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  • July 1, 1793
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The Freemasons' Magazine, July 1, 1793: Page 49

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    Article OF ANIMALS LIVING IN SOLID BODIES. ← Page 2 of 2
Page 49

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Of Animals Living In Solid Bodies.

" Being , says he , at my seat , near the village of Meudon , and overlooking a quarry man , whom I had set to break some very large and hard stones , in the mirdle of one we found a huge toad , full of life , and without any visible aperture by which it could get there . I began : o wonder how it received birth , had grown and lived ; but the labourer told me .-it was not the first time he had met with a toad

, , and the like creatures , within huge blocks of stone , and no vissible opening or fissure . " Observations of living toads , found in very hard and entire stones , occur in several authors , particularly Baptist Fulgoso Doge of Genoa , the famous physicians of Agricola and Horstius , and lord Verulam : others give very specious accounts of snakes , frogs ,

crabs , and lobsters being found alive , inclosed within blocks of marble , rocks , and large stones . Without attempting to explain facts so very abstruse and surprizing , yet , at the same time , so well authenticated , I shall only indicate the inferences arising from them . i . That the testaceous and crustaceous fish , the toads , snakes ,

frogs , or at least the eggs , whence these different kinds of animals proceed , were lodged in the trees at their first growth , or in the soft mud , of which the stones were afterwards formed . 2 . That these animals thus enclosed within trees or stones , or at least which come from eggs hatched in them , have subsisted there ever since , that is , 50 , ( 00 , 150 years , or perhaps even more , as less could not be required for the growth of the trees , or the formation of the stones where they were found .

3 . That consequently they had lived there much longer than animals of the same species when at liberty . 4 . Yet , during all the ' time , their sole aliment has been the sap of the tree , or any moisture or liquor penetrating through the thickness of the stones . 5 . That they lived there without any other air than what was contained within there scanty ceilswhich even with regard to the

, shell-fish , these having a kind of respiration , deserves some enquiry ; but borders on incredibility , with respect tofiogs , toads , and snakes , whose sensible respiration seems to require much more air . 6 . That to this exclusion of all external air , the animals , thus enclosed , might perhaps owe their iongasvity ; at least this agrees with the idea of the celebrated Bacon , who , in his Historia vitae et

mortis , cannon 1 S , lays down the following rule as confirmed by experience . Aer exclustts confert adlongcsvitaiem , si aliis incommodis caveas . 7 . Lastly , That instinct taught these animals to provide themselves beforehand with niches proportioned totheirutmost growth ; or at least as they grew , they had the sagacity to enlarge their niches , either by repellingorgraduallabrading-firesides which formed them .

, y These consequences , I am aware , may appear incredible , and I own not without some reason ; but , incredible as they may seem , they must be admitted , if we admit the facts , whence they are deduced , be true ; and after such vouchers and attestations , they are scarce to be questioned .

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1793-07-01, Page 49” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01071793/page/49/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
LONDON: Article 2
TO THE LIBERAL PATRONS OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 3
EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. Article 4
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 4
Untitled Article 6
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE: OR, GENERAL AND COMPLETE LIBRARY. Article 7
CHARITY THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC OF MASONS. Article 9
THE HISTORY OF FRANCE. Article 11
THE GENERAL HISTORY OF CHINA: Article 15
MEMOIRS OF THE FREEMASONS OF NAPLES. Article 19
AN EASTERN NOVEL. Article 21
ON THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF AIR. Article 25
FROM A PERSIAN IN LONDON TO HIS CORRESPONDENT IN BENGAL. Article 27
ON THE SAGACITY OF A SPIDER; IT'S STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES DELINEATED. Article 30
SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS. Article 33
MELESICHTON. Article 35
ON EDUCATION. Article 37
For the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 39
ON RETIREMENT. Article 41
AN ACCOUNT OF THE MONKS, Article 43
DESCRIPTION OF POMPEY's PILLAR Article 45
ON EPITAPHS. Article 47
OF ANIMALS LIVING IN SOLID BODIES. Article 48
ANECDOTE OF THE LATE DR. DODD. Article 50
For the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 51
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 53
LAW. Article 53
A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ASIATICS AND FRENCH. Article 55
THE QUEEN OF FRANCE AND THE DAUPHIN. Article 58
FATE OF THE UNFORTUNATE MUNRO. Article 60
THE SPEECH OF MISS POLLY BAKER, Article 61
ANECDOTE OF BISHOP BURNET. Article 63
MEMOIRS OF THE CELEBRATED FARINELLI. Article 64
THE EVILS OF WAR. Article 66
ON SHAM WAREHOUSES, AND PRETENDED MERCHANTS. Article 68
STATE PAPER. Article 69
INCREASE OF BUILDINGS NO PROOF OF THE RICHES OF A KINGDOM. Article 70
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE Article 71
FINE ARTS. Article 73
STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 74
SADLER's WELLS. Article 75
MEMOIRS OF PRINCE RUPERT, Article 76
PICTURE OF LONDON AND IT's INHABITANTS, &c. Article 78
POETRY. Article 79
THE HISTORY OF GYGES's RING, Article 80
ODE. Article 81
SONG. Article 82
TO DELIA'S KITTEN. Article 83
THE CURATE. Article 84
ON CONTENTMENT. Article 85
FOREIGN OCCURRENCES. Article 87
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 88
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Page 49

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Of Animals Living In Solid Bodies.

" Being , says he , at my seat , near the village of Meudon , and overlooking a quarry man , whom I had set to break some very large and hard stones , in the mirdle of one we found a huge toad , full of life , and without any visible aperture by which it could get there . I began : o wonder how it received birth , had grown and lived ; but the labourer told me .-it was not the first time he had met with a toad

, , and the like creatures , within huge blocks of stone , and no vissible opening or fissure . " Observations of living toads , found in very hard and entire stones , occur in several authors , particularly Baptist Fulgoso Doge of Genoa , the famous physicians of Agricola and Horstius , and lord Verulam : others give very specious accounts of snakes , frogs ,

crabs , and lobsters being found alive , inclosed within blocks of marble , rocks , and large stones . Without attempting to explain facts so very abstruse and surprizing , yet , at the same time , so well authenticated , I shall only indicate the inferences arising from them . i . That the testaceous and crustaceous fish , the toads , snakes ,

frogs , or at least the eggs , whence these different kinds of animals proceed , were lodged in the trees at their first growth , or in the soft mud , of which the stones were afterwards formed . 2 . That these animals thus enclosed within trees or stones , or at least which come from eggs hatched in them , have subsisted there ever since , that is , 50 , ( 00 , 150 years , or perhaps even more , as less could not be required for the growth of the trees , or the formation of the stones where they were found .

3 . That consequently they had lived there much longer than animals of the same species when at liberty . 4 . Yet , during all the ' time , their sole aliment has been the sap of the tree , or any moisture or liquor penetrating through the thickness of the stones . 5 . That they lived there without any other air than what was contained within there scanty ceilswhich even with regard to the

, shell-fish , these having a kind of respiration , deserves some enquiry ; but borders on incredibility , with respect tofiogs , toads , and snakes , whose sensible respiration seems to require much more air . 6 . That to this exclusion of all external air , the animals , thus enclosed , might perhaps owe their iongasvity ; at least this agrees with the idea of the celebrated Bacon , who , in his Historia vitae et

mortis , cannon 1 S , lays down the following rule as confirmed by experience . Aer exclustts confert adlongcsvitaiem , si aliis incommodis caveas . 7 . Lastly , That instinct taught these animals to provide themselves beforehand with niches proportioned totheirutmost growth ; or at least as they grew , they had the sagacity to enlarge their niches , either by repellingorgraduallabrading-firesides which formed them .

, y These consequences , I am aware , may appear incredible , and I own not without some reason ; but , incredible as they may seem , they must be admitted , if we admit the facts , whence they are deduced , be true ; and after such vouchers and attestations , they are scarce to be questioned .

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