Fossils. 
137 
were rewarded by tlie successful extrication of the 
specimen, which he conveyed in triumph to his house. 
This extraordinary discovery, however, soon became 
the subject of general conversation, and excited so 
much interest, that the Canon of the cathedral which 
stands on the mountain, resolved to claim the fossil 
in right of being lord of the manor, and succeeded 
after a long, harassing lawsuit in obtaining this 
precious relic. It remained for years in his possession, 
and Hoffman died without regaining his treasure or 
receiving any compensation. At length the French 
Revolution broke out, and the armies of the Republic 
advanced to the gates of Maestricht. The town was 
bombarded, but at the suggestion of the committee of 
savants who accompanied the French troops to selec 
their share of the plunder, the artillery were not 
suffered to play on that part of the city in which the 
celebrated fossil was known to be preserved. In the 
meantime the Canon of St. Peter’s, shrewdly suspecting 
the reason why such peculiar favour was shown to his 
residence, removed the specimen and concealed it in a 
vault; but when the city was taken, the French 
authorities compelled him to give up his ill-gotten 
prize, which was immediately transhipped to the 
Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, where it still forms one 
of the most striking objects in that magnificent 
collection.” 
The French author who records the history of the 
fossil remarks : “La Justice quoique tardive , arrive 
