other Artifice to make their Bodies lighter than the Air (6) thefe and a Multitude of other fuch like

of: And do both feem to have hit thereupon, without any foreknowledge of what each other hath discovered, as is faid in the last cited place, and as I more plainly find by fome original Letters of Mr. Ray's, Dr. Lifter's, and Dr. Hulfe's, in my hands: By which alfo I find the two ingenious Doctors were very modeft in their Claims, and very amicable in the matter. In one of Dr. Lifter's to Mr. Raj, he thinks there is a fair hint of the Darting of Spiders in Artif. Hift. An. L. 9. c. 39. and in Pliny, L. II. C. 24. but for their Sailing, that the Antients are filent of, and he thinks it was feen firft by him. And in another Letter, Jan. 20. 1670, fpeaking of the height Spiders are able to fly, he faith, The last October, &c. I took notice, that the Air was very full of webs, I forthwith mounted to the top of the highest Steeple on the Minfter [in York] and could thence difcern them yet exceeding high above me. Some that fell, and were intangled upon the Pinacles, I took and found them to be Lupi; which Kind feldom or never enter Houfes, and cannot be uppofed to have taken their Flight from the Steeple.

(6) There are (I imagine) divers Animals, as well as Spiders, that have fome way of Conveyance, as little known to us, as that of Spiders formerly was. Thus the Squillulæ, Pulices arborefcentes, and Microscopical Animalcules of the ftagnating Waters, fo numerous in them as to difcolour fometimes the Water, and make them look as if they were tinged Red, Yellow, or Green, or covered with a thick green Scum; all which is nothing but Animalcules of that Colour. That these Creatures have fome way of Conveyance, I conclude, because moft ftagnating Waters are flock'd with them; new Pits and Ponds, yea, Holes and Gutters on the tops of Houfes and Steeples. That they are not bred there by Equivocal Generation, every ingenious, confidering Philofopher will grant; that they have not Legs for travelling fo far, is manifeft from Infpection: And therefore I am apt to think, that they have fome faculty of inflating their Bodies, or darting out Webs, and making their Bodies buoyant, and lighter than Air; or their Bodies, when dry, may be lighter than Air, and fo they can fwim from place to place; or the Eggs of fuch as are oviparous, may be light enough to float in the Air. But then the Viviparous (as my late ingenious Friend, Mr. Charles King, fhewed me the Pulices aquat arboref. are; these I fay) can't be this way

accoun

like Things as thefe I might, I fay, take Notice of, as great Evidences of the Infinite Creator's Wifdom: But left I fhould be too tedious, I will confine my Obfervations to the Legs and Wings only. And these, at firft View, we find to be incomparably fitted up for their intended Service, not to overload the Body, not in the leaft to retard it, but to give it the moft proper and convenient Motion. What, for Example, can be better contrived, and made for this Service, than the Wings? Diftended and ftrengthened by the fineft Bones, and thefe covered with the fineft and lighteft Membranes, fome of them adorn'd with neat and beautiful Feathers (7), and many of them provided with the fineft Articulations, and Foldings, for the Wings to be withdrawn, and neatly laid up in their Vagina and Cafes, and again readily extended for Flight (8).

accounted for.

And

The cause of these latter Sufpicions was, that in the Summer Months I have seen the Pulices arbres. and the green Scum on the Waters (nothing but Animalcules, as I faid) lie in a manner dry on the Surface of the Waters; at which time (as I have fhewn in B.4. ch.11. Note 13.) thofe Animalcules copulate; and perhaps, they may at the fame time change their Quarters, and feek out new Habitations for their numerous Offspring, as well as themfelves.

(7) It is well known to all Perfons any way converfant in Microscopical Observations, that these elegant Colours of Moths, aud Butterflies, are owing to neat and well made Feathers, fet with great Curiofity and Exactness in rows, and good Order.

(8) All that have Elytra, Scarabs, (who have whole Ely. tra, or reaching to the Podex) or the Hjungλeorregi, such as Earwigs, and Staphylini of all forts, do, by a very curious Mechanism, extend and withdraw their Membranaceous Wings (wherewith chiefly they fly) and it is very pretty to fee them prepare themselves for Flight, by thrufting out, and unfolding their Wings; and again withdraw thofe

Joynts,

And then for the Poifing of the Body, and keeping it upright, and fteady in Flight, it is an admirable Artifice and Provifion for this Purpose; in fome, by four Wings (9); and in fuch as have but two, by Pointels and Poifes placed under the Wings, on each fide the Body.TE

And lastly, It is an amazing thing to reflect upon the furprifing Minutenefs, Art, and Curiofity of the (19) Joynts, the Muscles, the Tendons, the Nerves, neceffary to perform all the Motions of the Legs, the Wings, and every other Part. I have already mentioned this in the larger Animals: but to confider, that all thefe

Things

Joynts, and neatly fold in the Membranes, to be laid up fafely in their Elytra or Cafes. For which Service the Bones are well placed, and the Joynts miniftring thereunto, are accurately contrived for the moft compendious and commodious folding up the Wings.

(9) For the keeping the Body fteady and upright in Flight, it generally holds true (if I miftake not) that alf bipennated Infees have Poifes joyned to, the Body, under the hinder Part of their Wings, but fuch as have four Wings, or Wings with Elytra, none. If one of the Poiles, or one of the leffer Auxiliary Wings, be cut off, the Infect will fly, as if one Side overballanced the other, until it falleth on the Ground. So if both be cut off, they will fly awkwardly and unfteadily, manifefting the Defect of fome very neceffary Part. Thefe Poifes or Pointells are, for the moft part, little Balls fet at the Top of a flender Stalk, which they can move every way at pleasure. In fome they ftand alone, in others, (as in the whole Flefb-Fly Tribe) they have little Covers or Shields, under which they lie and move. The Ufe, no doubt, of thefe Poifes, and Secondary leffer Wings, is to poife the Bo dy, and to obviate all the Vacillations thereof in Flight, fer ving to the Infect, as the long Pole, laden at the Ends with Lead, doth the Rope-dancer.

(10) As all the Parts of Animals are moved by the Help of thefe; fo there is no doubt but the minuteft Animals have fuch like Parts. But the Mufcles and Tendons of fome of the larger Infects, and fome of the leffer too, may be feen with a Microfccpe.

Things concur in minute Animals, even in the fmalleft Mite, yea, the Animalcules, that (without good Microfcopes) efcape our Sight, to confider, I fay, that thofe minuteft Animals have all the Joynts, Bones, Mufcles, Tendons and Nerves, neceffary to that brisk and fwift Motion that many of them have, is fo ftupendous a piece of curious Art (11), as plainly manifefteth the Power and Wisdom of the infinite Contriver of those inimitable Fineries. But having named thofe minute Animals, why fhould I mention only any one Part of their Bodies, when we have, in that little Compafs, a whole and compleat Body, as exquifitely formed, and (as far as our Scrutiny can poffibly reach) as neatly adorned as the largest

Ani

(11) The minute Curiofities and inimitable Fineries, ob fervable in thofe leffer Animals, in which our beft Microscopes discover no Botch, no rude ill made Work (contra ry to what is in all artificial Works of Man) do they not far more deferve our Admiration, than thofe celebrated Pieces of humane Art? Such as the Cup made of a PepperCorn, by Ofwald Nerlinger, that held 1200 little Ivory Cups, all gilt on the Edges, and having each of them a Foor, and yet affording Room for 400 more, in the Ephem. Germ. T. 1. Addend. ad Obf. 13. Such alfo was Phaethon in a Ring, which Galen thus reflects upon, when he speaks of the Art and Wisdom of the Maker of Animals, particularly fuch as are fmall, Quanto, faith he, ipfum minus fuerit, tanto majorem admirationem tibi excitabit; quod declarant Opifices cum in corporibus parvis aliquid infculpant: cujus generis eft quod nuper quidam in Annulo Phaetonta quatuor equis invenin &um fculpfit. Omnes enim equi frenum, os, & demes anteriores habebant, &c. And then having taken notice, that the Legs were no bigger than thofe of a Gnat, he fhews that their Make did not come b up to thofe of the Goat, as alfo, faith he, Major adbuc alia quædam effe videtur artis ejus, qui Pulicem condidit, Vis atque Sapientia, quod, &c. Cum igitur Ars tanta in tam abjectis animalibus appareat, quantam ejus Vim ac Sapientiam in præftantioribus ineffe putabimus? Galen. de uf. Part L 1. c. 1. fin.

Animal. Let us confider, that there we have Eyes, a Brain, a Mouth, a Stomach, Entrals, and every other Part of an Animal-Body, as well as Legs and Feet, and that all thofe Parts have each of them their neceffary Apparatus of Nerves, of various Mufcles, and every other Part that other Infects have; and that all is covered and guarded with a well-made Tegument, befet with Briftles, adorned with neat Imbrications, and many other Fineries. And laftly, let us confider in how little Compafs all this Art and Curiofity may lie, even in a Body many times lefs than a fmall Grain of Sand (12), fo that the leaft Drop of Water can contain many of them, and afford them alfo fufficient Room to dance and frisk about in, (13).

Having furvey'd as many of the Parts of Infects as I care to take notice of, I fhall in the next Place fay fomewhat of their State, and Circumftances of Life. And here I fhall take notice only of two Things, which have been only hinted at before, but will deferve more particular Confideration here, as being Acts of a wonderful Inftinct, namely, Their Security of themfelves against Winter; and their fpecial Care of preferving their Species.

CHAP.

(12) It will in fome measure appear, how wonderfully minute fome Microscopical Animalcules are, by what follows in the next Note. But because more particular Examples would be endless, I fhall refer to the Obfervations of Mr. Leuwenhock, and others, in the Philof. Tranf, and elfewhere.

(13) It is almost impoffible, by Reason of their perpetual Motion, and changing Places, to count the Number of the Animalcules, in only a Drop of the green Scum upcn Water; but I gucfs I have fometimes feen not fewer than ico frisking about in a Drop no brigger than a Pin's Head. But in fuch a Drop of Pepper-Water, a far greater Number; thefe being much less than thofe.