Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/119

 in 1740, was an attempt to reach a philosophic view of the human organism as the abode and instrument of the soul. Of his method the author says—

"In the experimental knowledge of anatomy our way has been pointed out by men of the greatest and most cultivated talents, such as Eustachius [and nineteen others named], whose discoveries, far from consisting of fallacious, vague, and empty speculations, will forever continue to be of practical use to posterity. Assisted by the studies and elaborate writings of these illustrious men and fortified by their authority, I have resolved to commence and complete my design—that is to say, to open some part of those things which it is generally supposed that nature has involved in obscurity. Here and there I have taken the liberty to throw in the results of my own experience; but this only sparingly, for on deeply considering the matter I deemed it best to make use of the facts supplied by others. Indeed, there are some that seem born for experimental observation and endowed with a sharper insight than others, as if they possessed naturally a finer acumen. . . . There are others again who enjoy