C 731 ) 
milky juyce. And I may here acquaint you, that I have a piece of 
branchy fpar, which I found at a Mine op thefc Hills, growing 
like Coral^and terminated with buttons or flowers like it J find 
very few of the lefTcr Corm^t Ammonis^ whofe Cells do any way 
appear or fhew their hollows outwardly, as in the great ftone, 
whofe outward furf^ce is wholly made up (as I faidj of ihofe 
cells, or thin flat pipes, fet clofe the one to the other, many of 
which fliew their hollows at ^veral places in the ftone^ whereas 
the cells in thefmaller ones appear only inwardly, having one 
coat outwardly which covers them all, and this coat in fome is 
fmooth, in others it's all wrought with little rings like the Hel- 
niet-ftone beforemention d , and fome outfides have ridges or 
rings round them as a Rams- horn. 
6. The Scones, I have given you an account of,generaI!y move 
in Vinegar, the juyceofLemmons,&G. fending forth bubbles, as 
I find Cawk will very freely, and mofi of our Mineral ftones. 
Baptijlci Porta, tells us, l.to^Magu NatHralis^that hefaw a piece 
oijiUbafier weighing four pounds, and carved in the fliape of 
aTortoife,move fo. The faid motion feems to proceed froas 
the conteft betwixt the acid fpiritof the Vinegar and the Mine- 
ral fait 5 fo that the Spirits by fermentation breaking forth ub^ 
der the Stone produce that effeft. 
I w^ell know,that an accura'e view would difcover many nice 
diftinftions (omitted by me) in the fliapes of all ihefe Scones, 
(our Mineral Salts being almoft as bufie and luKuriant, as the 
volatile Salts in the Air in the figuration of Snow ; ) which I 
judge would be beft performed by that perfon who makes it his 
bufinefs to record thefe things in the Hiftory of Nature^ he be- 
ing the moft likely to find the apteft terms to fpecifie them ; and 
haply the beft fervice we can afford you from the Couutry^ may 
be tofurnifliyou with the things themfelves^with a diligent ac- 
count of the foy I and place of their birth, and with as full an 
intimation of their primary rife as we can poflibly arrive at by 
a clofe infpeflion j leaving the minute defcriprion of the thing, 
to the worthy Hiftorian. 
Should I give you my thoughts concerning their r<f^^/^//<;«,' 
it would lead me beyond the bounds which I am willing to aU 
low this Letter^ though I (hall readily doit , and what other fer- 
vice I may, if you pleafe to command ir. If I had had the con* 
veniency of an Artift to help the failings of ipy pen with his de- 
