48 
MEMOIR OF SWAMMERDAM. 
greater virulence than ever, accompanied with symp- 
toms which he could not misinterpret. A slow and 
continued fever was gradually drying up the sources 
of life ; his countenance became cadaverous, his legs, 
feet, and belly swollen, and his whole body w r as racked 
with continual pains. On becoming acquainted with 
his condition, Thevenot sent him the Jesuits’ bark, 
then supposed to be of great efficacy in curing fevers ; 
Swammerdam desired him also to send some specific 
against the dropsy, if he knew of any such. Finding 
himself grow gradually worse, he ceased entirely to 
speak of worldly concerns, and was unremitting in his 
preparations for the great change that was rapidly 
approaching. It took place on the 17th February, 
1680. 
On the 25th January of the same year, when he 
found himself in such a condition as to leave no hopes 
of recovery, he had made his will, by which he be- 
queathed to Thevenot, the friend so often mentioned 
in the course of this sketch, all his original manuscripts 
relating to the history of bees, butterflies, &c. along 
with fifty-two plates which had been engraved from 
his drawings. He ordered, besides, a collection of 
valuable papers on scientific subjects, then deposited 
in the house of Herman Wingendorp, at Leyden, to 
be delivered to the same person within a year after 
his death. Madam Volckers, wife of a physician 
named Daniel de Hoest, was made his heiress ; 
this lady was also appointed his executrix, jointly 
with Christopher Van Weyland, but the latter dying 
soon after, the trust devolved entirely into her hands. 
