HISTORY OF ZOOPIIYTOLOGY. 13 



acid, which carrvino; them alono- witli it into the fissures at least, 

 if not into the sohd substance of such stones or slates, there de- 

 termines them to shoot into these elegant branchings ; after the 

 same manner, and frequently in the same figures, as the par- 

 ticles of merq^u'y, copper, &c. are disposed and brought together 

 by the salts in aqua fortis."* 



But the progress of truth, although it may be delayed by op- 

 position, cannot be permanently arrested. The converts to the 

 new doctrines were indeed few, but much had been done to fa- 

 cilitate their future reception, for the slumber of prejudice had 

 been broken, the hold of the ancient opinions on the affections 

 had been loosened, and men no longer startled into scepticism 

 when they heard of animals that in their productions mimicked 

 the most beautiful and delicate vegetable forms, f The mind 

 of naturalists was thus in some measure prepared for the change 

 on the very eve of being effected by the labours and assiduity 

 of a member of that very society which had lately listened, with 

 apparent approbation, to the reveries of Dr Parsons. 



John Ellis — the name of the individual alluded to — was a 

 merchant in London, who devoted his leisure to the study of 

 natural history, in which he attained so considerable knowledge 

 as to gain easy access to the Royal Society, and the acquain- 

 tance and correspondence of the most celebrated naturalists of 

 his time. He seems to have attached himself more particular- 

 ly to the economical department of botany, and seized every 

 opportunity to introduce foreign plants to our gardens, especial- 

 ly such as were remarkable from furnishing any material em- 

 ployed in the arts and manufactures ; and he was equally solici- 

 tous to acquire and diffuse accurate information relative to any 

 natural productions which might be rendered subservient to 

 the necessities or comforts of mankind. He was fond also of 

 amusing himself in making imitations of landscapes by the cu- 

 rious and skilful disposition of delicate sea-weed and corallines 



* Employment for the Microscope, p. 218-20. Lond. 1753. 



f " For it is not because an'opinion is true, that others mil therefore adopt it. 

 It must at the same time be congruous with our other impressions, and admit 

 of being dovetailed into them, or it wUl be rejected, for it is judged of by its 

 conformity to the previous acquisitions, and is disliked and coudemned if incom- 

 patible with them." — Turner, Sac. Hist, of the World, Vol. ii. p. 19. 



