3^6 SEMINAL VfeRMIClTLl. IL 



HUthority I refpefted. He had the goodnefs to an- 

 fwer, ' You judge well, my valued correfpond» 

 ^ ent,. that I am not much furprifed to find you 



* in oppofition to M. de Buffon with regard to 



* fpermatic vermiculi j. nor do I forget, what he 



* has in fome meafure told us, and which I have 

 ■' repeated after him, that his theory preceded his 

 ' obfervations. Now you know as well as 1 do, 

 ^'that a favoured theory is a-mirror which changes 



* the appearance of objefts, 



' Fear not that M. de Buffon's authority will 



* in the leafi: invalidate the truth of your difco- 

 ^ veries on ferainal vermiculi* You have proved 



* yourfelf an excellent obferver, and acquired the 



* right of being believed. You have eherifhed no 

 ' theory, but are fatisfied with interrogating na- 

 ' ture, and giving the public a faithful account 

 - of her refponfes. Philofophers will always hften 

 ' to you ; and they will efteem your obfervations 

 ' fo much the more certain that you prove your- 



* felf to poffefs the art of obfervation.' 



Thefe obliging invitations encouraged me to 

 draw my obfervations from the obfcurity in which 

 I had left them, and to continue increafmg them 

 as much as my humble talents would admit. 

 Without interruption, this was my chief employ- 

 ment for the greater part of three years. But the 

 various facts gradually difcovered, and of which 

 an abbreviated narrative fliall be given, little cor- 



refpond 



