Anatomia & Contemplatio

constitute a grain of somewhat large sand, which nevertheless are endowed with skin, and perhaps also with scales, feet, and fins apt for swimming, and a mouth, intestines, veins, muscles, tendons, and all the viscera with which some large animal is accustomed to be furnished. Let us only divide the whole body of this smallest creature in our mind, then neither will these saline particles seem wonderful to us, nor will a handle for doubting be given that these are those particles which I professed to have observed in human blood, but now gathered together again, after the blood has been extravasated original: "extravasatus fuit", meaning outside the blood vessels for some time. When I was lately occupied in contemplating the crystalline humor the lens of the eye of a man's eye, many very small saline particles were presented to me, endowed with the figure of common salt: nor do I doubt that such an abundance of saline particles is dispersed through our body that every globule of blood is furnished with many saline particles.

The assertion made by us of such saline particles in every globule of blood will undoubtedly give rise to wonder in many: but in truth, that we may remove all doubt and confirm the matter further, I maintain that water and bread alone are not sufficient for us to sustain our life, but that both men and animals are increased in size by such food: And even if we were to concede that all our food, which we use, lies under or in water; yet it does not contain as much sustenance as is sufficient for maintaining our life: let us say that nutrition and growth proceed for the greatest part from bread, then it will be ready for us not only to affirm that every grain of wheat contains in itself such alimental matter, from which flesh, bones, fat, hairs, nails, etc. are composed, but also we can assert that every single smallest globule (of which the number is of many myriads) by which every grain of wheat consists, contains in itself all the mentioned materials which constitute our body. And this same