574 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with the same accuracy and distinctness that others do those of large 

 animals. 



"He was particularly dexterous in the management of small tubes 

 of glass no thicker than a bristle, drawn to a very fine point at one end, 

 but thicker at the other." 



These were used for inflating hollow structures and also for making 

 fine injections. He dissolved the fat of insects in turpentine and car- 

 ried on dissections under water. 



An unbiased examination of his work will show that it is of a 

 higher quality than Malpighi's in regard to critical observation and 

 richness in detail. He also worked with minuter objects and displayed 

 a greater skill. As one writer says: 



"He had in the highest degree all the attributes which mark the 

 eminent observer. In delicate and subtle manipulation, in contriving 

 new methods to meet every case, in acute and accurate perception, he 

 has never been surpassed and rarely equaled." 



United with these exceptional talents as an observer was a mystical 

 quality of mind that made his interpretations less happy, and often led 

 him to strange ideas. It is an interesting psychological combination. 

 His observations are accurate, but his interpretations fanciful. For 

 instance, in observing the transformations of insects, he came to a stage 

 in which he could see the parts of the adult insect encased, as it were, 

 in the pupa. This led him to see, in fancy, an evidence of encasement 

 of one generation within another in all animals and to adhere to that 

 curious idea of cmboitement, which had so many believers in his time. 

 He even saw in this the proof, to his mind, that the germs of all forth- 

 coming generations of mankind were originally located in the common 

 mother Eve, all closely encased one within the other, like the boxes of 

 a Japanese juggler. The end of the world was by him conceived of as 

 a necessity when the last germ of this wonderful series had become 

 unfolded. 



The last part of his life was dimmed by fanaticism. He read the 

 works of Antoinette Bourignon and fell under her influence; he began 

 to subdue his warm and stubborn temper, and to give himself up to 

 religious contemplation. She taught him to regard scientific research 

 as worldly, and, following her advice, he gave up his passionate fondness 

 for studying the works of the Creator, to devote himself to loving and 

 adoring that same Being. Always extreme and intense in everything 

 lie undertook, he likewise overdid this, and yielded himself to a sort of 

 fanatical worship until the end of his life, in 1680. Had he possessed a 

 more vigorous constitution, he would have been greater as a man. He 

 lived, in all, but forty-three years; the last six or seven years were un- 

 productive from his mental distractions, and before that much of his 

 time had been lost by sickness. 



