DIFFERENTSYSTEMS. loi 



periments, or to read with attention thole of 

 Malpighius *, which were made about jo years 

 after the trials of Harvey. 



Malpighius carefully examined the cicatrice, 

 which is i\ic eifential part of the egg; he found 

 that it was large in impregnated eggs, and fmall 

 in thofe which had received no impregnation ; 

 and he difcovered, that, in eggs which had ne- 

 ver been fat upon by the hen, the white point, 

 mentioned by Harvey as the firfl part that be- 

 comes animated, is a fmall purfeor bubble fwim- 

 ming in the liquor bounded by the iirft circle ; 

 and that the embryo is vifible in the centre of 

 this purfe. The membrane of the purfe, which 

 is the amnios, being exceedingly thin and tranf- 

 parent, allowed him lo fee the foetus diltindlly. 

 Malpighius, from this iirllobfervation, concludes 

 with propriety, that the foetus exifts in the egg 

 before incubation, and that the rudiments of the 

 embryo are even then deeply rooted. It is 

 imneccffary to mention how much this experi- 

 ment differs from the opinion of Harvey ; for 

 he had obfcrvcd nothing formed during the two 

 lirll days of incubation ; and, in his eftimation, 

 the firil veftige of a foetus is the animated 

 point, which appears not till the third day. But 

 Malpighius diicovered that tlie rudiments of the 

 whole foetus exifl: before incubation is com- 

 menced. 



After afcertaining this important fa6t, Mal- 

 pighius proceeded to examine the cicatrice of 

 unimprcgnated eggs, which, as formerly re- 



G 3 marked, 



* Malpigliii pullus in ovo. 



