16 The BOOK of 
That we may give our opinion on this head 
in a few words, it feems very probable, that 
in the whole nature of things there is no ge- 
neration that can be properly fo called, nor 
can any thing elfe be obferved in this procefs, 
than the continuation, as it were, of the ge- 
neration already performed, or an increafe of, 
or addition to, the limbs, which totally ex- 
cludes the doctrine of fortuitous propagation. 
Having eftablifhed this principle, it is eafy to 
explain the reafon that a man, deprived of 
hands and feet, may have a found and perfect 
offspring. Hence, alfo, we may determine 
that famous queftion, whether, in order to 
produce a complete iffue, a feminal particle 
drawn from every member of the body be 
abfolutely necefflary. Moreover, the reafon 
is evident, how Levi, being yet in his father’s 
loins, paid tythes long before he was born: 
for he was in his father’s loins, when Mel- 
chifedeck met Abraham. Laftly, even ori- 
ginal fin (in the opinion of a very learned 
man, to whom we have occafionally commu- 
nicated the myfteries of our experiments) may 
ftand on this principle as on a firm foundation, 
fince all mankind have been laid up originally 
in the loins of their firft parents. 
others claim the right of explaining fuch myf- 
teries, we fhall enter no further into this mat- 
ter, but come to another error of Goedaert, 
intending to difcufs the reft, when we have 
occafion to examine any more of his experi- 
ments; for it is not our intention to build on 
another’s foundation. 
A further error of Goedaert appears in the 
sath experiment of the firft part, in the words 
following: ‘* What is more particularly wor- 
« thy of our notice in thefe infects is, that 
«« wherever the legs are fituated in the Cater- 
«« pillar, there is placed the back of the ani- 
¢¢ malcule that is to arife by tranfmutation : 
«¢ and on the contraty, where the back of the 
« Caterpillar was, there, are the legs in the 
«« animalcule to be produced from thence. 
“ This metamorphofis, adds he, (which ren- 
“ ders him the more blameable) is per- 
** formed in a fhort {pace of time, fo that it 
“ may be diftin€tly feen; becaufe immediately 
“after fhedding its fkin, this change appears 
“ to the eye.” From hence may arife a pro- 
per opportunity of explaining accurately and 
carefully the true tranfmutation of the Cater- 
pillar into the Chryfalis ; but as this matter is 
(as far as hitherto is neceflary to be explained) 
very evident, from what we have on feveral 
preceeding occafions faid thereon, we fhall 
here pafs it over in filence ; and the rather, 
becaufe we have determined to treat this mat- 
ter profeffedly in the following fheets; for we 
thall thew from reafon, and illuftrate by figures, 
after what manner, and in what place, every 
limb of the Nymph and Butterfly are dif+ 
pofed and arranged, which we have before 
actually laid before the eye, in the prefence of 
Magalloti and Thevenot, by fhewing all the 
limbs of the Butterfly in the Caterpillar. There- 
But, fince . 
N+AWT Ur Es cor, *. 
fore, to prove the falfity of what we have cited 
out of Goedaert, it is fufficient only to repeat, 
that the fix fore legs of the Caterpillar are never 
changed or tranfpofed in any remarkable man- 
ner. And though Goedaert thought himfelf 
fuperior, with refpect to the fharpnefs of his 
fight, to Mouffet, Harvey, and others (whofe 
thoughts on this fubject were conjectural) and 
has aflerted the contrary to their doctrine, yet 
nothing is more certain than that not only he, 
but thofe who boaft to have feen it, were 
grofsly deceived. This deception may poflibly 
arife from two caufes: the firft is the fwift 
fhedding of the fkin; whence it happens, that 
the limbs, hitherto hidden, fuddenly appear, 
and are difpofed in a form quite different from 
what they were in the Worm: the fecond may 
be owing to fome protuberances and fwellings, 
which are on the back of the Caterpillar, and, 
as foon as the fkin is fhed, have the refem- 
blance of legs. Indeed, a perfon more quick- 
fighted than Goedaert, may be deceived by 
this, fince the change of the {kin happens 
fuddenly, and, as it were in the twinkling of 
an eye: wherefore, even the more modern au- 
thors, who wrote moft accurately on this fub- 
jet, have difcovered nothing elfe, than that the 
fkin is firft broken on the head and back. This 
is plain from that very elaborate treatife of the 
generation of thefe infects, publifhed by Fran- 
cis Redus, principal phyfician to the grand duke 
of Tufcany, in his own language, in the year 
1668 ; wherein he has proved, by the ftrongeft 
arguments, that no infects are generated by 
putrefaction. This dottrine we fhall not only 
willingly grant this eminent phyfician, but fur- 
ther we fcruple not to affert, that putrefaction 
is, in a great meafure, produced by thofe very 
infeéts which are fuppofed to arife from it: 
but of this matter more at large hereafter. 
In order to thew the origin of thofe fwel- 
lings on the back of the Caterpillar which 
impofed on Goedaert, as fomany fignals of 
changing their legs, it muft be obferved, that 
many of the Caterpillars, whilft they are chang- 
ing, caft off from thofe hairs wherewith their 
bodies were before roughened and briftly, a 
very tender, and, as it were, membranous 
fheath ; after which, the finer part of thofe 
hairs appear like fo many linen threads in 
the Chryfalis. But fince this Caterpillar of 
Goedaert’s is covered with hairs. which are 
more like briftles than linen thread, it fol- 
lows, thofe hairs and the reft of the body hav- 
ing fhed their fkin, form in the Chryfalis the 
fizure before mentioned, and appeared as if the 
legs were tranfpofed. This is what led Goc- 
daert into another error: for if he had known 
thefe feveral particulars, he might have eafily 
inveftigated the origin of thofe filken yellow 
threads, which he tells us he faw in the Chry- 
falis, and which are defcribed in the 20th ex- 
periment of the firdt part. wong 
It is not only very certain that the change of 
the Caterpillar into a Chryfalis may be per- 
ceived by the eye, but our experiments proceed 
: fo 
