be said to have originated with Swammerdam. His intimate acquaintance with human anatomy, which had made considerable progress before his time, prepared him to enter upon the enquiry in the most intelligent manner; and the sagacity, penetration and zeal with which he pursued it, are not a little remarkable. In the latter quality especially, he scarcely ever had an equal: no difficulties could deter, no disappointment discourage, and scarcely any degree of labour exhaust him. His enquiries were frequently carried on for a length of time together, with little interruption, both by night and day, without allowing himself the requisite time either for taking food or natural rest. When the subject occupied his mind, it did so almost to the entire exclusion of every thing else. His profession was neglected, his father's displeasure disregarded, his health sacrificed. This exclusive engrossment was certainly in him in some degree of a morbid nature. His constitution and temperament strongly predisposed him to that kind of enthusiasm which is allied to a species of mania. By sedentary habits, and the prevention of that wholesome play of the faculties produced by an alternation of pursuits, he aggravated the disorders to which he was naturally liable, and brought on a state of dejection and hypochondriasis, which cast a shade over a large portion of his life. To this cause, also, ought to be ascribed, in no small degree, the mistaken views he adopted regarding religious duty; his notion that it was incompatible with the ordinary
