Old Sutural History Books. 
physician, subsequently Bishop of Titopolis, proposed an hypo¬ 
thesis as to the mode of growth of a Crystal from a primitive 
nucleus, that included the important discovery of the constancy 
of the angles of Crystals. He not only maintained the 
animal origin of the fossil shells, &c., but distinguished between 
marine and fluvatile formations, and argued in favour of the 
original horizontality of sedimentary deposits. His treatise, De No. 44. 
Solido intra Solidum naturaliter contento^ promulgating these 
views, appeared at Florence in 1669. 
Agostino Scilla [1639-1700], an Italian painter, also con¬ 
tended for the organic origin of fossils in 1670, illustrating his 
Letter a rtsponstva circa i Corpi Marini che Petrificati si trovano No. 52. 
by excellent plates, the original drawings for which, with the 
specimens, were acquired by Dr. John Woodward, and are now 
at Cambridge. 
Erasmus Bartholinus [1625-1698], a Danish geometri¬ 
cian, made known the double-refracting property of Calc-spar 
in his Experimenta Crystalli Islandici ■ disdiaclastici^ which 
appeared in 1670. 
Christian Huygens [1629-1695] studied the laws of 
double refraction of Iceland Spar and explained them by means 
of an undulatory theory of light in his Traite de la Lumiere^ 
Leyden, 1690 : he sought to elucidate the peculiar cleavage of 
this mineral by building up crystals from spheroids, after the 
manner of Hooke. 
THE earliest attempt at a systematic description of the 
natural history of the whole of Great Britain was by 
Joshua Childrey [1623-1670], antiquary, and Archdeacon of 
Sarum, who in 1661 published his Britannia Baconica : or the No. 53. 
Natural Rarities of England^ Scotland^ and Wales. According 
as they are to be found in every Shire. This was mostly a 
compilation, and is interesting as showing the state of knowledge 
at the time, though its chief importance lies in the fact that it 
appears to have inspired Robert Plot [1640-1696], the first 
‘ Custos ’ of the Ashmolean Museum, and professor of Chemistry 
at Oxford, with the idea of extending the scheme and treating 
each county elaborately. As a specimen he issued a Natural No. 55. 
History of Oxfordshire in 1677 : this was followed by a Natural 
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