The Academy of the Lynx emblem appears prominently on this title page. Although Stelluti once believed that fossils resembling wood originated from buried tree trunks, Cesi persuaded him otherwise. So in this work on petrified woods, Stelluti defended Cesi’s view that mineral forms represent a degree of generation intermediate between metals and plants. For Cesi and members of the Lynx, with the aid of subterranean fires, petrified wood might change into vegetative matter, rather than vice versa. Petrified woods, hot springs and fumaroles abounded in Aquasparta near Cesi’s castle. The Lynx were also supported by the powerful Barberini family; as suggested by the prominence of the Barberini name. This treatise is dedicated to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII. Barberini was a papal emissary to France and a Cardinal of the Church.