[ 186 ] 
which is tied down by a ligament, in confequence of the 
great preflure, had its diameter much leflened, and the thick- 
nefs of its coats very confiderably increafed. 
Ir is by no means uncommon to meet this vifcus preter- 
naturally enlarged; fuch inftances are related by various au- 
thors, defcribed in all anatomical lectures, and exhibited in 
feveral mufeums. Mead mentions the diffe@ion of a perfon 
in whom was found an enormous fpleen weighing jive pounds, 
which he feems to think, with Hippocrates, an attendant on 
feurvy; and Morgagni informs us of his having feen one of 
eight pounds. But that to which I have the honour of call- 
ing the attention of the Academy is larger, I believe, than 
any yet defcribed. 
Our ignorance of the.ufes of this vifcus is confidered as one 
of the difgraces of phifiology. Much time was employed, and 
much ingenuity exhaufted, by the ancients as well as the 
moderns, in endeavouring to afcertain its purpofes in the ani- 
mal cconomy, but without fuccefs. Malpighi, diffatisfied 
with the conjeétures of his predecefiors, and defpairing of fuc- 
ceeding where fo many had failed, refolved on an experiment 
from which he might rationally have expected confiderable 
information. He extirpated the {pleen in feveral dogs, hoping 
thus to difcover by its want what had in vain been fought 
for .from its prefence. His ingenuity was, however, but ill 
requited; for though the animals lived long after the opera- 
tion, and conflant attention was paid to every circumftance 
attending them, though the experiment was repeated in Eng- 
land by Mr. Boyle, yet it has not in anywife affifted us to 
: difcover 
