Large White, Small White, and Red Admiral. To the general work Martin 

 Lister added a short appendix on British spiders. 



A very inferior book of nature belonging to this century is that by Hollar, 

 published in 1674. In it he gives figures of such fabulous animals as a 

 Flying Dragon and a Griffin. There is also a scanty mention of insects in 

 Nehemiah Grew's "Rarities of Gresham College/' published in 1681. 



Science received a vast impetus by the establishment of the Royal Society, 

 which, from a small beginning at Oxford about the year 1645, made rapid 

 advances when removed to the metropolis in 1662. This learned body 

 bestowed great attention from the begining upon the physiological part of 

 natural history. The names of Boyle, Evelyn, Hook, and Needham are 

 among the first members of this society. Mr. Willoughby, also, was one of 

 the original fellows, although his friend Ray was not admitted till the year 

 1667. Dr. Lister, the great conch ologist, was very early associated with it, 

 as well as the vegetable physiologist, Dr. Grew. 



Many similar institutions were set on foot throughout Europe, as the 

 Imperial Academy Naturae Curiosorum, begun in 1652. An academy was 

 instituted at Paris, in 1666, and another some years after at Montpellier, 

 very similar to the Royal Society of London, with which the greatest men in 

 Europe have always been proud to be associated. 



One of the most important events of this century was the complete 

 exposure and refutation of the absurd doctrine of equivocal generation, which 

 had maintained its ground in the schools of philosophy from the time of 

 Aristotle. Our own immortal Harvey was the first who dared to controvert 

 this irrational theory : and his dictum Omnia ex ovo was copiously dis- 

 cussed and completely established by two of the ablest physiologists that 

 Italy has produced, Redi and Malpighi. The works of Swammerdam also 

 are full of curious information, and will sufficiently reward those whose 

 patience is not to be exhausted by his tedious heavy style. 



Towards the end of the century appeared two great naturalists, our country- 

 men, Willoughby and the illustrious Ray. 



John Ray, the son of a blacksmith, was born in 1628, at Black Netley, in 

 Essex. He was bred up to the Church, and finally became one of the 

 brightest ornaments in the history of our science. He was the author of 

 many invaluable works on divinity, morality, and botany. At the advanced 

 age of 75 he began his work on insects, the celebrated "Historia Insectorium/' 

 for which he had been accumulating materials from 1690 to 1700, but being 

 snatched away from his labours by the hand of death on the 17th of January, 

 1705, the work, which w^s nearly ready for the press, was published post- 



