244 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



peration of a kind that betrayed at least a clumsy wit. Volta 

 was " a bladder, full of wind, an object of abomination and 

 horror " ; Scarpa was " a cabalist, one of the most inferior 

 of scholars, a perfect plagiarist " ; Scopoli was a " Physis 

 intestinalis," this being a name published by Scopoli for a 

 portion probably of a bird's trachea in mistake for an intestinal 

 worm which is given all the usual honours of a figure and 

 description in Scopoli 's book, Delicice Florce et Fannce In- 

 subricce seu Novce aut minus cognitce species Plantarum et 

 Animalium quas in Insubrica Austriaca, i. 1786 (p. 46). In 

 addition to these sledge-hammer blows he also dealt out the 

 stiletto thrusts of anonymous communications to the news- 

 papers which have been dealt with by Prof. Pavesi in // 

 Crimine Scientifico di Spallanzani giudicato (Milan, 1899). 



Some doubts, after all, of Spallanzani's integrity in the 

 affair have been expressed. These probably originated in the 

 fact that the professor is reported to have subsequently sup- 

 pressed a part of his first memorial of defence in which he con- 

 fessed that at Scandiano he kept some of the objects belonging 

 to the museum at Pavia, but only with the idea of studying 

 them and returning them afterwards to Pavia. His natural 

 astuteness helped him to foresee the danger of such a confession 

 at such a crisis. 



Although this was not the only battle the Abbe fought with 

 his aggressors, no one ousted him from his position or deprived 

 him of his reputation. He continued to enjoy his fame and 

 received many signal honours. He was Dean of the Faculty 

 of Philosophy several times, and in 1778 the students by a 

 majority of votes elected him to the Rectorship. At the 

 museum he received many distinguished visitors, including the 

 Emperor Joseph II. It is amusing to read that to the " gentili 

 Signore " he was always happy to show the museum — " pro- 

 vided they were beautiful and intelligent." Even this granite 

 character, perhaps, had its softer side. 



Although for diplomatic reasons Spallanzani used often to 

 complain that he was not well in Pavia, he really enjoyed a 

 florid state of good health, and the day before he was attacked 

 by the apoplexy which ended in his death he was pursuing 

 with the most youthful ardour his experiments in respiration, 

 the results of which were published posthumously. Three 

 days after his seizure he had recovered sufficiently to be able 



