20 MEMOIR OF CAMPER. 



chanical arts was afterwards of use to him in tne 

 prosecution of his more important pursuits. 



In drawing, he had the able instructions of Le 

 Chevalier Moor and his son ; and in that art, and 

 also in engraving, which formed another of his fa- 

 vourite amusements, he made extraordinary profi- 

 ciency. Throughout the whole course of his life, 

 he derived immense advantage from the skill with 

 which he used the pencil, in delineating every ob- 

 ject in which he was interested, whether among the 

 objects of art or nature, or the offspring of his own 

 conceptions. The use to which he turned these ac- 

 quirements, is calculated to shew in a strong light 

 the importance of these arts as branches of early 

 education. 



He was indebted to Laborde for his first lessons 

 in geometry, and was instructed in natural philoso- 

 phy by Muschenbroeck and Gravesande, who were 

 the intimate friends of his father, and whose names 

 will be ever illustrious in the annals of science. 

 From these pursuits he was led to the study of me- 

 dicine, of which the elementary branches have so 

 close an alliance with the physical sciences ; and 

 having entered the University of Leyden, he be- 

 came the pupil of Gaubius, Von Rooyen, and the 

 elder Albinus, Boerhaave being at this time inca- 

 pacitated, by the infirmities of age, from continuing 

 his exertions as a public teacher. Camper earned 

 the first fruits of his academical labours, by receiving 

 in 1746, the degree c/ Doctor in Philosophy and 



