A natural history of fossils / By Emanuel Mendes da Costa ... Vol. I, pt. I.

  • Emanuel Mendes da Costa
Date:
1757
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A natural history of fossils / By Emanuel Mendes da Costa ... Vol. I, pt. I. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    In the courfe of the work Ihave been very cautious not to indulge a fpecula- tive fancy in forming bypothefes or fyftems, the bodies being fimply defcribed, according to the appearances which they exhibit to the fenfes. : I fhall now give a brief hiftory of the rife and progrefs of this ftudy or fet ence to the prefent time. Theophraftus, the difciple of Ariftotle, 1s the firft author extant, who has profeffedly written on this fubjeEt. Diofcorides, who flourifbed i the firft century of Chriftianity, was the next; be treats only of the Foffil fub- tances ufed in medicine : and Pliny, who lived fome time after him, copied much from bis works, and haskandled the fubject in avery fuperpetal manner, So that from the concifenefs of the accounts and defcriptions given us by thefe antient authors, and the imperfccl knowledge we have of the Fofils then in ufe, little benefit can now be reaped from their writings. The decline of the Roman Empire, and the introduction of Gothic barbarity were as fatal to this, as to all the other feiences; and therefore, during that period we meet with no authors but a few alchemical writers of inconfiderable note. About the middle of the fixteenth century, Metallurgy began to make ad- vances in Germany; Agricola, Encelus, Fabricius, Kentmann and Ercker, among the Germans; Peres de Vargas a Spaniard, and Cafalpin an Italian, svrote about this time, and encreafed the flock of knowledge by their excellent writings. From thence I think we may date the ara of this jiudy, as it bath been cultivated by a continued fucceffion of writers to the prefent time. - During the former part of the feventeenth century, many excellent authors wrote, fome upon the fcience in general, as Imperatus, Aldrovandus and Mer- cator ; otbers only on Metallurgy, as Lobney|s, Cafius and Barba ; and feverat on particular parts, as De Boot, Baccius, Bartholine, de Laet, Wormius, Lach- mund, with many others. Towards the clofe of the fame century, when the origin of the figured bodies found in the earth was flrongly debated by the learned, we find that Boyle, Lifter, Grew, Plot, Woodward and Lhuyd, among the Enghjfh; Petrus Borelli, Camerarius and Scheuchzer, among the Germans; Scilla, Boccone and Steno, among the Italians; and numbers of other learned qoriters flourifhed. The prefent age has added ta the lift the names of Butner, Mylius, Ve allifmert, Langius, Valentini, Henckell, Bruckmann, and others; and is full graced by many perfons yet hving and enunent in this branch of know= ledge. | } | “But of all thofe who have wrote upon this fubject, none have attempted to reduce it to a regular fetence, except the celebrated Dr. Woodward, who pub- lifhed a method of arrangement founded on the growth, firucture, and texture of Fofils. But a fyftem which had only thefe principles for it’s fupport, was found infufficient to diftingus/h the bedies of the Fofil kingdom with accuracy, and is pretty much exploded ; while the method of dividing thefe bodies, according to the various changes produced on them by fire, into Calcarit, Apyri, Vitrefcentes, C. &
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