(v) 



Since the microfcope lias been brought to fuch a degtee of per- 

 fection, that not only the minuteft animals, but even thofe 

 which before entirely efcaped our fight, are now difcovered, and 

 become the fubje& of our examination ] what a new fcene of 

 things is prefented to our view, and how vaft the extent of* 

 Nature's empire * ! Great difcoveries in this way might be 

 made in Norway. If there was but a SWAMMERDAM or a 

 Reaumur amongft us, provided with the beft glafles, and 

 fufficient time and opportunity. 



If we turn our eyts to the other extreme, how amazingly large 

 are fome of the animal fpecies ! The largeft of thefe are in a man- 

 ner peculiar to the Northern Ocean, and the contents of the 

 eighth chapter are fo much the more remarkable, as the world 

 has flood fo long, that the moft formidable and bulky of its inha- 

 bitants have been hardly known to any of the human race, ex- 

 cepting a few Norvegian filhermen * 



However, thofe creatures are very well known to them ; and 

 if the many unqueftioriable witneffes, whonl I have ftri&ly ex- 

 amined with regard to this affair, are hot to fee. credited, then 

 we muft fet afide almoft all human teftimony. 



■ If my account of thefe extraordinary Sea-animals fliould not 

 difpleafe the philofophers of the prefent age, I willingly fubmit 

 my thoughts, as far as they are only my own, to their judge-; 

 ment ; whofe corrections and obfervations tending to the amend- 

 ment of this work by a new edition, or by tranflatibns into 

 other languages, will be always agreeable to me, and the favour 

 will be received with gratitude. 



* What can we think of the Animalcule, which De Lifle, in the Hiftoire de 

 JAcademie Royale, ad Ann. i 7 n, p . l8 , fays he faw through a microfcope, 

 which, in the fpace of a fecond of time, or one pulfatioit of tfa artery, ad* 

 vanced forwards three inches, taking 540 fteps, But when we fuppofe that 

 every living creature, the leaft as well as the grcafeft, is a hydraulic and pneu- 

 matic machine, compofed of various parts, for various purpofes, it raife* ourad^ 

 miration of the works of the all-wife Creator ftill higher 



I Veniet tempus, quo ipfa quae nunc latent, dies extrahet, & lorigioris *vi dilS 

 genua. Ad inquifkioncm tantorum aetas non una fufficit. Veiiiet fempus, quo 

 polten noftn tarn aperta nos nefcivilTe mirabuntur. Seneca, ' 



Part II. b fhe 



