Treatise Online no. 78: Part M, Chapter 21: History of the Study of Fossil Coleoidea
Journal: Treatise Online
Year: 2016

rather than the animal kingdom. Hence, impeRaTo (1599, p. 476) compared them with stalactites, and libau (1601, chapter 18) thought them to be a form of amber or agate. Other writers (bajeR, 1708, p. 33; menDes Da CosTa, 1748) regarded them as lusus naturae (sports of nature) or lapides sui generis (stones whose resemblance to organic forms was accidental).