II, SEMINAL VERMICULI. 323 



properties were fimilar to thofe of the generating 

 corpufcles. 



The French naturalift: extended his experi* 

 ments to rabbits. From the feminal veffels of one, 

 he took the fluid, and, mixing it with water, ob- 

 fervedthe following phenomena : In three hours, 

 the globular corpufcula became ftnaller, and thus 

 conftantly diminilhed until the eighth day, when 

 they were fcarcely vifible ; but, as their fize di- 

 miniftied, their number and adivity increafed j 

 their figure aifo varied, becoming ovular, fpheri- 

 cal, and elliptical. 



He repeated the experiment on the femen of 

 another rabbit ejefted at the moment of copula- 

 tion. Ovular corpufcula were found, fome with 

 a filament, others without it : the former greatly 

 refembled thofe of the dog and of man, except 

 in being lefs, more entire, and the thread Sorter. 

 He could not be certain whether he faw real fila- 

 ments, or only faint furrows formed in the liquid 

 by the courfe of the corpufcula. 



The femen of the ram prefented elliptical cor- 

 pufcula, without filaments, and equal in fize, 

 moving in every diredion. 



M. De Buffon alfo examined the feminal fluid 

 of fome fifhes : of the carp, the pike, and barbel, 

 procuring it while the animals were alive. There, 

 he found many corpufcula in motion, of a very 

 dark colour, almoft black, and extremely fmalL 

 X a Suclv 



