22 ANIMALCULA OF INFUSIONS. I. 



But to recede by fuch fmall differences would 

 have been extremely tedious and troublefome ; 

 and receding by great intervals, as for example, 

 from 2 1 2° to 167°, 122^, might produce inaccu- 

 racy, and admit that animalcula had appeared, 

 not only at that degree, but at one much infe- 

 rior, therefore I thought of adopting a mean 

 temperature, which would both diminifh the la- 

 bour, and liberate me from the imputation of an 

 unexaft obferver. The reduftion proceeded by 

 i 1°, defcending from 200° to 189°, 178'^, 167°; 

 whence I had four claffes of experiments fcorref- 

 ponding with the numbers 200, 189, 178, 167. 

 Each clafs had nine infufions of the feeds before 

 named, v»rhich made thirty-fix velfels, whole 

 feals were broken, when the time neceffary for 

 producing animalcula had elapfed r but not a 

 fmgle animalcule v/as in any one of the thirty-jfix 

 veflels. Whence I concluded, that none of the 

 higher claffes could appear at 167°, which is 45° 

 lefs than the heat of boiling water. Continuing 

 to defcend by 1 1*^ from 156°, I came to 111° j 

 whence I had five claffes of infufions, and forty^- 

 live veffcls. 



My furprife has already been expreffed at fee- 

 ing fuch abundance of animalcula of every def- 

 cription, in fubllances openly infufed, after ex- 

 pofure to the violent flame of the blow-pipe: 

 but it gave me no lefs aflonifliment not to find 



a finale. 



