578 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



his confreres to study nature with such unexampled activity, he, too, 

 followed the path of an independent and enthusiastic investigator. 



The portrait which forms a frontispiece to his 'Arcana Natural rep- 

 resents him at the age of sixty-three, and shows the pleasing counte- 

 nance of a firm man in vigorous health. Eichardson says: "In the 

 face peering through the big wig there is the quiet force of Cromwell 

 and the delicate disdain of Spinoza." "It is a mixed racial type, Semitic 

 and Teutonic, a Jewish-Saxon; obstinate and yet imaginative; its very 

 obstinacy a virtue, saving it from flying too far wild by its imagination." 



There was a singular scarcity of facts in reference to Leeuwen- 

 hoek's life until 1885, when Dr. Richardson published in 'The As- 

 clepiad'* the results of researches made by Mr. A. Wynter Blyth in 

 Leeuwenhoek's native town of Delft. I am indebted to that article for 

 much that follows. 



His 'Arcana Naturae' and other scientific letters contained a com- 

 plete record of his scientific activity, but 'about his parentage, his edu- 

 cation and his manner of making a living there was nothing but con- 

 jecture to go upon.' The few scraps of personal history were con- 

 tained in the 'Encyclopaedia' articles by Carpenter and others, and these 

 were wrong in sustaining the hypothesis that Leeuwenhoek was an 

 optician or manufacturer of lenses for the market. Although he 

 ground lenses for his own use, there was no need on his part of increas- 

 ing his financial resources by their sale. He held under the court a 

 minor office designated 'Chamberlain of the Sheriff.' The duties of 

 the office were those of a beadle, and were set forth in his commission, 

 a document still extant. The requirements were light, as was also the 

 salary, amounting to about £26 a year. He held this post for thirty- 

 nine years, and the stipend was thereafter continued to him to the 

 end of his life. 



Van Leeuwenhoek was derived from a good Delft family. His 

 grandfather and great-grandfather were Delft brewers, and his grand- 

 mother a brewer's daughter. The family doubtless were wealthy. His 

 schooling seems to have been brought to a close at the age of sixteen, 

 when he was 'removed to a clothing business in Amsterdam, where 

 he filled the office of bookkeeper and cashier.' After a few years he 

 returned to Delft, and at the age of twenty-two he married and gave 

 himself up largely to studies in natural history. Six years after his 

 marriage he obtained the appointment designated above. He was 

 twice married, but left only one child, a daughter by his first wife. 



He led an easy, prosperous, but withal a busy life. The micro- 

 scope had recently been invented, and for observation with that new in- 

 strument Leeuwenhoek showed an avidity amounting to a passion. 



•'Leeuwenhoek and the Rise of Histology.' Aselepiad, Vol. II.; 1SS5. 



