A BOYISH PROPENSITY. 127

of it, during fifty years sparing neither pains nor
expense in procuring materials for a collection
which in course of time became very valuable—
“his house being full of animals, insects especially,
vegetables and fossils, though without the least
confusion, everything being disposed in its proper
place and order. Both citizens and strangers (con-
tinues Boerhaave) viewed this collection with great
admiration; and the greatest princes that passed
through Amsterdam visited it, as one of the things
best worth their attention in that famous city.”
The young Swammerdam was intended for the
Church, but, having no disposition for that calling,
induced his father to consent that he should be
brought up to the medical profession, and he re-
mained at home during his preparatory studies,
where he was frequently employed in cleaning,
arranging, and cataloguing the curiosities and
treasures we have spoken of. In this manner he
gradually acquired a deep-rooted love for the study
of natural history ; and very soon he began to make
a collection of his own, procuring specimens of
various kinds, ‘‘ catching some, buying or bartering
for others, and disposing them in certain classes,
and comparing them with the accounts given by
the best writers.” This boyish propensity “ grew
with his growth,” and though, in obedience to the
calls of duty, he attended to hig anatomical and