MEMOIR OF SWAMMERDAM. 
21 
pared the specimens he obtained with the accounts 
of the best authors, and afterwards arranged them in 
certain classes. When more advanced in years he 
applied himself most diligently to anatomy and medi- 
cine, all the while having his mind bent on the 
attainment of some important objects. He often 
spent both day and night in searching for and ex- 
amining such insects as he could find, not only in 
his native district, but also in other parts of Holland. 
With this view he ransacked the air, the land, and 
the water ; fields, meadow r s, pastures, corn-lands, 
downs, wastes, sand-hills ; rivers, ponds, wells, lakes, 
seas, and their shores and banks ; trees, plants, ruins, 
caves, uninhabited places, and even bog-houses, in 
order that he might make himself acquainted with 
the nests of insects, their food, manner of living, 
diseases, metamorphoses, and modes of propagation. 
And it may be affirmed, that in these particulars he 
discovered more facts and valuable information, even 
in his early youth, than all the known authors of 
preceding ages. However incredible this may ap- 
pear, it is a fact that cannot be questioned, for the 
most competent judges have borne testimony to its 
truth/' 
He prosecuted his medical studies for a length of 
time in his native city, but afterwards repaired to 
Leyden, to avail himself of the advantages of its 
jelebrated university. The surgical department 
was then under the direction of John Van Horne, 
and Francis Silvius de la Boe w r as professor of 
medicine, both of whom were men of celebrity. 
