iince, have been fo unmindful of fome fjdl-fip} (and of no o^ 
ther Animals^ as to fuffer any om (pedes to be loft. 
105. Fourthly, bccaufe there are ^twQrA formed fiones^ that: 
no body pretends to know whether to refer, as reprefenting nei- 
ther Animals or Plants^ either in the whole or parts ; fuch as th^ 
Seknites^ J^iroites^ 2nd Belemn/tes y which if thus /^/d//)/ confcft 
to be Lapides fui genem^ and formed by fome latent flafiick. power 
of the Earthy why might it not as well produce all the re/l ? e- 
fpecially fincefcarceany of them are reduced to x^mimalsor Plants 
without great inconvenience. Thus they that think the -^lieridt. 
to be nothing but the Sfiride dorfales-, or tail- bones of JiJ?J petrified 
(they confifting, 'tis true, for the moft part of pieces fticking to- 
gether like Vertebra) neither can tell us of what fort of Fif/j^ nor 
give us any reafonable account why the tail-bones of (uch a parti-^ 
cular Fi//j (for the JfterU of all places are flriated alike, and feeni 
to have had original from the fame Species) fhould be thus petri- 
fied^ and not the tail-bones as well of fome others ? 
1 06. And they that fanfie the feveral Species of BronM to be 
nothing elfe but the petrified Jhells of Echini Spatagi^ or Briffi^ 
would be hard put to it to reconcile the difterent conditions of 
that fiell-fifij and thefe ftones i for firft, the Eijh it felf is but 
rarely found, TeAa^o' ^ ^^^'O', fays Arifiotle^^ which Is alfo con-^ 
firmed by Rondeletim \ whereas the Stones arc plentiful enough. 
Again, the Echinus Spatagus has but few briftles, aculei6 parvis 
rari5 [epttus^ fays the fame B^ondeletim and thofe, if we may be- 
lieve the Cuts of Authors, but diforderly fet • which how a- 
grecable to our Brontije^ Tab, 2. and 3. let any man judge. The 
firft of them indeed in the grofs Figure, is like the Herijfons Spa-- 
tagi of Boccone^ which he faw in Holland^ fiat like a fmall cake ; 
but he tells us nothing of fuch numberlefs fmall annulets as there 
are in our Stones, which if heretofore the places of fo many 
briftles^ but ill agree with the defcription of Rondeletius. Befide 
thefe of Oxford-fibire^ there are feveral other forts that I have 
feen in other Counties (hereafter to be reprefented, in cafe this 
Effay prove acceptable) which I could heartily wifli the Ingenious 
Steno znd Boccone, or any other (Twrio/o's, for the better clearing 
of this great Controverfie^ would undertake to parallel (and fo 
» BiH. Animaliumjih. ^. cap. %. « De TifcihM^lib. i%. cap. lU « Loco e it at 9. ^ Recherches ^ oi^ 
ftT'vatiom NatureHes LettrexG. 
P 2 of 
