C 543 ] 
f 
fame with that of the afphaltum, and of a done im- 
pregnated with it, which is found at a fmall diftance 
from the Dead Sea. 
Agricola * mentions thefe, and feveral other kinds 
of bituminous foffils, taken notice of by the antients, 
and points out feveral places in Europe where they 
are now found. Later writers defcribe it under the 
name of metallophyton, or lignum foftile ; and moft 
of them fuppofe it to be a mineral fubftance. Fran-, 
cifco Stelluti, in a treatife printed at Rome 1637, has 
accurately defcribed fome very curious ftrata of this 
kind, near Todi and Aqua Sparta in Umbria : he fays, 
“ they confift of large oval and comprefied pieces, 
“ lying horizontally, refembling the trunks of trees, 
fC but larger: he mentions one above 3 feet broad: 
“ they have neither roots, branches, nor fibres, but 
“ fomething like bark; and the heart of the tree, 
<c which in fome is as hard as a bone, in others as 
“ black as a coal. The extremity of thefe pieces is 
“ as fmooth, as if they had been divided by a faw. It 
“ is full of veins of a dark brown colour, which, in- 
“ Read of running ftrait like the fibres of wood, are 
“ undulated and irregular, taking a variety of forms, 
“ and are only fuperficial ; for, upon taking oft one 
“ of the thin laminse, of which this foflil is com- 
“ pofed, the veins underneath appear in a different 
“ direction. This foflil, when firft taken out of the 
“ earth, bends like a bow ; and when put into the 
“ fire confumes flowly, with a great fmoak, and dif- 
<£ agreeable fmell ; but, if burnt when dry, thefmell 
“ is more pleafing. The heat is more intenfe than 
* De Natura Foflilium, lib, iv. p. 596, 
♦ 
ic wood,, 
