De Corporibus marinis Lapidescentibus Quae Defossa Reperiuntur. Auctore Augustino Scilla addita dissertatione fabii columnae De Glossopetris, 1747 by Scilla, Augustino [Agostino] - 1747

SECOND EDITION, FIRST LATIN EDITION OF AN INFLUENTIAL, LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED BOOK THAT ARGUED THE CASE FOR THE ORGANIC ORIGIN OF FOSSILS. Augustino Scilla (1629-1700) was a painter, philosopher, naturalist, antiquarian and numismatist, geologist, and is considered one of the founders of sedimentology. Calling it 'vain speculation,' Scilla opposed the belief that fossils were just freaks of nature grown inside rocks. He believed that fossils were the remains of real animals and carried out the first real laboratory experiments to prove this. "In the 17th century, most scientists still considered fossils to be lusus naturae, sports of nature, born within rocks through the influence of the stars or by other strange means. Convinced that 'to doubt things is the best and only way to begin to know them, even approximately,' Scilla described with admirable clarity and critical sense the observations he had made on the fossiliferous sedimentary terrains of both shores of the Strait of Messina, dealing with the succession of strata, the genesis of the rocks, and particularly the nature of the fossils. [Scilla] anticipated the principle that the present is the key to the past when he explained the repetition of coarse, medium, and fine-grained materials in terms of what he could see actually happening in the same places under the action of rapid torrents. He considered fossils to be animal remains imprisoned in rocks that are now hard but were originally muddy or sandy soil... Scilla studied the zoological features of each fossil, comparing them with those of analogous living species. He did not limit himself to the study of mollusks, the origins of which seemed obvious to him, but tackled more difficult problems, recognizing the presence of fossil corals and echinoderms and showing that the much-discussed glossopetrae are the teeth of sharks. To deny the organic origin of fossils, he concluded, was to 'commit the sin of disputing a known truth'" (Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 12, 256-257). CONDITION & DETAILS: Romae: Typis Antonii de Rubeis. Second edition. First Latin edition. Quarto (11 x 8 inches; 275 x 200mm). [12], 73, [1], 6 Tabularum, [28 plates], 2. 28 copperplate engravings. Handsomely bound in green leather over marbled paper boards. Gilt-lettered red morocco spine label; gilt-tooling at the spine. Tightly and very solidly bound. Professionally rendered Japanese paper repairs to the upper right corner of the first ten pages. Minor and light dampstain to the lower right corner of the first 19 pages. Occasional light age toning throughout. Handsome wide margins and heavy stock paper. Very good condition.