I have a question that I have been wondering about for a long time without finding any answer. Concerning the period around 1900, Robinson commented in his 1966 book that "there is in the writings of this period an noticable contrast between the severity with which the ideas of Leibniz and his successors are treated and the leniency accorded to the lapses of the early proponents of the doctrine of limits. We do not propose here to subject any of these works to a detailed criticism."

I have always found the last sentence a bit disappointing. Robinson could have indeed subjected the "lapses" of these early proponents to a detailed criticism. The further we are removed from them in time, the harder it becomes to carry out such a criticism. Is anyone aware of such "lapses" and/or discussion thereof in the literature?