2So gEMINAL VERMICULI. If. 



made their fenfes the caufe of error ; or who 

 wanted fufficient pradice In the difficult art of 

 accurate obfervation. As I inveftigated a fub- 

 je£l analogous to the hiftory of fpermatic vermi- 

 cuh, I wifhed to ftudy them : and applying with 

 all the attention, care, and reflection in my 

 power, to difcover the truth if poffible, for the 

 greater certainty, endeavoured iirfl to forget all 

 that had been written, and act as if I had been 

 the original author of the enquiry. In contro- 

 verted fads, I have uniformly found this the fafeft 

 method, to avoid confounding the opinion of the 

 philofopher with the refponfes of Nature : only, 

 after reaping a fruitful harvefl of fadts, I begin 

 to confider v/hat has been feen by others ; I com- 

 . pare their refults with my own, and, with re- 

 fpedful deference, allow myfelf to give an opi- 

 nion. My fmcerity will be believed when it is 

 "known that I had taken no fide of the queftion, 

 and that it abfolutely was indifferent to me whe- 

 ther my difcoveries corroborated or refuted thofs 

 of others. 



The feminal fluids examined were that of man 

 and different quadrupeds ; neither did I negleO: 

 the fmalleft anim.als. The human femen was 

 uled as recent as it could be obtained, by taking 

 it from dead bodies while yet warm : that of ani^ 

 mials the moment they were killed ; I have fre^ 

 quently examined the feminal fluid of animals 



aUve, 



