Observations upon the generation, composition, and decomposition of animal and vegetable substances : communicated in a letter to Martin Folkes, Esq., President of the Royal Society

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OBSERVATIONS

upon the

GENERATION, COMPOSITION,

and

DECOMPOSITION

of
ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE

SVBSTANCES.

communicated in a letter
to Martin Folkes Efq; Prefident of the
ROYAL SOCI ETY
by

TVRBERVILL NEEDHAM

Fellow of the fame.

L O N T> O N:
Printed in the Year MDCCXL1X.

ito Bsi >&

A Summary of fome late Obfervathm
upon the Generation, Compofition, and
Decomposition of Animal and Vegetable
Subftances ; Communicated in a Letter to
Martin Folkes Efq\ Prejident of the Royal
Society, by Mr. Turbervill Needham, Fel-
low of the fame Society.

Paris, Nov. 23, 1748, N. S,

SIR,

§ 1. r I ^HO' I think myfelf now almoft fufficiently
1 qualified, by the Multitude of Experiments
I have already made upon animal and vegetable Sub-
ftances, fince the 16th, -N. S. of laft March, to lay
down fome certain Truths upon this Subject, and from
them to advance, by Induction, farther than fo fhort a
Period of Time would allow me to proceed by fpecial
Experiments, yet I would have your learned Royal
Society look upon this Paper as animperfect Sketch-only
of what I hope topublifh from the Journals I have by
me in a few Months, if thefe two or three Sheets are
fo fortunate as to meet with their Approbation. lam
fufficiently feniible how much 1 may hurt this little
Performance, if I promife too much, and raife
in this Matter higher Expectations from the Public
than it may appear hereafter to deferve : It is at this
time therefore particularly the more neceflary, that I
mould be exceedingly cautious to advance no Propo-
rtion rafhly i nothing, but what feems to flow natu-
rally from Obfervation. But this Precaution, however

* drift,

[2]

ftrict, will not exclude now-and then a probable
Confequence from appearing, provided it feems con-
nected with fome preceding manifeft Truth; for
fuch muft be allow'd, as proper Foundations for a
more exact Inquiry in a Matter I am very far from
pretending to have exhaufted. I muft therefore ob-
serve, for my own Security againft future Objections,
that tho' I add no new decifive Experiment to my
prcfent Lift, or throw any more Light upon the
Subject than what I have already amaffed, I may
poflibly, before my EfTay appears, whether by the
Advice of Friends, or otherwife, conceive more
mature Thoughts, reject fome of the prefent, and
adopt others in their Place. As this will be done,
without affecting in any degree the main Syftem,
which I imagine turns upon unquestionable Truths,
it is a Liberty I am perfuaded that equitable and
learned Society will indulge me in, if no other
Confideration prevails, than the great Oblcurity that
hangs over a Subject fo extenfive and fo intricate as
this is ; in which I am already engag'd much farther
than I at firft forefaw, and indeed too far to recede
without faying fomething.

§ 2. 1 (hall take as little Notice as may be, in
this fhort Summary, of the almoft inevitable Mif-
takes others may have made in this Matter be-
fore me, and the too hafty Confequences they have
drawn from Appearances that naturally furprife by
their Novelty. Such Surprize is but too apt to cap-
tivate Perfons even of the moft ferene Thoughts,
much more the young and unexperienced s fuch as
Mr. Hartfoeker was, when he firft difcover'd the
fpermatic Animals.

$3-

[3]

§ 3- Mr. Lewenhoeck indeed, fo near his Cotem-
porary in this Difcovery as to claim a Priority, was
much more advanced in Age and Experience ; yet
if he mould alio appear to have been miftaken, wc
are not to be furprifed at it; for his repeared Ob-
fervations upon the Sperm of fuch a Variety of Ani-
mals, even as low as Infeds, fcemto intitle him to
draw Confequences as extenfive for a general Syf-
tem of Generation, as his Experiments had been.
In effect, what two more powerful Arguments
could a Philofopher with the Knowledge of no
other Fad, than that of their Existence, have, than
the Univerfality of Animalcules in this Fluid, and
their feeming Confinement to this animal Secretion?

§ 4. The Method of Reafoning by Analogy is but
too apt to lead us into Miftakes, and therefore we
ought to be very diffident of Confequences deduced
this Way. Every new Appearance that has no known
Caufe, immediately fixes, and but toooften at laft
puts the Thoughts of the Obferver upon the Rack,
When the Mind arrives at this Intenfity of Adion,
how natural is it to free ourfelves from a painful Un-
certainty at any rate, and that with as little Expence
of Refledion as may be I The mod obvious and
eafy Method is to clafs, if it admits it, and to re-
duce It to fome other known Phenomena ; poffibly
we are yet no nearer the phyikai Caufe, becaufe
that of both is unknown. We have ftill, however,
the Satisfadion to have diminifhed the Surprize it
gives, by taking from its Singularity, and reft in
fome meafure contented with this little Deceit.

§ 5. I call it a Deceit, if we acquiefce in it, tillfuch
time as a Number of Circumftances mail concur to

* 2 place

[4]

place it above the State of an Hypothecs, and mew
us we have been right in our Inferences. Mere Ana-
logy, founded only upon one or two Fads, and
extended by Conjecture, however plaufible, can but
at moft furnifh Motives for a reafonable Doubt, and
a more mature Enquiry. For thoJ, as a modern Au-
thor obferves very well, Nature feems every-where
to hold with itfelf, and go off by an almoft imper-
ceptible Gradation j yet, in our prefent Ignorance
of the entire Chain of Beings, we are fo liable to
miftake two diftant Species for the next immediate
ones to each other, that the Analogy is thereby
nearly extinguifhed, and its Traces almoft effac'd.

§ 6. That this has been too much the Cafe in all the
modern Syftems of Generation, will appear I believe
plain in the Courfe of this Memoir to every un-
biafs'd Naturalift. Animalcules were found univer-
fally in all animal Seed, almoft at all times, and feem-
ingly in this animal Secretion alone 5 they were
therefore previoufly thought eftential to Generation _j
or they mould have added, a neceffary Confequence
of Properties in the Sccdj which Properties were
eftential to Generation. But this Inference, how-
ever natural, was intirely overlooked by them in
their Reafoning 5 and Analogy indue d them to ftop
at the firft, without ever examining the fecond,
tho' equally confequent. The Opinion of pre-
exiftent Germs had prevail'd, under the Notion of
Female Eggs, ere this Difcovery was made; and
thus one Miftake had been grafted upon another.
When the fpermatic Animals appeared, it was not
difficult to transfer thefe imaginary Germs from the
one to the other ; and at moft Philofophers were

only

[5]

only divided by it; tho' as both Opinions were equally
plaufible, the latter generally prevailed by its Novelty.
The vaft and unbounded Profpect it open'd to the
Imagination, in a View of fuch a prodigious Series
from the firft Parent to the laft, of original Linea-
ments, ftruck the Mind with an agreeable Surprize.
The Folly of equivocal Generation, particularly as
it had been ftated by the Antients, the falfe Grounds
they had proceeded upon to eftablifh it, various Ex-
periments that feenfd to prove every Animal, every
Plant, defcended from Individuals of the fame Spe-
cies 5 but, above all, the Facility of claillng thefe
fpermatic Animals, the reducing them by Analogy
to Seed and Eggs, and the known Tranfition of moil
Infeds from one State to another, feem'd all fuf-
ficient to remove the Veil Nature had drawn, and
furnifh a Clue of a competent Length to conduct
us into its mod hidden RecefTes.

§ 7. Thus this new Syftem of Generation foon be-
came a favourite Opinion of the laft Age, as it is in-
deed ftill of this for the molt part ; and many ingenious
Methods were imagined of anfwering the Difficulties
from Obfervation that feem'd to oppofe it. The
more antient Hypothecs of female Eggs was at laft
blended with it, and both were work'd up into one
Syftem : Their real Exiftence was determined, with
their Form, Colour, Size, Situation, and the Me-
chanifm of their Conveyance to the Womb; and
imaginary Valves v/ere appointed in each Egg ad-
mitting one, exclufive of every other fpermatic
Animal. Happy the firft of thefe minute Beings
that could take PofTeilion of this little Cell, and
{hut the Door againft contending Millions ! Hi-
therto

[6 1

therto every Step feemed eafy and natural, if not
too clofcly examined ; the lnquifitive were con-
duced as high as their Curiofity could promife; and
we might have expected, that Philofophers Ihould
have ftopp'd here? but there is no End of reafon-
ing by Analogy.

§ 8. No Body of Men fo ftri&ly dcfcrves the
Name of a Republic as that of the Learned does :
Every one is pafllonately fond of adding to the
common Stock, and claims nothing in Return, but
the Name and Merit of having enrich'd it ; yet this
Paffion is often fo violent, that bafe Metals are
miftaken for Gold, and Pebbles for Diamonds. It is
not therefore Matter of much Surprize, if fome have
carried the imaginary Scene yet farther ; and,flill pro-
ceeding by Analogy, have fuppofed that the reticular
Expanfion, obferved in the Womb of Docs fome
Days after Copulation, by Harvey, and ftnee him,
in other impregnated Females, was nothing more
than the inverting Web, fpun by the fpermatic Ani-
mal before it enter'd the chryfalidal State, and pre-
paratory to its Transition from one Form to ano-
ther. Certainly thefe Authors never confider'd the
immenfc Difproportion, between the great Expan-
fion of this Web and the inconceivable Minute-
nefs of the Animalcule 5 otherwife it had appeared
as rational to fuppofe, that an Alpine Mountain
could have been rear'd in a few Days by a Tingle
Emmet fucceflivdy pileing one Grain of Sand upon
another. Nothing now feem'd wanting to com-
plete this Syftem, and place it above all Exception,
but ocular Demonstration, if it might poflibly be
obtained, that the original Embryo was really con-
tained

[?]

tained in each of thefe Animalcules : By DhTec*tion,
the young Butterfly had been obferved in the Ca-
terpillar three or four Days before it became a
Chryfalid ; Mr. Lewenhoeck had fucceeded in fome
other very nice Operations upon extremely minute
Subjects, nor did he defpair of his Succefs in this ;
yet his repeated Attempts, it feems, all proved fruit-
lefs. But what the moft exquifite Art had deny'd to
Lewenhoeck, Chance, if we believe him, presented
to another Naturalift, a little Man ftarted from
under the Integuments he was faid to wear in his
vermicular State; and the Obferver very humour-
oufly gave us a Figure of this diminutive Entity
perfect in every Member. Thefe extraordinary
Sallies, however, we muft not place to the Ac-
count of the Learned, either of this or the laft
Age; they were generally exploded, and they indeed
continue fo; yet altho' they were peculiar only to
the moft lively ; extravagant as they may appear to
be, they were Confequences of the Syftem; and
thus was this Method of Reafoning by Analogy
fairly purfued, as far as Imagination could carry ir.

§ o. Cudworth, Grew, Le Clerc, and fome
other Gentlemen of Judgment, had reflected too
deeply upon Nature to give way to any Hypothecs,
how plaufible foever, that took in lefs than the
whole Scene it exhibits to every attentive Obferver*
Yet they feem to have advanced much too far to-
wards the other Extreme ; and their Syftem of plaf-
tic Natures, tho' in its Detail attended with many
Proofs of extenfive Thought, and profound Reflec-
tion, in a general View derogates as much from the

Omnipotence

C81

Omnipotence of an All-wife Creator? and is not
perhaps lefs extraordinary, than that Opinion which
attributed the Regularity and Motion of the Planets
to the Miniftry of Angels. In this Light, I pr^fume, it
has been looked upon by others, as well as by myfelf ;
and it is upon this account that I imagine it has
had fo few Followers 5 I mall therefore take no
further notice of it here, than to oblerve, that, in-
afmuch as it admits a productive Force in Nature,
and Operations that go much deeper than a mere
Developement of Parts, it has certainly more of
Truth in it, than the Opinion of pre-exiftent Germs:
as I flatter myfelf, will appear evident in the Courfe
of this Memoir, by Arguments drawn not from
Obfervations only, that are obvious to every Natu-
ralift, but particular Experiments made upon animal
and vegetable Subftances, during the whole Sum-
mer of this prefent Year.

§ 10. To enter therefore more particularly into
my Subject, where to place the pre-exiftent animal
Embryo, for inftance, whether in the Animalcule
or Egg, was ever the Queftion, and ftill remains
unanfwer'd. A Diviiion of vital, efiential, and
original Stamina or Lineaments was impoflible,- yet
innumerable Inftances in Monfters, Mules, and
many natural Subjects, concur to prove, that the
young Foetus partakes of the Nature, Qualities,
Conftitution, Form, and Features of both the Pa-
rents j even as far as their Defects and Difeafes, which
arc but too often hereditary. How can it then be
agreeable to Reafon? Or to what Pu pofe mould
we call in to our Aid unalterable original Stamina ?
Can the vifible Species of any Production be deter-

min'd

[9 ]

min'd by them, if every fenfible Quality may be in-
fluenc'd indifcriminately by cither Parent ? And if
they cannot be alter'd, nor the vifible Species be
determin'd exactly by them, in what does their Ef-
fence coniift, or how can they be applied to that
very UTe we feem to think them defigned for ? If
they are placed in the Animalcule, or in the Egg,
how are they tranfmitted? And if in the Animal-
cule, why is the Procels attended with fo vaft an
Expence, fo great a Wafte of Millions of Entities,
each containing within itfelf a Series of the moll
perfect: and mod wonderful Productions in Nature,
when one only of thefe Millions of Millions is alone
to take Place? How are thefe Animals generated:
if in the common Way, not only the Procefs will be
boundlefs, and thefe in their Seed have others, and
fo on in an immenfe Series; but they can not then.
be unalterable, becaufe they are fuppofed capable
of being generated. Further, if they float in the
Air, or lie hidden in Food, as fome have thought,
how is it that the Stamina of one Species do
not fometimes infinuate themfelves into a ftranse
Parent, with all the Inconveniences and Abfurdi-
ties of equivocal Generation ? Or if they are faid
to be excluded by proper Strainers adapted for
that very Purpofe in diftant Species ; at lead they
cannot be fo in thefe Kinds that are near akin:
For if the fpermatic Animal, which is naturally pro-
ductive of a Horle in its own proper Matrix^ is yet
fo fitted to the Eggs of the Afs, that it can poilefs
a Cellule there exclufive of every other, which ar-
gues an exacl Coaptitude, certainly the fame Animal-
cules, if contained either in Food, Air, or Water,
common to both Horfe and Afs, might pafs the

* * Strainers

[to]

Strainers indifcriminatcly of cither 5 and thus might
we have Mules common from each refpe&ive Male,
without a promifcuous Congrefs of thefe two Spe-
cies.

§11. In another View, if we confider the ex-
treme Tenuity, I may fay the mere Nothingnefs
of one of thefe Stamina, in its firft Origin, at the
Diftance of many Ages 5 comparatively to any one
Part, the fmalleft mufcular Fibre, for inftance, of
an adult Animal it is now faid to conftitute : how
can we underftand, that fo minute a Filament could
be developed, or in any Senfe ferve as a Sub-
ftratum to a Cylinder fo folid, fo maflive, fo compa-
ratively immenfe ? Could a Mountain be look'd
upon as a Superftru&ure upon a Grain of Sand ? Or
the terraqueous Globe derive its prefent Dimenfions
from the Dilatation of an Atom ? What is not the
prodigious Force of this mufcular Fibre in its pre-
fent State, if compared with what it had in its
Origin? and, consequently, what muft have been
the Increafe of real extraneous Matter, either by
Appofition, or Incorporation ; which is now as
much a Fart of this Fibre as the original Stamen ?
And if thus much can mechanically be aflimilated,
why not the whole of it formed by mechanical
Caufes ? Or why muft fo infignificant a Part of it
be faid to be concreated with the Univerfe? But to
ftrike at once with what, in my Opinion, may be
look'd upon as a demonstrative Argument againft the
Syftem of original Stamina ? The Difficulty ftill in-
creases immenfely, if we look into the Vegetation
of Plants, and the wonderful Re-produ&ion of the
Parts of Polypes, Starfifri, Lobfters Claws, &c. The

original

[»3

original Stamina, how minute foevcr, queftionlefs
are difFufed through the whole Production; fince in
this Syftem all animal or vegetable Growth is made by
Developementonly : But if diffus'd, then fome or all
maybe by fuccefTive Bifedion loft; and if loft, how
can they be reproduced ? Or if reprodue'd, why ever
faid to be original, and concreated with the Univerfe?
§ 12. Thefe are but a few of thofe many Dif-
ficulties that might be enumerated j which yet are
of fucha Nature, that it is evident to every unbiafs'd
Obferver, they cannot be even feemingly evaded.
but by multiplying Suppofitions on Suppofitions;
which at laft render the Hypothecs fo complex-, as
to retain no one Charaderiftic imprefs'd upon the
ordinary Procefs and Operations of Nature. Is it not
much more reafonable to fay, that fo many fecretory
Duds, fo many Strainers, fo many preparatory VetTeis
in Animals, andfuch a curious Difpofition in Plants
for the Continuation of every Species, imply a Dige-
ftion, Secretion, and Preparation of Principles invari-
ably, univocally productive of every Individual, when
they fall into their refpedive Matrices, and find
Aliment proper to ailimilate? Are not thefe Princi-
ples contained in the Nourishment taken by the
Parent Plant or Animal, the fame that continually
vegetate within it, and furnifti it with Materials
for its own Increafe ; continue to be diftributed till it
becomes adult, then plentifully exuberate, whilft it
is, by new Preparations, fitted to propagate invaria-
bly in a proper Matrix its refpedive Kind ? Elfe,
why this Digeftion ? why this Secretion? why (6
many Strainers, Receivers, Duds, and Valves? and
why is fome Food more produdive of thefe Princi-

* * 2 ciples

C 12 ]

pies than others ? Or if they are pre-exiftent Germs
that are fecrered, are the pre-exiftent Germs of every
Species contained in every Bird, Bead, Fifh, or
Plant, that iupplies another with nutritive Juice,
and becomes its Food ? What a ftrange Gonfufion ?
How unlike that beautiful Simplicity, which Na-
ture exhibits in all its Productions ? Germs (hut up
within Germs, and Nature fwarming with fupernu*
mcrary Entities, all which we readily conceive might
have been ftruck out at once, when the Univerfe
was created j yet pretend not to be able to underftand
how they may be continually formed in Times
fucceilive, and as Occasions may require.

§ 13. This mould feem as unnatural, and as unphi-
lofophical, as it is difagreeable to Obfervation : For
if every mix'd Body is made up by the Combination
of certain Principles, I think we cannot queftion ;
but that God may have eftablifhed Forces in Nature,
iubfifting Forces, by which fuch Principles may, in
certain Circumftances, be invariably united, without
any Danger of deviating, fo as to render Generation
equivocal j and if every Production in Queftion is a
mix'd Body, as it certainly is, we know at the fame
time, that, how various foever they are, a fmall
Number of Principles differently combined will
yield an inconceivable Variety, fuificient to pro-
duce them all. Thus may we reduce Nature to
what it is really ever found to be, limple in the
Beginning of its Courfe, but magnificent beyond
Expreflion when diftributed: And this, I believe,
will readily be allowed to be its true Procefs in
Generation, if, befides taking in all the ordinary
'Phanomena, which no Hypoihefis could yet explain,

this

[ *3 ]

this Proccfs is found confonant to many particular
Experiments, fomc of which feem to me to render
the Syftem incontcftablc.

§ 14. Modern Naturalifts have unanimouQy
agreed ro lay down, for a certain Truth, that every
Plant proceeds from its fpecific Seed, every Ani-
mal from an Egg, or fomerhing analogous, pre-
exiftent in a Parent of the fame kind. If it is ever
of Ufe to feparate difagrceing Ideas; and previously
to explain equivocal Words, it is particularly requi-
site in this Cafe to determine what we mean by
Seeds and Eggs. Seeds and Eggs, in the common
Acceptation of thofe Terms, are certain mix'd Bodies,
of feveral Dirnenfiom, that immediately furnifh
thefe Productions. In this Senfe they are underftood
to contain not only the pre-exiftenr Germ, but the
Nidus alfo, if I may fo term it, fitted for its Re-
ception, and a due Supply of alimentary Principles
to be affimilated in proper Circumftances. They
are therefore thus far heterogeneous Bodies, that
coalefce in a known Time; and their Principles are
fo far from being originally united at the Creation,
that they fenfibly come together from very diftant
Places in all hermaphrodite Plants, and from,
different Individuals in all thofe Species, where
the Male and Female are diitinct. Now I can-
not perfuade myfelf, but that either I have not
underftood what has been written on this Subject,
or that Authors have not fufftciently reflected upon
this, when they aiTert, that, becaufe the ^lantula is
found in the Seed, an Oak, for inftance, in an
Acorn, that therefore this diminutive Tree bears
likewife its Acorns, and thus on through a long

Series.

[ '4 3

Series, I mall not ask how this fmall Plant can have
Seed 5 in the common Acceptation of that Term,
it is plain it cannot : and if it has not, where the
pre-exiftent Germ is lodged ; how, from an Atom, at
fo immenfe a Remove, can it be increas'd to a feniible
Mafs, and be fucceffively developed through fo many
Generations, till its Time of Appearance? with
many other Confequences that may be drawn from
hence againft the Reality of pre-exiftent Germs ; all
which are too obvious to jrequire a diftinct Enumera-
tion.

§ 1 5. It is in vain for us to pretend to lay down
any one certain uniform Rule, and fay to Nature,
This is thy Scheme ; fuch arc thy Statutes -y and from
thefe thou fhalt not deviate. If in many Productions
fhe fixes it as an inviolable Law, that no Individual
of that Species fhall appear without a Co-operation
of two Parents a Male and a Female, fhe has at the
fame time her Hermaphrodites both in Plants and
Animals i and if in thefe Hermaphrodites the two
Sexes are yet fo diftinc~t, that fhe feems but to have a
little diverfified her Operations, without any fenfible
Deviation from her primitive Law, fhe will, in an-
other Inftance, that of the Titcerons obferv'd by
Mr. Bonnet, ad either with or without the Co-
operation of a Male. If again you fay that a Female
may be impregnated, fo that the Impregnation fhall
diffufe itfelf, and penetrate as far as five or fix Ge-
nerations, (he will point out to you in the Clafs of
Polypes many Kinds, where Generation is carried
on without either Male or Female, Egg or Seed 5
tho', among thefe, there are fome of the plumed
Sort, where a whole Famiiy3 when by real Ve-

getation

[i5]

getation branch'd out as far as Nature defigns, jointly
concurs to give one Egg, or fomethin^ analogous
to an Egg, as the Source of a future Progeny. And
thus is this Clafs united to its next moft immediate
Superior. If you mould (till infift, that the vital ef-
fential Stamina of every Plant and Animal were really
concreated with the Univerfe, and are now diffufed in
Water, Earth, or Air, from whence each will be
united to its proper Subject in due time; or that the
Experiments of Niewentyt, and other Naturalifts,
of the Stems and Roots of Beans, or other Seeds, al-
tering their Directions feveral times whendifplac'd,
to recover each its own, the Root downwards, and
Stem upwards •, that thefe I fay evidently prove vital,
efTential, unchangeable Stamina j as they muft be,
if original, and concreated with the Univerfe : In-
ftances might be brought from the Memoirs of the
Royal Academy of Sciences at Tar is, of Trees that
have been fo inverted, and indued to change their
Direction, that the Branches have become Roots, and
the Roots Branches -, a Thanomenon totally incon-
fiftent with vital, efTential, and unalterable Stamina*
In fine, if at laft you refolve to ftand by this one
Refource, that at leaft every Individual proceeds
from a Parent like itfelfj that the original Germs,
tho" not wholly unchangeable, are yet fufficiently
nYd to determine every Species, and that they are
either lodg'd in thefe Parents, or fecreted from the
Elements by Strainers through their Bodies: I be-
lieve I can furnifh, from my laft Summer's Obfer-
vations, a Cloud of Inftances, of a new Clafs of Be-
ings, whofe Origin has hitherto been unknown,
wherein Animals grow upon, are produced by, and, in

the

[ 03

the Arid Senfe of the Word, brought forth from
Plants; then "by a ftrange Viciflitude again become
Plants of another Kind, thefe again Animals of an-
other, and thus on for a Series, further than the
utmofl: Power of GlalTes can carry the mod inqui-
iitive Obferver.

§ 16. It has generally been thought by Natu-
ralifts, that microfcopical Animalcules were gene-
rated from Eggs tranfported through the Air, or de-
pofued by a Parent Fly, invifible to the naked Eye,
or even that aiMed with Microfcopes. Yet is it
ikange that no Naturalift mould yet have feen them,
if they are really fo numerous, when their fuppofed
Progeny is lb various, and thcmfelves muft be
thought to be fo frequently gliding over the Surface of
allftagnant Waters. By what extraordinary Turn is it
brought about, might a Naturalift obferve, that fuch
furprifing Revolutions fhould happen in thefe little
Oceans, as a total Dilappearance of one Species fol-
lowed by the almoft immediate SuccelTion of
another -, and that in a manner fo fudden and un-
expected, that I know not whh-her they are retired,
or what new Forms they may have aifumed. If they
die, does a whole Race penfh together, without any
known Caufe? Or if they have taken any new
Form, how is it that I fee none of them altering, juft
alter'd, or expanding their little Wings upon thefe
Waters, wherein 1 lately faw fo many Millions
in an aquatic State ? If it is poffible for them
to become flying Infecls in a manner totally
invifible, why do not thefe new Parents again de-
pofit their Spawn in the fame Waters, and give
,a Succeflion of the late Species, that has difap-

pear'd ?

[ '7 ]

peared ? The Element is not unfit for a new Progeny,
fince other Kinds fucceed in it; nay I can trans-
port from neighbouring Infufions fome of the fame
fpecific Animalcules into thefe abandon'd Infufions,
and they will live. Nor yet has the Generation of
this Species any peculiar Seafon which confines it :
A frefh Infufion of the fame animal or vegetable Sub-
dance I apply'd before, will give me again in a little
time the very Kind I am enquiring after, and that
as often as I think proper to add new Matter. Thus
might any Naturalift have reafon'd, who had ob-
ferved thefe Animalcules with fome Attention ; and
been gradually conducted to doubt of their fuppofed
Origin from flying Infects, or Eggs tranfported by
the Winds.

§17. But there is yet a feverer Difficulty, that
fprings from the Confideration of Pafte-Eels : Thefe
Animals, Mr. James Sherwood and I, by perform-
ing a kind of cefarean Operation upon them, had
the Pleafure to obferve were viviparous; and the
Royal Society, about the latter End of 1745, or
Beginning of 1746, did us the Honour to give At-
tention to the Difcovery, when Mr. Sherwood's
Paper * was read, and the Experiments exhibited at
one of its Meetings. I need not repeat what was
at that time or has been fince obferved, where the
Multiplication from one Eel once rofe to io<5.
It is fufficient to obferve, that thefe Animalcules
muftthence confequently be thought to have ar-
rived at their ultimate State of Perfection -, no longer
liable to change, or to live in any other State 3 too
weighty, even the lead of them, to be buoy'd up by or

tranfported

* See Phil. Tranf. N°. 478, p. 67.
** *

'[ ««]

tranfported through the Air, and too much of the
aquatic kind to fubfift out of Water, or to travel over
dry Land, as I have often experienced, and any
Gentleman may, by permitting the Water to eva-
porate. The Quefrion therefore is, how, in a Mafs
from the clearer! Spring-water, and the pureft Wheat-
Flour, heated as intenfely as the Composition will
admit, thefe Animalcules may be generated ? It is
not but that I think myfelf fufficiently enabled, by
my Experiments and Obfervations, to anfwer all
thefe Queftions, and perhaps many more of greater
Importance 5 but 1 have the ftrong Prejudice of
near two learned Centuries, and the Opinions of
Men of much more extenfive Knowledge and Parts
than myfelf, to ftem and get over, before I can
eftablifh my own Sentiments upon this Subject -y
and therefore am willing to hope I mall not appear
to have chofen a tedious and unneceflary Circuit,
in tracing out the feveral Steps I have taken, to
place my Conduct in a more rational Light. I
mud further obferve, that I am obliged, previously
to any of thefe Thoughts or Difcoveries, to my
Friend Mr. Hill, who translated and commented
upon Theophraflus with fo much Applaufe, for two
Obfervations, made while I was at London, upon a
Seed-Infufion he gave me, and the Semen of a Dog
in his own Houfe, which I, and fome other Friends
of the Society, faw -, a Peculiarity Angular enough
was, that the Animalcules feem'd all hampered, and
in ibme meafure adhering by their fuppofed Tails,
Struggling as it were with a kind of ofcillatory Mo-
tion to difengage themfelves, and not advancing at
all progreflively. The Confequence of this Obfer-
vation, which fufficiently hinted that they were then

enafcent,

[ «9 ]

enafcent, and that their Tails were no Members given
them by Nature to fteer or fwim withal, yet then
efcaped our Notice ; and was not plainly clcar'd up,
till other fimilar and more diftind Obfervations upon
this Clafs of Animalcules occurred fome confiderable
Time after.

§ 1 8. It is now Time to obferve how much I am
obliged to Mr. de Buffbns Penetration, who firft en-
gaged me in this Enquiry, by his ingenious Syftem,
which he was pleas'd to read to me, and at the fame
time expreffed hisDefire I fhould purfue it, before I had
myfelf any Thoughts of it, or any one Experiment
had been try'd. He had been long diffatisfy'd with the
Opinion of pre-exiftent Germs in Nature -, and he
and Mr. Maupertuis, Prefident of the Academy of
Sciences at Berlin, had often difcours'd together
upon the Subject. We have feveral Hints of this Dil-
fatisfaclion, in a little Book, publifhed by Mr. Mau-
pertnis himfelf upon thisQueftion at T'aris, before my
Arrival there ; in fhort, it was by general Reflections,
and fome other confequent Thoughts, that Mr. de
Buffon was conducted to frame his Syftem of or-
ganical Parts. Thefe he fuppofed, by Coalition, to
conftitute the prima Stamina of all animal and ve-
getable Bodies, fimple, uniform, common to all, and
confequently to be found in a certain Quantity in
every Portion of Food, Aliment, or nutritive Juice ;
and from thence to be digefted, and when the Sub-
ject became adult, fecreted^ and ftrain'd, for the For-
mation of the Seed of every Plant and Animal,- and
in this Fluid or Subftance to be confequently found
in much Abundance. He further fuppofed thefe or-
ganical Parts to be moving when diiengaged, living
in Appearance, and gifted with certain Organs, but

*** 2 extremely

[ ^o]

extremely fimple in their Compofition ; being per-
haps little more than elaftic Springs more or lefs com-
prefs'd, more or lefs diversify Jd in the Dire&ion of
their Force. He thought the Calamary Machines I
obferved fome time ago to be ftrong Proofs of his
Opinion 5 and the fpermatic Animalcules to be Ma-
chines, or organical Parts like thefe.

§ 1 p. For my own part, I was then, as I had
been before, fo far of his Opinion, as to think there
were compound Bodies in Nature, not riiing above
the Condition of Machines, which yet might leem to
be alive, and fpontaneous in their Motions ; fuch as
the calamary Machines would certainly appear, if they
were render'd fo diminutive as to conceal their Me-
chanifm, and fuch I then fufpe&ed the fpermatic
Animals to be: for Motion in general was but an
equivocal Argument, and did not neceflarily imply
Life in the common Acceptation of that Term.
When, for a further Proof, I inftanced Mr. Hill's
Seed-Infufion, wherein many Bodies were feen to
move in a manner very different from Atoms in a
fermenting Liquid, and yet not fo feemingly fpon-
taneous as microfcopical Animalcules, he added,
that in his Syftem it muft be fo ; that thefe were
detached organical Parts, and that the Seeds, and
particularly the Germs of Seeds in Plants, muft ne-
ceflarily abound with them more than any other Sub-
fiances. Thus did our Enquiry commence upon Sccd-
Infufions, from a Defire Mr. de Buffon had to find
out the organical Parts, and I, if poflible, to difco-
ver which among thefe moving Bodies were ftrictly
to be look'd upon as Animals, and which to be ac-
counted mere Machines. In the Courfe of this

Paper

c

2. ]

Paper I fhall be as exad as poffible, in philofo-
phical Juftice. Whatever Experiments or Difcove-
ries are to be afcribed to Mr. de Buffon, were the
Refult of his Directions, or jointly made with him,
I mall fo fpecify, that they may appear diftinguinYd
from all thole others I made at home. The fourfirft
Infufions, among them one of Almond-Germs care-
fully pick'd out from between the two Lobes and
Kernel, I mixed up at my own Lodgings, and then
clos'd them in Phials with Corks. The Obfervations
that occurr'd, were, firft, a Separation or Digeftion of
the Parts of thefe Subftances, and a continual flying off
of the mod volatile. Thefe offufcated my GlaiTes at
every Inftant, and, according to the Mixtures,
yielded a fetid or an agreeable Odour ; particularly
that of the Almond-Germs, one ftrongly fpirituous.
Eight Days after they had been infus'd, I began to
perceive a languid Motion in fome of the Seed-Par-
ticles, that before feemed dead; fuch as gave me
Encouragement to profecute my Enquiry. It was
viftble, that the Motion, tho' it had then no one
Characleriftic of Spontaneity, yet fprung from an
Effort of fomething teeming as it were within the
Particle, and not from any Fermentation in the
Liquid, or other extraneous Caufe. A diftinct
Atom would often detach itfelf from others of
the fame or lefs Dimenfions; and whilft thefe
others remained abfolutely unmov'd, advance pro-
greffively for the Space of eight or ten of its own
Diameters, or move in a little Orbit, then fall off
languid, reft between two others, and detach it-
felf again and again, with a Continuation of the
the fame Phenomena. The Confequences of thefe
were obvious, the Motion was not fpontaneousj

for

[ 22]

for thefe Atoms avoided no Obftacle, nor had any
other Charaderiftic of Spontaneity. It was not from
any Commotion in the Fluid, Fermentation or the
flying off of volatile Parts ; becaufe a large Atom
would frequently move and detach itfelf from
a much lefs abfolutely quiefcent : They did not feem
to be enafcent Embryo Animals, from a Depofition
of any extraneous Spawn 3 for the Phials had been
clofed with Corks 5 nay they were the very Seed,
or the Almond- Germ Particles themfelves.

§ 20. Thefe fame Obfervations Mr. de Buffon
made himfelf ; for we examin'd thefe Infufions to-
gether a fecond time at his own Houfe; and then it
was that he order'd fifteen Seed-Infufions to be made
up, which we continued regularly to examine twice
a Week, till I propofed to him to take them home,
and follow them more clofely by a daily or hourly
Infpedion, if necelTary. The Remit of our flrft
Obfervations was, that tho* the Phials had been
clofe ftopp'd, and all Communication with the ex-
terior Air prevented, yet, in about fifteen Days
Time, the Infufions fwarm'd with Clouds of moving
Atoms, fo fmall, and fo prodigioufly adive ; that tho'
we made ufe of a Magnifier of not much above
half a Line focal Diffance, yet I am perfuaded no-
thing but their vaft Multitude rendered them vifible.
It feenVd therefore as if the firft teeming languid
Particles we had obferved, vaft in their Dimenfions,
if compared with thofe we now faw, had broke
and divided into this immenfe Multitude of micro-
fcopical adive Atoms. Then it was that we began
to lay down a Diftindion between animated and
mere organiz'd Bodies; which, tho' far from being

at

C 23]

at this time groundkfs, yet afterwards proved to be
falfe. Thefe, and the fpermatic Animals, we fup-
poied ro be of the latrcr kind 5 and to be produe'd
in their refpe&jve Fluids, by a Coalition of active
Principles, much as I had feen the Calamary Ma-
chines form'd by Hundreds, tho* abfolutely detach'd,
and fwimming at Liberty in the Milt of the Fifh :
whilft we thought on the contrary, that the ordinary
microfcopical Animalcules, with ftrong Characteristics
of fpontaneous Motion and Animation, were to be
clafs'd among Animals, and imagined them to proceed
from Parent Individuals of their own Species. It was
not till fome time after this, that, determined to con-
vince myfelf and others, without any Poflibility of
Doubt, whether thefe moving Atoms were really pro-
duced from without, or from the very Subftance
infus'd: I difcover'd all the common microfcopical
Animalcules, the fpermatic ones not excepted, were
to be rang'd in the fame Clafs, and that their Ge-
neration was very different from that of all other
animated Beings.

J 21. For my Purpofe therefore, I took a Quan-
tity of Mutton- Gravy hot from the Fire, and fhut
it up in a Phial, clos'd up with a Cork fo well
mafticated, that my Precautions amounted to as
much as if I had fealed my Phial hermetically. I
thus effectually excluded the exterior Air, that it
might not be faid my moving Bodies drew their
Origin from Infects, or Eggs floating in the Atmo-
fphere. I would not inftil any Water, left, without
giving it as intenfe a Degree of Heat, it might be
thought thefe Productions were convey 'd through
that Element. Seeds or Plants were for this Rea-

fon

[ 24 ]

fon improper, becaufe they might have been judg'd
to have been previoMy adhering to thefe Plants or
Seeds : I neglecled no Precaution, even as far as to
heat violently in hot Allies the Body of the Phial j
that if any thing exifted, even in that little Por-
tion of Air which filled up the Neck, it might be
deftroy'd, and lofe its productive Faculty. Nothing
therefore could anfwer my Purpofe of excluding
every Objection, better than hot roaft-Meat Gravy
iecur'd in this manner, and expofed for fome Days to
the Summer-Heat : and as I was determined not to
open it, till I might reafonably conclude, whether,
by its own Principles, it was productive of any thing,
I allowed fufficient Time for that Purpofe to this
pure unmix'd QuintefTence, if I may fo call it, of
an animal Body. From this time I take Corruption
intirely in a philofophical Senfe, for the rifing of
a dead Subftance, by a new kind of Vegetation,
into Life : and no Axiom, how much foever it may-
have been exploded, is more true than that of the
Antients, Corruptio unius eft Generatio alterhis ;
though they drew it from falfe Principles, and
fo eftablifhed it as to render Generation equivo-
cal, and never penetrated fufficlently into Nature
by Microfcopes, to difcover this Clafs of Beings,
that are neither generated nor generate in the
common Way, yet furnim a Key to lead to the
Generation of all others. My Phial fwarm'd with
Life, and microfcopical Animals of moll: Dimen-
iions, from fome of the largeft I had ever feen, to
fome of the leaft. The very firft Drop I ufed, upon
opening it, yielded me Multitudes perfectly form'd,
animated, and fpontaneous in all their Motions :
And thus was I obliged to abandon not only the

Notion

[ 25 1

Notion preconceiv'd of a Diftin&ion to be made in
this Oafs of Animals, between thofe that appeared
under a fenfible Angle in the Microfcope, and the
atomical ones; but even that Hypothecs alio which
I had advanced as probable, in the little Eflay I pub-
lifhed in 1745, that fpermatic Animals were no more
than Multitudes of fuch Machines as thofe of the Ca-
lamary ; for now it was plain of what kind they were,
and whence they deriv'd their Origin.

§ 22. I mall not at this prefent time trouble
you with a Detail of Obfervarions upon three or
four Scores of different lnfufions of animal and
vegetable Subftances, pofterior to thefe upon Mut-
ton-Gravy 5 all which conftantly gave me the fame
Phenomena with little Variation, and were uniform
in their general Refult: Thefe may better appear
at Length upon fome other Occafion ; let it fuffice
for the prefent to take notice, that the Phials,
clos'd or not closed, the Water previoufly boil'd or
not boil'd, the lnfufions permitted to teem, and then
plac'd upon hot Allies to deftroy their Productions,
or proceeding in their Vegetation without Inter-
miffion, appear'd to be fo nearly the fame, that, af-
ter a little time, I neglected every Precaution of
this kind, as plainly unneceffary. I take no notice
yet of their Manner of being generated and gene-
rating ; in relating thefe Difcoveries, as I believe I
fhall be more intelligible, if I follow the Order of
Time : It is a Juftice moreover I owe both to Mr.
de Buffon and myfelf j for fome were made by him
alone, fome by me, and fome of them in Concert
together : His Syftern, the Detail of his Syftem, his
Experiments, my own Difcoveries, my Thoughts

* * * * in

[ 26]

in confequence of thefe Difcoveriess all thcfe were
reciprocally communicated} we made a Secret of
nothing to each other. Thus where one Truth
feems to lead to, or is the natural Confequence of an-
other, it will be eafy, from the Order I have ob-
ferv'd, to fee how much I have been cbliged to his
Penetration and Foreiight. But this will yet appear
more diftinctly, when our fevcral Effays upon this
Subject fhall appear 5 and in the fecond Volume of
his Natural Hiftory, which will very foon be publifhed,
I muft declare for a Fact, that all which precedes his
Accounts of the Experiments, begun March 16.
N.S. of this prefent Year 1748, was previous either
to his own Experiments or mine, and was read to
me by himfelf.

§ 23. In this Order of Time therefore Mr. de
Buffon not only repeated the Experiment I have
taken notice of, and added particular Obfervations
of his own, but made fome intirely new in every
refpecl:, peculiar to himfelf. Among thefe, that ne-
ver to be forgotten by Naturalifts, which at once
deftroys the Opinion of Eggs in viviparous Animals,
and fhews the real Ufe of thofe reddifh glandulous
Bodies obferved by Vallifnieri upon the Tefticles
or Ovaries, as hitherto call'd, of Cows. Every
Anatomift knows, that the whitifh Specks, near
each of which a Hydatide is plac'd upon all Female
Ovaries, were hitherto either look'd upon to con-
tain the real Female Eggs, or to be the remaining
Scars of Eggs fecundated and diilodgM Vallifnieri,
nearer the Truth, thought the large reddifti glandu-
lous Bodies, which he calls Cherries, and found
upon the Ovaries of Cows, and other Females, in
the Time of their Heat, if the Animal is confined

to

[27]

to any particular Seafon, or at any Time, in thofe
Females which are unconfined in this particular,
were the real productive Organs contributory alone
to Generation j yet ftill with a View to the antient
Opinion of Eggs, for he fuppofed thefe glandulous
Excrefcences to be real oviparous Productions. Mr.
de Buffbn, on the contrary, long before Obfervation
had realized his Conjectures, rightly thought thefe to
no more than temporary Bloffoms, if I may fo term
them, not containing in their Cavity, which they
have diftinct when they are ripe, an Egg, but the
real Female Seed ; that the whitim Specks, fcatter'd
upon the Surface of Female Ovaries, were partly the
remaining Scars of fome of thefe temporary Blof-
foms now faded, as having performed their deftin'd
Office, or Embryo - Bloffoms not yet expanded 5
that the Hydatid annexed to each of thefe contained
a Quantity of imperfect indigefted Seed; and that,
if we took the Bloffom in time, when it mould be
intirely ripe for Action, as when a Female is in Heat,
or not barren, thefe red glandulous Excrefcences
would furnifh a Fluid as really productive of true
fpermatic Animals, or organical Parts, as he calls
them, as that of any Male obferv'd by Hartfieker%
Lewenhoeck, or any other. The Refult of thefe Con-
jectures was, that, ordering a Bitch in Heat to be
ftrangled, and diflected immediately, we found two
of thefe red Excrefcences florid and ripe, one up-
on each Ovary, thefe, from their refpective Cavi-
ties that ran obliquely under thefe Productions for
near an Inch in Length, furnim'd a Tea-fpoonful of
a thick turbid Fluid j and this Fluid, obferv'd in
the Microfcope with the moft powerful Magnifier,

* # * * 2 after

[28 ]

after fome little time exhibited Numbers of fperma-
tic Animals, in every refpect like to thofe hitherto ob-
ferv'd by other Naturalifts, animated, and moving
fpontaneoufly. Thus was Mr. de Bufon'% Conjecture
verify 'd in every Particular.

£ 24. About this Time, I think fome few Days
after, Mr. de Buffon in my Prefence examined fe-
veral Sorts of male Semen; and then it was that,
for the firft time, we fairly faw the fpermatic Ani-
mals enafcent. Thofe Kinds which fatisfy'd us in
this particular were extremely vifcid, and contained
in a certain Quantity in the Chryftal of a Watch.
Thefe Precautions are not unneceflary ;for if a vifcid
Kind be not chofen, and that in a good Quantity
together, fuch as that of Stags, ire. or any Seed of
the leaft exalted Sort, if I may fo term it, as we
found fome to be more fo than others ; it will alter
in the Atmofphere by an Evaporation of its volatile
Parts, which ferve to hold it though but gently
together, after which it will liquefy, vegetate, ra-
mify into Filaments, and thefe Filaments again break
into moving Globules, efpecially if the Weather
be hot, before a fmall Portion can be adjufted to
the Microfcope : whereby an Obferver may eaiily
be impofed upon, and think the fpermatic Ani-
mals original and pre-exifient, becaufe he could not
difcern that Action which produced them. This
Deception takes Place in all Semen of the more
exalted Kinds, fuch as particularly the Milt of Fifh,
when it is in a State of immediate Impregnation,
and many others : For it is to be obferved, that the
Semen of Animals is not at all times in an equal
State of Exaltation 5 and confequently that fome Sorts,

or

[ 29 3

or even the fame at different times, will at fome
give the fpermatic Animals immediately, - but at
others not fo foon, and perhaps not under fome
Hours : which is the Reafon why they have often
been laid by Naturalifts, and even by Lewenhoeck
himfelf, not to have been found upon Iufpc&ion.
By this it will appear, that we had tried many Sorts,
before we had the good Fortune to meet with one,
in that exacl: Degree of Exaltation neceflary to ex-
hibit the whole Procefs of this Vegetation,- and fo
may others who fhail be defirous of trying thefe
Experiments after us : Yet, when- they (hall at laft
have obtain'd a proper Subject, one accurate View
will be furlicient, and found to give the Key to the
whole Secret.

§25. When we had feized this favourable Op-
portunity, we faw a fmall Portion of male Semen
plac'd on the Microfcrofcope, rirft, as it were to
develope and liquefy, then moot out into long Fi-
laments, ramify on every Side, thefe open and di-
vide into moving Globules, and trailing after them
fomething like long Tails ; thefe Tails were fo far
from being Members given them to fvvim and
fleer by, that they evidently caus'd in them an infta-
ble ofcillatory Motion; and were in EfTed nothing
more than long Filaments of the vifcid feminal
Subftance which they necefiarily trail'd after them;
they were of various Lengths in various Animals,
and they infenfibly, by the continual progreflive
Motion of thofe Animals, grew fhorter and fhorter,
till lome of them appear'd without any at all, fwim-
ming equably in the Fluid. It was then plain how
thefe Animals were to be clafs'd ; their Origin was
clearly to be deriv'd from Principles contained in

this

[3°]

this Matter, either by an Evolution of organical
Parts, as Mr. de Bujfon fuppofed, or by a real Vege-
tation, as I thought, of the fame kind with thofe I
had before obferv'd in my Infufions; tho' more
prompt, becaufe the Matter was more exalted :
confequently the fpermatic Animals were of the
fame kind as all other microfcopical Animals, their
Origin the fame, their Influence nothing more in
Generation, nor any otherwife conducting to its
Caufe, than as Effects of thofe Principles in the Se-
men, which alone are the true and adequate Caufe
of it. See Fig. i .

Thefe vegetative Powers, which, from the very
Beginning of my Obfervations, I had found to refide
in all Subftances animal or vegetable, and in every
Part of thofe Subftances, as far as the fmalleft mi-
crofcopical Point, I had at this time certain Proofs
of; tho* not fo plain and incontestable as thofe I
procured a few Days before Mr. de Buffon left *Pa-
ris for the Country, and which I profecuted after his
Departure. Thefe I communicated to him in few
Words the Night before he began his Journey, yet he
was not at that time acquainted with any fpecial De-
tail of the many Singularities that attend thefe latter
Vegetations, for I had but juft then made andenter'd
upon the Difcovery of them myfelf. I am obliged the
more particularly to obferve this, becaufe the many
Confequences he has fince drawn, as well as myfelf,
and which, without any mutual Communication, hap-
pened to tally with and feemingly to flow from the
Difcoveries, were not in Fact deduced from a circum-
ftantiated Knowlege of thefe new Phenomena, which
he had not, but from this one Principle, that there

is

in}

is a real productive Force in Nature ; in which
we had both long fince agreed, however we may
have differed in explaining that Action : For whether
it be by an Evolution and Combination of organical
Parrs, as Mr. de Biiffon fuppofes, or by a real vege-
tating Force refiding in every microfcopical Point,
may be probably far beyond the Power of Micro-
fcopes to determine. But as the Principle from
which we depart is intirely the fame, it muft necef-
arily lead to fimilar Thoughts, and fimilar Confe-
quences.

§ z6. My fitft Proofs therefore were drawn
from a clofe Attendance to all the common Infu-
fions, particularly that of Wheat pounded in a mar-
ble Mortar. It was plain from them all, that after
fome time allowed to the Water to call off the
Salts and volatile Parts, which evaporated copioufly ,
the Subftance became fofter, more divided, and
more attenuated : To the naked Eye, or to the
Touch, it appear'd a gelatinous Matter, but in the
Microfcope was feen to confift of innumerable Fila-
ments 5 and then it was that the Subftance was in
its higheft Point of Exaltation, juft breaking, as I
may fay, into Life. Thefe Filaments would fwell
from an interior Force fo active, and fo productive,
that even before they refolved into, or fried any
moving Globules, they were perfect Zoophytes teem-
ing with Life, and Self-moving.

If any Particle was originally very fmall and fphe-
rical, as many among thofe of the pounded Seeds
were, it was highly agreeable to obferve its little
Star-like Form with Rays diverging on all Sides,
and every Ray moving with extreme Vivacity. The

Extremities

[ 32 ]

Extremities likewife of this gelatinous Subftance
exhibited the fame Appearances, active beyond Ex-
preflion, bringing forth, and parting continually with,
moving progreflive Particles of various Forms, fphe-
rical, oval, oblong, and cylindrical, which advanced
in all Directions fpontaneoufly, and were the true
microfcopical Animals fo often obferved by Natu-
ralifts. This brings to my Mind a Phamomenon of-
ten taken notice of, and feen with Surprize, Parti-
cles detach'd by the Rea&ion of the Water from
the Extremities of the Fins of MufTels, which yet
continue to move progreflively. I think it fuffi-
ciently explained by thefe Obfervationsj and that it is
more than probable, that MufTels, Polypes, and
other Kinds of this Nature, vegetate in a Manner
analogous to this gelatinous Matter. See Fig. 2.

§ 27. In the Infufion of pounded Wheat, the
flrft Appearances, after an Exhalation of volatile
Parts, as in every other Infufion, were the fecond or
third Day Clouds of moving Atoms, which I fup-
pofe to have been produced by a prompt Vegetation
of the fmalleft and almoft infenfible Parts, and which
requir'd not fo long a Time to digeft as the more
grofs. Thefe in a Day or two more intirely difap-
peared ; all was then quiet, and nothing to be feen,
but dead irregularly formed Particles, abfolutely
unactive till about fourteen or fifteen Days after.
From thefe uniting into one Mafs fprung Filaments,
Zoophytes all, and fwelling from a Force lodged
within each Fibre. Thefe were in various States,
juft as this Force had happened to diverfify them j
fome refembled Pearl-Necklaces, and were a kind of
microfcopical Coralloids 5 others were uniform

throughout

C 33 ]
throughout their whole Length, except juft the very
Extremity, which fwell'd into a Head like a Reed,
if the Force had acted equally on all Sides, or like
the Head of a Bone at its Joint, if the Matter in its
Expanfion had bore to either Side. Thefe Fila-
ments were all Zoophytes, fo teeming with Life,
that whenever, upon taking a Drop from the Sur-
face of this Infufion, I had feparated the Extremity
of a Filament fo fhort as not to confift of above
four or five Globules Chaplet-wife j they would ad-
vance progreflively and in Concert, with a fort of
vermicular Motion, for a little Way, then fall off
irregularly to one Side, as if not yet fitted for progref-
five Motion, languidly turn their Extremities, and
then again lie quiet for fome little time. It was my
Fortune however, not in this Infufion only, but in
many others, to find fome of thefe Chaplet-like Ani-
mals much fmaller indeed than thole of the Wheat-
Infufion 5 but intirely regular, conftant in their ver-
micular Motion, and which were confequently ar-
rived to a higher Degree of Maturity and Perfection.
I own I cannot but wonder to this Day at what I
faw j and tho' I have now feen them fo often, I {till
look upon them with new Surprize. Yet have thefe
Phenomena ferv'd me to very good purpofe, and
clear'd up many Difficulties in my former Obfer-
vations.

The Origin of Blight in Wheat, Rye, and other
Vegetables, was no longer myfterious: An Atmo-
fphere charg'd to an extraordinary Degree with Hu-
midity, now plainly appear'd fufficient, particularly
while the Grains were tender and replete with a milky

5 * Juice

[34]

juice in a certain Degree of Exaltation, to produce
in them this new kind of Vegetation, and to form
their interior Subftance into'Filaments, which are in-
deed thofe very Eels I obferv'd fome Years ago in
blighted Wheat.

This agrees perfectly with another Obfervation
made by the Gentleman who tranflated my little
Eflay into French: Some of this blighted Wheat,
two Years after I had gathered it, I had given to
Mr. Trembley, and he to this Gentleman. In a Note
he has added, he obferves, that thefe Filaments not
only recover'd Life and Motion, after they had
been fo Jong dry, by macerating them in Water;
but many broke, and difcharg'd from within them
Globules, which mov'd with extreme Vivacity. The
Application of the foregoing Obfervations to this
Cafe is eafy and natural ; nor is it now any Wonder,
that thefe Filaments, the vegetative Force mil re-
•ftding within them, fhould move and refolve into
Globules, or that they fhould have fubfifted fo long,
full of that kind of Life they are a&uated with,
though dry and without Nourifhmentj for now they
ceafe to be Eels, as I formerly thought them.

Blighted Rye, which is alfo fo full of Filaments
of this Nature, that the Grains are fwell'd in their
Diameters, and extended to an extraordinary Length
by this new kind of Vegetation, exhibited nearly the
fame Phenomena when macerated, and is to be
clafs'd accordingly. I am told by fome of the Gen-
tlemen of the Royal Academy of Sciences here, that
in thofe Provinces of France 0 where this blighted Rye
abounds, and is made up into Bread; it produces
very ftrange Effects in the poor Country People who

feed

C 35 ]

feed upon it, many of which are here found in the
Hofpitals afflicted with a very Angular kind of Mor-
tification, which caufcs their Limbs to drop off.

There are two Sorts of Blight, in one of which the
Grain crumbles into a black Powder -, and the other is
that which gives thefe moving Filaments or Eels. Mr.
Bernard dejujfieu tells me, that one is from a Cor-
ruption of the Flour, and the other of the Grain.

It may not here be amifs to hazard a few Queries.
Do not all Mortifications, and other Maladies in
which there appears an extraordinary Exuberance of
Matter in any one Part, proceed from a Weaknefs,
a Want of Refiftance, and from Principles of Union,
which give to this vegetative Force, found to refide
in every Point of animal or vegetable Subftances,
more Play in one Part than in another ? For If the
Refiftance be not equal in all Parts, the exuberant
Matter muft break forth, and caufe that Part to de-
compofei and if the Habit of Body be extremely
lax, the Decompofttion muft continue j and that,
in a certain extraordinary Degree, we fhall call a
Mortification. To rub a Wound, or any natural
Sore, with Salt and Spirits, is found to be falutary,
and preventive of Mortifications ; and Salt I know,
by Obfervation, will immediately put a Stop to
thefe microfcopical Vegetations, and caufe the Ani-
mals to fubfide motionlefs to the Bottom: There
fore it is probable, that Salts and Spirits are Princi-
ples of Union, and productive of a greater Refiftance
in the ductile Matter acted upon by this vegetative
Force. High Living, rich Wines, &c. are Preferva-
tives againlt many contagious epidemical Diftempers :
Do not therefore thefe Maladies arife from a laxer

5* 2 Habit

[ 36 ]

Habit of Body, and a more than ordinary Adion of
this fame vegetative Force ? And may not thefe, and
many other Phenomena of this kind, be reduc'd to
the fame Principles? But this I leave to the Confe-
deration of Phyfkians, who are better Judges of
the Extent of thefe Obfervations and Principles.

The Subftance emitted from the Globules of the
Farina facundans of all Flowers, by an Adion I
obferved fome Years ago, is alfo a Subftance of
this Nature, filamentous, and in a vegetating State :
Nothing can refcmble it more than the Fibres of
moft kinds of Mould j refolving all, as they do in
Water, into others of a much finer Contexture, when
the Vegetation, that had been before flopped by the
nitrous Salts of the Atmofphere, begins by the Aflift-
ance of the Water to ad again : And I know, by
Obfervation, that all kind of Mould is formed by a
Procefs of the fame Nature as the Growth of thefe
microfcopical Plants ; and to be clafs'd confequently
with them, and reduc'd to the fame Principles.

I cannot finifh this Article without obferving,
that nothing can more perfedly than thefe wheaten
Filaments, reprefent in Miniature Corals, Coralloids,
and other Sea-Plants, which have Jong been obferv'd
to be teeming alfo with Life, and have been fuppos'd
to be the Work of Animals, as it will appear to
any one, that but infpeds the Figure I have annexed,
and recolleds my Defcription. Are not therefore
all thefe in the fame Oafs, and is not their Origin
fimilar? See Fig. 2.

§ 28. But thefe Inftances from common Infu-
fions, of a vegetative Force refiding in every mi-
crofcopical Point of animal or vegetable Matter, how

{Irons:

C 37 ]
ftrong foever and iurprizing, were neither (6 wonder-
ful or extraordinary as fomc others I obferv'd after
Mr. de Bufforis Departure. From the wheaten fila-
mentous Zoophytes it was eafy to infer, that they
fprung from, and were Produ&ions of, the Mafs of
Matter that had iubfided to the Bottom of the Phial.
Yet. this I could not obtain a Sight ofj nor was it
pollible in this Way to obferve them without fe-
parating them from their Roots and from the Mafs,
out of which they arofe. The Method the mod: na-
tural therefore which occurred to me for the view-
ing of thcfe Zoophytes, without difturbing their
Vegetation, and for obferving their whole Procefs,
from the Origin of the Plants to their laft Degree
of Maturity, was to take extreme thin Slices of Cork,
and infert, through little Holes which I made, four
or five in each Slice, Grains of Wheat or Barley, or
any other farinaceous Seed, for thefe all nearly agree
in the Phenomena they exhibit, with the Germ either
turned upwards, or carefully pick'd out with the Point
of a Penknife, to prevent their ufual mooting.

Thefe were permitted to fwim upon the Surface
of frefh Spring-water, in a Glafs expofed to the
Sun, that the whole vegetating Force might be de-
termin'd downwards towards the inferior Moiety
of each Grain, which alone could in thefe Circurn-
flances imbibe and be faturated with Moifture. This
anfwer'd my Purpofe intirelyj my Plants grews
downwards into the Water like Corals, but appeared
not till feveral Days after the Grains had been thus
expos'd ; and were at laft fo large and flrong, that
I could fee them with my naked Eye,

When

[ 38 J

When they became thus vifible, I cut off with a
fmall Pair of Sciffars the vegetating Extremity, and
plac'd it in a concave Object-Glafs with Water.
The Plants then took a new Direction, follow'd
the Expanfe of the Fluid, and continued to vegetate,
while I fupplied them with Water, which I did from
time to time, covering them after Obfervation with
another concave Object Glafs, to prevent the Fluid
from evaporating too faft. Thus I had for the Sub-
ject of my Obfervations what I may call a microfco-
pical Ifland, whofe Plants and Animals foon become
fo familiar to me, that I knew every animal Species,
and every individual Plant almoft without any Dan-
ger of Miftake ; an Exa&nefs fo neceflary, that it
would not otherwife have been poflible to follow
the Procefs of this Vegetation without Confufion.
From this time I laid afide the Ufe of large In-
fufions, and provided a certain Number of Watch-
Chryftals, or concave Object-Glaffes, for every Por-
tion of animal or vegetable Subftance I was to ma-
cerate in Water. The Ufe of thefe is plain and eafy 5
many fruitful little Iflands of various Kinds with
Labels and Dates affix'd to each may thus be ob-
tained, by placing the vegetating Subftances in thefe
Glafles; and this is the Method I would recommend
to all thofe who (hall be deftrous to repeat or pur-
fue my Experiments.

I find my Subject grows upon my Hands, and I
am unwilling to take up too much of your At-
tention: 1 fhall therefore finifh thefe Obfervations
by annexing a Figure of my Wheat-Ifland and its
Productions, all which will be fufflciently intelli-
gible without any more Words 5 and I mail referve a

Multitude

[39]

Multitude of other Obfervations I have by me in
my Journals, upon Infufions and other vegetating
Iilands for the Eflfay, which I hope to publifh in
fome Months, if thefe few Thoughts and Difcoverics
fhall meet with Approbation. See Fig. 3.

§ 29. Yet muft I trefpafs for a few Pages more;
I cannot conclude this Letter without laying down
fome general Truths, and recalling thefe fcatter'd Re-
marks to fome certain Principles. A few Propo-
rtions of this kind, together with the probable
Confequences, that feem naturally to flow from
them, will not only make my Syftem of Generation
clear, but alfo take off many Objections, and render
thefe very Obfervations better underftood, when
they are reduced under certain Heads.

It feems plain therefore, that there is a vegetative
Force in every microfcopical Point of Matter, and
every villble Filament of which the whole animal or
vegetable Texture confifts : And probably this Force ex-
tends much farther ; for not only in all my Obferva-
tions, the whole Subftance, after a certain Separa-
tion of Salts and volatile Parts, divided into Filaments,
and vegetated into numberlefs Zoophytes, which
yielded all the feveral Species of common microfco-
pical Animals; but thefe very Animals alfo, after a
certain time, fubfided to the Bottom, became mo-
tionlefs, refolv'd again into a gelatinous filamentous
Subltance, and gave Zoophytes and Animals of a
lelfer Species.

This is not only true of all the common microfco-
pical Animalcules, but of the fpermatic alfo ; which,
after lofmg their Motion, and finking to the Bottom,
again refolved into Filaments, and again gave leiTer

Animals.

[4o]

Animals. Thus the Procefs went on through all
vlfible Degrees, till I could not any longer purfue
them with my Glades : And thus evidently the fper-
matic are to be claG/d with the common micro-
fcopical Animals.

Hence it is probable, that every animal or vege-
table Subflance advances as faft as it can in its Re-
folution to return by a (low Defcent to one com-
mon Principle, the Source of all, a kind of uni-
verfal Semen ; whence its Atoms may return again,
and afcend to a new Life. This common Element
therefore, thoJ uniform in its Origin and homoge-
neous, branches out into innumerable Species more
and more compounded, more and more heteroge-
neous, as they depart and are further from this Source
of organized Bodies 5 yet may a Particle often be ar-
retted, or moulded into other Bodies, long before it
attains, which fome perhaps never do, to this ultimate
Refolution. Nor is there any Danger upon thefe Sup-
poiitions of falling into equivocal Generations be-
caufe the fpecific Semen of one Animal can never
be moulded into another, and Seeds may differ fpe-
cifically from one another by many invifible Prin-
ciples totally unknown to us, and unattainable by
Experiments 5 for we are very certain that the
Power of GlatTes, or Force of any Menftruum we can
employ, muft (till leave us at an immenfe Diftance
from the ultimate Refolution of Bodies, in which
alone they ?gree, and are homogeneous.

Ifay therefore the fpecific Seed of one Animal can
never give another of a different Species 5 for, to be this
Jpecific Seed, it muft have gone through many Changes
trom its firft Origin, and have many Singularities

peculiar

[4i 3

peculiar to itfclf, and acquired fmce it parted from
the homogeneous Element, in which all Kinds co-
incide. The active vegetative Fore : that refides in it
muft be prccife, its Quantity mufl: be exactly propor-
tion^ to the Nature, Solidity. Tenacity, Quantity,
and Reliftance of the ductile Matter it has to wade
through, if I may fo exprefs myfelfj and thefe Com-
binations, are very different in different Subjects.
Thus much the many Strainers in every animal
Body, neceflary to extract this Semen from the Ali-
ment we daily digeft, and to prepare it, feem evi-
dently to imply. Yet is not this, fufficient as it may
appear, to caufe Varieties in the feveral Species of
Semen, all that is to be confider'd : Times and Cir-
Circumftanccs make Changes in it even during the
Term of Geftation. What does not the Foetus then
undergo? and who can determine the Differences
between Matrix and Matrix \ between the Matter
that is allimilatcd into a Foetus in one Subject, and
that in another ; between the fixing Principles, the
Quantity of Salts, Spirits, &c. in a Parent of one
Species, and one of another ; between the more co-
pious or more limited Affluences of ailimilating
Matter; and between Times, where even fingle
' Minutes, lnftants, &c. may be of the greateft Con-
iequence ? I fee the whole indeed, but confu-
fedly, yet do I fee the Source of a Variety; which,
boundlefs as it were, if permitted to expatiate at full
Liberty, is neverthelefs invariably confin'd, by Him
who made and rules the Univerfe, to a certain de-
terminate Number of Species. Time, Action, Sea-
fon, Quantity of Force, Quantity ofRcfiftance, fixing
Principles, Affluence of aflimilatcd Matter, Direction,

6 * and

[ 42 ]

and numberlefs other Variations, are all employ'd
for His Purpofes, and modell'd by that Almighty
Power which forms and dire&s the Whole.

Thus do thefe Principles, however capable of
differing Combinations, yet admit only of a limited
Variation, and never deviate further than is confid-
ent with univocal Generation. Menders, Mules, im-
perfect Foetus's, and other Inftances of this kind, are
but rare 5 and as they can be afcrib'd to nothing fo
properly as to the Obftacles they meet with, or to
fome accidental infuperable Refiftance in the Mat-
ter of which they are formed, they do at lead ferve
to mew that there is in Nature a real productive
Force given it at its Creation 5 and that animal or
vegetable Productions are not the Confequences of
pre-exiftent Germs, plaftic Natures, or of the imme-
diate Hand of God himfelf, any more than the molt
regular Operations of the Planetary World.

§ 30. But to proceed in my Confequences from
thefe Obfervations, all Naturalifts mutt acknowlege,
that the more compounded the organised Bodies are,
the lefs Danger there is of equivocal Generation in
the Production of them 5 for thus the immediate
Principles from which they fpring, and their Cir-
cumftances during the Time of Geftation, mud be
much more varied than the more fimple Bodies
are, and at the fame time be further removed, from
that univerfal Element into which they may all ulti-
mately be refoived : And even in the lowed Clafs of
microfcopical Animals, I can truly fay, that I never
yet obferved any others than Productions fpecifically
determined; the fame Subftances giving the lame
Plants and Animals, and in the fame uniform Or-
der

f 43 ]

dcr and Defcent. Neverthelefs, tho' thus fpecifically
determin'd, no one, that obferves their Origin with '
the fame Care as I have done, will be inclined to
afcribe it to pre-cxiftent Germs : It is therefore pro-
bable, as I juft now advanced, that when we arrive
at the loweft we can difcover in this Clafs, we are
yet at an immenfe Remove from the univerfal Source;
notwithftanding that fome of them are fmall beyond
Conception, and no lefs ftmple in their Motions;
which argues their Organization as fimple, and feems
to imply that there are among them, or not at a very
great Diftance from them, fuch as are only mere
Machines, without any true Spontaneity.

I have myfelf feen a vail: Gradation, and fuch a one
as I have yet but an imperfed Notion of, in a Courfe
of continual Obfervations made upon Infufions and
Macerations of all kinds, from the mod compounded
to the mod fimple ; from Animals of the largeft kind
to moving Atoms of the leaft ; from Motions as
flow to the moft powerful Magnifier, as the Mo-
tion of the Minute-Hand of a Watch to Eyes un-
arm'd; from free Progreflion in all Directions to
merely ofcillatory Balances -, which all feem to come
to at laft in the Courfe of their Decompofition,
when they are juft upon the Point of difappearing.

§ 31. Thus thefe Animalcules, if they may be
call'd indifferently by that Name, manifeftly conftkute
a Clafs apart? and their greatelt Chara&eriftic is,"
that they neither are generated, fubiift by Nutri-
ment, as other Plants and Animals do, or generate
in the ordinary Way. This is indeed true, if the
whole Clafs is taken in one general View, yet is the
Head of it united to the Species of the next im-

6* 2 mediate

[ 44 ]

mediate Superior. The Bell- Animal, of which I have
had many from my infufed Subftances, and vvhofc
Growth I have purfued from its firft Origin, is a Spe-
cies of microfcopical Polype, generating and feed-
ing as other Polypes do, when once itfelf is gene-
rated ; tho'its own original Generation is perhaps dif-
ferent from that of the others j for I could never ob-
tain any of the larger Kinds this Way. I fay this
however with fome Referve ; for I will not alTcrt, but
that fome decay'd Water-Plants decomposing in par-
ticular Circumftances, and their Subftance exuberating,
may perhaps, when urged by this vegetative Force, give
Polypes of every kind ; nay I very much fufpec-t,
that feveral of the lowed Kinds of vifible Animals
may, in due Circumftances, which yet perhaps are
rare, be recoverable this Way, when the whole Spe-
cies has perifhed in particular Places by fome un-
common Accident. This I the more readily believe,
from the Reafonablenefs of fome Allowances to be
made in this refpedt j all which may be permitted,
and muft have been forefeen by the Great Cre-
ator, without any Danger of Confufion, or an un-
limited Generation of new Species never before pro-
duced : He who made Nature, and fees through the
whole Machine, well knew its utmoft Force, and
has confequently forefeen every Circumftance, and
limited its Produ&ions accordingly.

Nor indeed can there be a ftronger Argument
deriv'd from any Syftem of Generation whatfoever,
of an Ail-wife Being, All-powerful, and All-good,
who gave to Nature its original Force, and now pre-
sides over it, than from the Confideration of an
exuberating du&ile Matter, a&uated with a vegeta-
tive

[ 45 ]

tive Force, limited, tho' we know not its exact
Bounds, in its ipecific Afcent or Defcent, and ex-
panding itfelf in Directions as certain and determi-
nate, as the Motions of the Planets.

§ 32. Thefe Thoughts will appear to be lefs ha-
zarded, if due Attention is given to the Generation
of the Pafte-Eel. The Royal Society knows it to be
viviparous 5 confequently perfect in this State, and fuch
as may continue to generate in the common Way, as
long as it has an Element and Matter proper for its
Subfiftence ; yet is its own original Generation, as
far as I can learn by Obfervation, as that of all thefe
microfcopical Animalcules, from a ductile vegetating
Matter, the Produce of Wheat-Flour and Water ;
tho' it undergoes more Changes than others, and lives
in other Conditions? afcending for fome time before
it enters its chryfalidal or Egg-like State, whence it
comes forth a perfect Eel. I have added a Figure of
a Group of thefe Eel-Chryfalids, but the Detail of
their Metamorphofis 1 fhall referve for my little Effay,
and not trouble you now with an Account too cir-
cumftantiated of every Obfervation I have made
upon them : Befides that I am not yet throughly fa-
tisfled in the whole Manner and Procefs of their
Generation. See Fig. 4.

§ 33. But now, to obviate every Objection that
may remain againft the Exiftence of this vegetative
Force, which feems to be the Key to much Know-
ledge, and to remove many Errors ; it may be pro-
per to add, that, befides ocular Demonftration, which
any Naturalift may have, befides the Precautions I
took, that no fuppofed Germs might either be con-
veyed through the Air or the Water, or remain ad-
hering

[46 ]

hcring to the Subftances infused; I have often, for
thefe Purpofes, made ufe not only of hot Broth, im-
mediately clofed up in a Phial, but alfo ot pure ani-
mal Subftances, fuch as Urine, Blood, o>c. with the
fame Succefs; and in theie, I believe, no one will
fuppofe that Germs, Eggs, or Spawn, are pre-con-
tain'd, if Care is taken to clofe the Phials imme-
diately.

Nay I have done more; I have, by reafoning
confequently to my Principles, been dire&ed to the
Choice of many Experiments, all which I conftantly
found to anfwer my Expe&ation : I have thought, for
inftance, that the more exalted an animal Subftance
was, by a certain Degree of Decomposition, the
more apt would it be to vegetate in a proper Ma-
trix, and form the Part of a larger Animal ; or, if
it extravafated, to vegetate inao the leflerj confe-
quently, that if I took the milky Juice of germing
Seeds, or that thick turbid Matter which forms the
Wing of a Butterfly in its chryfalidal State, thefe
Matters muft be more exalted than any ordinary
Subftances, and therefore give me thefe microfco-
pical Productions fo much the fooner : And in facf,
1 never, in thefe Cafes, fail'd of feeing them within
the Space of a few Hours, while ordinary Infufions
did not give them under feveral Days.

Here it will be proper to obferve, that Natu-
ralifts have thought the Butterfly's Wing pre-exiftent
in the Caterpillar, becaufe they difcover'd the firft
Rudiments of it three or four Days before it enter'd
the chryfalidal State 5 but it is then precifely that
the Caterpillar firft leaves off eating, thoJ before
extremely voracious? and that probably upon ac-
count

count of the Revolution it finds in all its Parts,
while its Forces are otherwifc employ'd, and the
Collection of vegetating ductile Matter it had ac-
quir'd by plentiful Diet, now as plentifully exube-
rates to form the Parts of the Butterfly. Thefe
Truths I am the better acquainted with, becaufe I
have particularly examined all thofe Subftances : You
cannot tear off a Portion of the Butterfly's Wing,
even while in the Chryfalid, but you will find it
in an Embryo-State, and the Matter which extra-
vafates upon your Object-Oafs, if mixt with a little
Water to preferve its Fluidity, will almoft imme-
diately vegetate into thefe microfcopical Productions.
This argues an extreme Activity in it 5 from Activity
follows Action, and an Effect, which can be no
other than the Formation of the Wing it was con-
tain'd in.

§ 34. Without inftancing in many other Exam-
ples, where, by reaibning from thefe Principles, I
was invariably conducted to certain Confequences,
this laft fufficiently leads to the Nature of animal or
vegetable Semen. Thefe latter are Subftances of the
fame fort, but more exalted, and from thence adapted
to a prompter Vegetation. Of this kind alfo, but not
fo exalted, was the gelatinous Subftance I obtained by
common Infufions.

The Exaltation however of Matter does not flop
here* the Jower I purfued this new Clafs of Beings .
in its Defcent, the lefs was this vegetating Force
clogg'd with refitting Matter, the fwifter was the
Motion of the Bodies, and the higher the Degree of
Exaltation that produced them. This inclines me
to believe, that an animal Subftance may be exalted

this

[48 ]

this way into a Poifon, a Venom, or a contagious
Vapour. Hence ftagnating Waters are poifonous
and detrimental ; and hence perhaps the vipereal
Venom, or any other, may derive its Force ; for
thefe undoubtedly are all animal Secretions. Hence
perhaps alfo arife contagious epidemical Diflempers,
from a Leaven thrown into the Blood by Exhala-
tions of this kind. I am the more pcrfuaded of the
Truth of this, from the Confideration of Dr. Mead's
Obfervations upon the Venom of the Viper : And
fwift moving Bodies, which fublide and fhoot into
Filaments, feem manifeltly to imply all thefe Con-
fequences. I had myfelf propos'd latt Summer to
try the Effects of fome of my mod exalted Infufions,
by inftilling them into the Veins of Animals ; but
as yet I have had no Opportunities for thefe Expe-
riments.

I might add other plaufible Conjectures, that
feem to be the natural Confequences of thefe Dif-
coveries, relating to the Origin of Afcarides,
Tenig, Agaricks, &c. ; nay perhaps I could main-
tain them with Arguments that would feem con-
vincing to molt Naturahllsj I might even further
fuppofe, with fome Probability, that the mufcular
Force, which acts againlt the interftitial Air in my
Friend Dr. Tarfonss moil: ingenious Syttcm, in one
Word, that all the mechanical Forces of the Body,
and the Impreflions which afreet the Soul, may be
derived from and afcribed to this vegetating active
Force when confined : But I am tired with extend-
ing my Views fo far, nor do I at prefent fee an End
of the Confequences 3 the Subject and Principles ap-
pear fo boundlefs.

§ 35*

C 49 3

§ 35. I fhall conclude therefore with fumming
up my Sy ft em in a tew Words : I fnppofe all Semen
of any kind to be an exalted Portion of animal or
vegetable Matter, fecrtted from the Aliment of every
generating Subject, when it is adult, and no further
Demand is made for its Increafe and Growth 5 this
I fuppofe to be endued with a proportionable vege-
tative Force $ to be various in various Circumftances,
and heterogeneous in different Subjects ; but to be
uniform in its Productions, when it falls into a pro-
per Matrix, where it finds Matter to aflimilate, of
a Quality and in a Quantity fufficient to form that
fpeciric Being : Whilft in other Circumftances, it will,
if it ext avafates, by the fame vegetating Force, yield
all the feveral Phenomena I have above taken notice
of. And thus, if 1 am not miftaken, 1 have ob-
tained what 1 firft intended to make out, that the
fpermatic Animals are not the efficient Caufe of Ge-
neration, but only a neceffary Confequence of Prin-
ciples in the Semen, which Principles are neceffary
to Generation.

Thus have I connected my Syftem with our Coun-
tryman Dr. Harvey's Obfervation of that fine Tiffue,
or Web-like Expansion, obferv'd in the Uterus of
Does, in the Center of which the Embryo Fatus,
inverted with its Amnion and Chorion, was found to
be lodg'd : For let the Vegetation begin from the
Semen, and continue to aflimilate the affluent Mat-
ter from the Matrix wherein it has taken Root,
and the Fawn muft come forth like any other fpe-
cific Animal or Plant.

I mail only obferve, that Lewenhoeck had difco-
yer/d this vegetating Power in the Semen, and had,

7 * like

[ So]

like Mr. de Buffon and me, feen the Filaments from
whence the fpermatic Animals fpringj he even
calls them Nerves and Arteries ; and in one of his
Letters to Mr. Oldenburg fays, that he faw more
in one Minute than the moft accurate Anatomift
could difcover by Diffe&ion in a Day: But when
he afterwards chang'd this Syftcm, falfe as it was, of
Nerves and Arteries for another, I believe, as falfe,
that of pre-exifting Germs in the fpermatic Animals,
he neglected to improve this Obiervation as he might
have done 5 nay he afterwards took no farther No-
tice of it, but barely to fay that it was to be ne-
glected. This Remark I had from Mr. de Buffon.

The Difference therefore betwixt Mr. Lewen*
hoeck and Dr. Harvey was, that the firft had an
Hypothecs to maintain, and the latter nothing in
View but to follow Nature, without trufting too
much to the firft Phenomena, as I hope I fhall ap-
pear to have done in this my Enquiry.

I had almoft forgot one Remark that coincides
with my Syftem; that although animal and vege-
table Subftances by a chymical Analyfis appear to
differ, they are neverthelefs found by a natural Cor-
ruption to be reducible to the fame Principles. This
has been obferved long ago by many Naturalifts.

And now I think I have nothing more to add,
only that I would be underftood, when I fpeak of
a productive Force in Nature, &c to mean only a
Force, which, tho' modell'd by the Supream Cre-
ator, goes no farther than the mechanical and ma-
terial Parts of a Man. I well know that we are com-
pofed of two very different Principles; and no
one mere philofophical Truth whatsoever prefents

itfelf

[ 5i 3

itfelf to me with more Evidence or Convittion than
the Spirituality of our immortal Soul. All have
ever allow'd Man in his Origin to be a kind of
Plant or Vegetable before he is animated ; and alL
rational Men have detivJd his Animation immediately
from the Fountain of Life, the true Source of all
fpiritual Subftances. I think I have faid no more;
and thus only would be taken and explain'd.

The Principle of Life in other Animals I do not
examine into, nor do I think it neceiTary 5 if they
are truly fpontaneous, as they feem to be, they have
certainly fome Principle diftincl: from Matter, which
the Great Creator knows when and how to
unite.

This Expofition, Sir, of my Sentiments, I thought
might be neceiTary ; not that I imagined that either
you, or any of the Gentlemen of the learned Society
in which you jrelide, would think my Principles
any way tending to Materialifm, from which no one
can be more djftant or averfe than myfelf ; for I
well knew that I had nothing to apprehend from
Perfons of fo mi^ch Judgment and Difcernment, and
who could not but clearly fee, that there is really no
Connexion betVeen thofe Principles, rightly ex-
plain'd, and the iDo&rine of the Materialifts : But
I was willing to| guard againft the Mifapprehenfion
of others lefs acquainted with Matters of this fort,
and into whofe (lands this Paper might come, and
have therefore tjken thefe Precautions.

And now, Sify 1 take this Occafion of return-
ing my moft huthble Thanks both to yourfelf and
to the reft of the Gentlemen of the Royal Society \
for the Honour I have received, in being elected
one of its Members, and for which I have not been

able

t 52 ]

able as yet to make my perfonal Acknowledgments.
I hope both you and they will accept thefe Thoughts
favourably, which are; humbly fubmitted to impar-
tial Inquiry by the Author, who is, with the utmbft
eem and Refpecl:,

SIR,

Tour obliged humble Servant,

Turbervill Needham,

Explanation of the Figures,

Fig. 1 . Reprefents the Origin of the fpermatic Ani-
mals.

Fig. 2. The Wheat-Infufion.

Fig. 3. What I have called an Iflaad in the Wheat-
Infufion.

Fig. 4. A Groupe of the Chryfdids of the Pafte-
Eels.

Fig. 5. Is a Draught of one of the firft micro-
fcopical Plants or Zoophites wiich I difcover'd,
wherein A fhews the Figure of the Plant throw-
ing out its Animals, and 8 the fame again after
the Animals were difcharged, a;ain putting out a
new Shoot from the Stem bdow, through the
hollow tranfparent Head, to form a new Head,,
and produce another Generation,

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