INTRODUCTION OF THE MICROSCOPE 57 



Hooke or Grew, since that of Malpighi, Swammerdam, and 

 Leeuwenhoek was more far-reaching in its influence. The 

 publications of these three men were so important, both in 

 reference to microscopic study and to the progress of inde- 

 pendent investigation, that it will be necessary to deal with 

 them in more detail. In the work of these men we come 

 upon the first fruits of the application of the methods intro- 

 duced by Vesalius and Harvey. Of this triumvirate, one — 

 Malpighi — was an Italian, and the other two were Holland- 

 ers. Their great service to intellectual progress consisted 

 chiefly in this — that, following upon the foundations of 

 Vesalius and Harvey, " they broke away from the thraldom 

 of mere book-learning, and relying alone upon their own 

 eyes and their own judgment, won for man that which had 

 been quite lost — the blessings of independent and unbiased 

 observation." 



It is natural that, working when they did, and independ- 

 ently as they did, their work overlapped in many ways. 

 Malpighi is noteworthy for many discoveries in anatomical 

 science, for his monograph on the anatomy of the silkworm, 

 for observations of the minute structure of plants, and of the 

 development of the chick in the hen's egg. Swammerdam 

 did excellent and accurate work upon the anatomy and 

 metamorphosis of insects, and the internal structure of mol- 

 lusks, frogs, and other animals. Leeuwenhoek is distin- 

 guished for much general microscopic work; he discovered 

 various microscopic animalcula; he established, by direct 

 observation, the fact of a connection between arteries and 

 veins, and examined microscopically minerals, plants, and 

 animals. To him, more than to the others, the general title 

 of " microscopist " might be applied. 



Since these men are so important in the growth of biol- 

 ogy, let us, by taking them individually, look a little more 

 closely into their lives and labors. 



