Book the Second — Mission and Arts of the Insect

Chapter I Swammerdam

The secret of the Insect World first discovered by Swammerdam, 129

A comparison instituted between him and Galileo, 130

His early years, his favourite occupations, and his collections of insects, 131, 132

To assist him in his investigations he invented the microscope, 133

His patient labours rewarded by great discoveries, 134

Yet in his own country he was not honoured; it was in France that his work met with due appreciation, 135

Ardent devotion to science brings on premature decay, 136

Dark clouds overcast his later years, 137

He died at the age of three and forty, 138

His work is carried on by Leuwenhoek and Malpighi, 139