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. 
