24 MEMOIR OF 



Schurman, of Utrecht, whose extensive learning 

 causes her to be ranked among the ornaments of 

 the seventeenth century. Some of his tenets were 

 not unlike those of the well known Antoiiia Bou- 

 rignon, who flourished at the same period and in 

 the same country, whose partiality in the choice of 

 votaries seems to have inclined in an opposite direc- 

 tion from that of her cotemporary ; at least if we 

 may judge from the influence she acquired over the 

 distinguished John Swammerdam, in whose mind 

 her fanaticism found a ready reception, after it had 

 lapsed into a state of gloom and hypochondriasm 

 brought on by excessive study. Madam Merian's 

 zeal, however, never appears to have reached such 

 a height as to unfit her for attending to the ordinary 

 duties of life, as was unfortunately the case in the 

 instance just referred to. On the contrary, she 

 availed herself of the opportunity, while at Bosch, 

 of examining the rich cabinet of insects in the pos- 

 session of M. Sommerdyck, which rekindled all her 

 zeal for the study of that branch of natural history. 

 She likewise went to Amsterdam, and visited the 

 different museums in that city, taking every means 

 in her power to extend her acquaintance with the 

 subject. She mentions, in particular, the gratifica- 

 tion and instruction she received from the collections 

 of Nicolas Witsen, director of the East India Com- 

 pany, and those of Dr. Frederic Ruisch and Levin 

 Vincent. It appears to have been the admiration 

 excited by a view of the many splendid productions 

 of tropical America, preserved in these cabinets. 



