_Serpents' Tongues_ (Vol. vi., p. 340.; Vol. vii., p. 316.).--May I be
allowed to inform MR. PINKERTON that the sharks' teeth (fossils), now so
frequently found imbedded in this tufa rock, and cheaply sold, are not
known as "the tongues of vipers," but, on the contrary, from time
immemorial, as the "tongues of St. Paul." In proof of this, I would refer
MR. PINKERTON to the following extract, which I have taken from an Italian
letter now in the Maltese Library; which was published on August 28, 1668,
by Dr. Francis Buonamico, a native of this island, and addressed to
Agostino Scilla of Messina. Page 5., the writer remarks:
"Che avanti de partire da questa isolde dovesse farle una raccolta di
glossopietre, _O lingue come que le chiamiamo di S. Paolo_."