HASTY OBSERVATION 



When Boswell told Dr. Johnson that while 

 in Italy he had several times seen the experi- 

 ment tried of placing a scorpion within a circle 

 of burning coals, and that in every instance the 

 scorpion, after trying to break through the fiery 

 circle, retired to the centre and committed sui- 

 cide by darting its sting into its head, the doc- 

 tor showed the true scientific spirit by demand- 

 ing further proof of the fact. The mere 

 testimony of the eye under such circumstances 

 was not enough; appearances are often decep- 

 tive. "If the great anatomist Morgagni," said 

 the doctor, "after dissecting a scorpion on 

 which the experiment had been tried, should 

 certify that its sting had penetrated its head, 

 that would be convincing." For almost the 

 only time in his life, I say, the superstitious 

 doctor showed himself a true scientist, a man 

 refusing to accept the truth of appearances. 



But this frame of mind was not habitual to 

 him, for the next moment he said that swallows 

 sleep all winter in the bed of a river or pond, 

 " conglobulated " into a ball. The scientific 

 spirit would have required him to insist upon 

 the proof of the alleged fact in this case the 

 same as in the other. Has any competent ob- 



