32-0 SEMINAL VERMICULl. H, 



XHAP. III. 



^ BRIEF ACCOUNT OF M. DE BUFFON'S OBSERVATIONS 

 ON SEMINAL VERMICULL— CRITICAL REFLECTIONS 

 .ON THESE OBSERVATIONS. 



£ defcend from the obfervations of Leeu- 

 ^venhoeck to thofe of BuiTon, which, although 

 very numerous, comprehenfive, and fpecific, we 

 ihall but abridge. With the compound micro- 

 Jcope he obferved the fluid from the feminal vef- 

 fels of a dead human body (i). It was full of 

 filaments, m.oving about and branching into many 

 parts. The filaments fwelling burll, and many 

 ovular corpufcula efcaped, which ftill remained 

 attached to the filaments by a thread ; then they 

 ofcillated like a pendulutn, and during the ofcilla- 

 itions the thread extended. The corpufcula, at 

 length detached, travelled the moft fluid part of 

 the femen along with their filament, the extreme 

 length of which impeded their motion, and they 

 feemed to him to endeavour to free themfeives 

 of it. Having diluted the femen with rain waten^ 

 the microfcopic viev/ v/as better defined. It 

 -clearly appeared that each ovular corpufculum ha^ 



(i) Hiftoire Naturelle, torn. 3. edit. i2o 



