OF CURIOSITY, 163 
Feives up to the ftudy of nature* and by its 
Frequerit repetition has at laft quite worn out 
my patience. For which reafon i think it will 
not be amifs to conilder the queftion, and pre- 
pare fuch an artfwer to thofe, who for the fu- 
ture ftiall not be afhamed to urge over and 
over the fame objections, as may convince 
them, if they will take the pains to read the 
few following pages, and confider them tho- 
roughly. All i defire of the reader is a candid 
hearing. 
§• 2 ° 
The kind of men, who mod frequently afk 
this queftion ; To what end all thefe inquiries ? 
are of a heavy, dull, and phlegmatic difpofi- 
tion, of weak judgment, and low education. 
Amongft ourfelves, in great cities; in large 
towns, and at academies, the fearching into 
nature ceafes now to be uncommon. Nor is 
this queftion ever heard among men of folid 
learning. It is chiefly, and frequently put in 
the more remote provinces by the inferior order 
of people *, who think of nothing but indulg- 
ing their low appetites, and look on every thing 
as ufelefs, which does not ferve that purpofe. 
When ele&rical experiments firft began to 
make a noife in the world, Samuel Klingenfti- 
M 2 erna 
