126 JOHN SWAMMERDAM. 



duced him to the learned men by whom his house was 

 frequented. In their society he usually remained a 

 listener, and could not be prevailed upon to com- 

 municate his ideas ; but, being repeatedly urged to 

 exhibit one of his minute dissections, he gratified 

 the wishes of his friends, and, by the profound 

 knowledge which he displayed, acquired at once 

 their esteem and admiration. Thevenot recommend- 

 ed him to Van Beuningen, a senator at Amsterdam, 

 who, on his returning to that city, obtained permis- 

 sion for him to examine the bodies of patients dying 

 in the hospital, — an opportunity of increasing his 

 knowledge which he took care not to neglect. 



In his native town he frequented a society of medi- 

 cal men, who met once a-fortnight for the purpose of 

 discussing subjects connected with their profession, 

 and made observations on the structure of the spinal 

 marrow and nerves, on respiration, and on the ef- 

 fects produced by the injection of fluids into the 

 blood-vessels of animals. 



About the end of 1666, he returned to Leyden 

 with the view of obtaining his medical diploma, and 

 there continued his researches in company with his 

 former teacher. Van Home, in whose house he in- 

 jected the uterine vessels with wax, — a method of 

 showing the distribution of the arteries and veins 

 afterwards greatly improved by him, and which has 

 been productive of much advantage in the study of 

 anatomy. In February 1 667, he received the degree 

 of doctor, and in IMarch published his thesis on 

 respiration, which he dedicated to Thevenot. He 

 next invented a new method of preserving anato- 

 mical subjects by inflating them with air. But the 

 eagerness with which he engaged in these occupa- 



