore, in 
capite pennis longioribus et erectis ornatam, expausis alis per auras volan- 
tem, exactissime a natura ludente expressa quseque ; et quia notatse 
figurse ipsum penetrant lapidem. in altero latere similiter indicata adparent, 
hac solummodo variatione, ut dicta animalcula desiderentur, etiam hie vel 
illic novus quasi efBorescat ramulus arboreus, imprimis, si lapis fissuras 
parvas acceperit. Quando nunc secundum proverbium : Deus et natura 
nihil faciunt frustra, £equum erit, htec miracula adspicientes Deum mira- 
bilem, inque operibus suis inperscrutabilem debite mirari, atque decentibus 
laudibus extollere, namque testante Psalmista : Opera Jehovce magna, expo- 
sita omnibus qui delectantur illis, gloriosum et decorum opus ejus." 
The following is Hitter's account of fig. ii. (see PI. XXIII. Fig. 3, 
nobis), referred to in tbe above quotation : — 
" rig. II. An oblong squared stone, polished, exhibiting very- 
singular pictures; a whole region, hills covered with very small 
shrubs, mountains slightlv 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, eolles subtiHssimis fruticetis ornatos, 
montes parvos acclives, rupcs ac saxa pra?rupta, cum gramiue nec non 
arundine, casam rusticam fronde quasi viridi in culmine ornatam, avcm 
peregrinam, struthioni non absimilem, nubem nigriorem, quasi fulgora 
eraittentem," etc. 
We quote now from ' L'Histoire Naturelle, eclaircie dans une de^ses 
parties principales, TOrvc tologie, qui traite des Torres, des Pierres, 
des Metaux, des Mineraux et des autres Fossiles, enriehi des Figures 
dessinees d'apres Nature.' By M. (Ant. Jos. Dezallier d'Ar- 
gentville) des Societes lloyales 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 VVestrogothland, in Sweden (Bruckmann). Ornitliolifus nidorum 
Linaricd : a stone containing a nest of a petrified Linnet, incrusted 
with salt of tartar, from Artern. TubuJites full of small worms, 
