INTRODUCTION. 39 



distance from the rocks whence they originally proceed." 

 Where the truth is not known, how plausibly can error be 

 dressed up, so as to satisfy many, and keep them from search- 

 ing for the truth ! 



But though error in various forms was more acceptable 

 to many than truth, the glimpses of truth that had been 

 obtained revived discussion, and set men to think and to 

 observe. So long as there is no actual observation the war 

 of words and of opinions may be carried on and victory 

 claimed by the several disputants, though not one of them 

 may be entitled to bear away the palm. In this instance, 

 however, it was soon to be won by a member of the 

 Royal Society, who though he could not fail to hear of the 

 statements made by MM. Peyssonnel, Trembley, and others, 

 does not seem to have been influenced by them, as he brings 

 forward his own most important statements as the result of 

 his own observations made when engaged in botanical pur- 

 suits. The person to whom I refer was John Ellis, a Lon- 

 don merchant, who from seeing the polypes in some of our 

 British zoophytes, caught a convincing glimpse of the true 

 state of the matter, and prosecuted the study with such 

 ardent zeal that in 3755 he published a work entitled 'An 

 Essay towards a Natural History of Corallines and other 



