20 |^. Dr. SuiTHB's Introductory Difcourfe. 
little more than a reformation of that of Ray. I fhall foon fpeak 
of the botanical merit of this great man ; but before we take leave of 
this period of Zoology, it may be expected I-fhould fay fomething 
of Leeuwenhoek, and his theory of generation, which has made fo 
much noife; nor may it be ufelefs to mention him, if only as a 
memento to future theorifts. What a pity it is, that fo excellent an 
obferver, to whom the world is indebted for fo much folid phyfio- 
logical information, fhould have produced an hypothefis, whofe 
. celebrity feems but to have haftened its refutation, and configned it 
to more abfolute neglect! The fpermatic worms of Leeuwenhoek 
may perhaps be the jeft of philofophers many ages to come, while 
others fhall profit of his genuine difcoveries, without knowing to 
whom they are obliged. 
Let us now take a general view AU toe | ftate of Natural Hiftor y at 
the end Of He TT tenti 
In England the tin “felt which this fence | had worn 
under the aufpices of Charles I. was blafted by the turbulent times 
which followed; but in the peaceful days of Charles II. natural 
hiftory, as well as all the different branches of philofophy, received 
a degree of cultivation and advancement hitherto unknown in this 
country; and this led on to the golden age of fcience in England, 
which was crowned by the poffeffion of a Newton. | 
The Royal Society, which, from a fmall beginning at Oxford 
about the year 1645, made rapid advances when removed to the 
metropolis, was eftablifhed under the protection of the king in 1662, 
very foon after his reftoration. This learned body beftowed great 
attention from the beginning, as they have ever fince done, upon 
the phyfiological part of natural hiftory. The names of Boyle, 
Evelyn, Hook and Needham, are among the firft members of this 
fociety ; and how much they have laboured in the advancement of 
natural {cience is well known, Mr. Willoughby was one of the 
original 
