ANIMALS. 363 



creased in size, and seem to have a much greater 

 motion than they have in reality. For the mo- 

 tion being magnified with the object, the smallest 

 degree of it will seem very considerable ; and a 

 body almost at rest, may, by these means, be ap- 

 parently put into violent action. Thus, for in- 

 stance, if we look upon the sails of a wind-mill 

 moving, at a distance, they appear to go very 

 slow ; but if we approach them, and thus mag- 

 nify their bulk to our eye, they go round with 

 great rapidity. A microscope, in the same man- 

 ner, serves to bring pur eye close to the object, 

 and thus to enlarge it ; and not only increases 

 the magnitude of its parts, but of its motion. 

 Hence, therefore, it would follow, that these or-, 

 ganical particles that are said to constitute the 

 bulk of living nature, are but mere optical illu- 

 sions ; and the system founded on them must, 

 like them, be illusive. 



These and many other objections have been 

 made to this system, which, instead of enlighten- 

 ing the mind, serve only to show, that too close 

 a pursuit of nature very often leads to uncertain- 

 ty. Happily, however, for mankind, the most 

 intricate inquiries are generally the most useless. 

 Instead, therefore, of balancing accounts between 

 the sexes, and attempting to ascertain to which 

 the business of generation most properly belongs, 

 it will be more instructive, as well as amusing, 

 to begin with animal nature, from its earliest re- 

 tirements, and evanescent outlines, and pursue 

 the incipient creature through all its changes in 

 the womb till it arrives into open day. 



