314 
which have been confusedly ranged by Linnaeus under the species 
Lacerta monitor, and of which Daudin has formed the genus 
Tupinambis, there can remain no doubt. 
The polished section of a specimen from the Dorsetshire coast, 
which I obtained from Mr. Strange’s Museum, displays the remains 
of an animal of this kind. In the remains of the head, teeth, vertebrae, 
&c. the characters of this animal may be detected. 
LETTER XXII. 
ORNITHOEITES. 
I he various coloured and figured stones, bearing accidentally the 
appearance of birds, need be here noticed only for the purpose of 
observing, that to such accidentally figured stones the ancients gave 
the names of Hieracites and Perdicites. Nor would it be necessary 
to mention here the pretended petrifactions of bird’s-nests, eggs, See. 
of Lesser, Gesner, Baccius, and others, but to remark, that there is 
every reason for believing that all these were either stones of the kind 
just mentioned, or mere incrustations, including the substances, 
which had themselves undergone no change. Specimens of this kind 
may be obtained at Matlock, in Derbyshire, and at various other 
places, where the water is surcharged with lime. 
