A Shetch of the Pie of Fohn Swammerdam,

iT would be difficult to find a more devoted
Gi C1 enthusiast in the pursuit of natural history

ye R 4 | than Swammerdam. To the celebrated
+ Boerhaave we are indebted for an interest-
ing life of this distinguished anatomist and physio-
logist, who was among the first scientific men who
applied the microscope to the examination of the
minuter parts of the animal structure, and whose
consummate skill and indefatigable perseverance
effected many important discoveries.

He was the son of John James Swammerdam
and Barentje Corver, and was born at Amsterdam
on the 12th February 1687. Huis father obtained
his name from the place of his birth, a village on
the Rhine, and it continued to be apphed to his
descendants ever after. He followed the trade of
an apothecary, and was very fond of natural history,
and we are told was well skilled in several branches