This white long wing’d Moth, which is delineated in the 30. _Scheme_;
afforded a lovely object both to the naked Eye, and through a _Microscope_:
to the Eye it appear’d a small Milk-white Fly with four white Wings, the
two formost somewhat longer then the two hindermost, and the two shorter
about half an Inch long, each of which four Wings seem’d to consist of two
small long Feathers, very curiously tufted, or haired on each side, with
purely white, and exceedingly fine and small Haires, proportion’d to the
stalks or stems, out of which they grew, much like the tufts of a long
wing-feather of some Bird, and their stalks or stems were, like those,
bended backwards and downwards, as may be plainly seen by the draughts of
them in the Figure.
Observing one of these in my _Microscope_, I found, in the first place,
that all the Body, Legs, Horns and the Stalks of the Wings, were covered
over with various kinds of curious white Feathers, which did, with handling
or touching, easily rubb off and fly about, in so much that looking on my
Fingers, with which I had handled this Moth, and perceiving on them little
white specks, I found by my _Microscope_, that they were several of the
small Feathers of this little creature, that stuck up and down in the
_rugosities_ of my Skin.
Next, I found that underneath these Feathers, the pretty Insect was covered
all over with a crusted Shell, like other of those Animals, but with one
much thinner and tenderer.
Thirdly, I found, as in Birds also is notable, it had differing and
appropriate kinds of Feathers, that covered several parts of its body.
Fourthly, surveying the parts of its body, with a more accurate and better
Magnifying _Microscope_, I found that the tufts or haires of its Wings were
nothing else but a congeries, or thick set cluster of small _vimina_ or
twiggs, resembling a small twigg of Birch, stript or whitened, with which
Brushes are usually made, to beat out or brush off the dust from Cloth and
Hangings. Every one of the twiggs or branches that composed the Brush of
the Feathers, appeared in this bigger Magnifying Glass (of which EF which
represents ¹⁄₂₄ part of an Inch, is the scale, as G is of the lesser, which
is only ⅓) like the figure D. The Feathers also that covered a part of
his Body, and were interspersed among the brush of his Wings, I found, in
the bigger Magnifying Glass, of the shape A, consisting of a stalk or stem
in the middle, and a seeming tuftedness or brushy part on each side. The
Feathers that cover’d most part of his Body and the stalk of his wings,
were, in the same _Microscope_, much of the figure B, appearing of the
shape of a small Feather, and seemed tufted: those which covered the Horns
and small parts of the Leggs, through the same _Microscope_, appear’d of
the shape C. Whether the tufts of any or all of these small Feathers,
consisted of such component particles as the Feathers of Birds, I much
doubt, because I find that Nature does not alwaies keep, or operate after
the same method, in smaller and bigger creatures. And of this, we have
particular Instances in the Wings of several creatures. For whereas, in
Birds of all kinds, it composes each of the Feathers of which its Wing
consists, of such an exceeding curious and most admirable and stupendious
texture, as I else-where shew, in the Observations on a Feather; we find it
to alter its method quite, in the fabrick of the Wings of these minute
creatures, composing some of thin extended membranes or skins, such as the
Wings of Dragon-flys; in others, those skins are all over-grown, or pretty
thick bestuck, with short brisles, as in Flesh-flies; in others, those
filmes are covered, both on the upper and under side, with small Feathers,
plac’d almost like the tyles on a House, and are curiously rang’d and
adorn’d with most lively colours, as is observable in Butter-flies, and
several kinds of Moths; In others, instead of their films, Nature has
provided nothing, but a matter of half a score stalks (if I well remember
the number; for I have not lately met with any of these flys, and did not,
when I first observ’d them, take sufficient notice of divers particulars)
and each of these stalks, with a few single branchings on each side,
resembling much the branched back-bone of a Herring or the like Fish, or a
thin hair’d Peacocks feather, the top or the eye being broken off. With a
few of these on either side (which it was able to shut up or expand at
pleasure, much like a Fann, or rather like the posture of the feathers in a
wing, which ly all one under another, when shut, and by the side of each
other, when expanded) this pretty little grey Moth (for such was the
creature I observ’d, thus wing’d) could very nimbly, and as it seem’d very
easily move its _corpuscle_, through the Air, from place to place. Other
Insects have their wings cas’d, or cover’d over, with certain hollow
shells, shap’d almost like those hollow Trayes, in which Butchers carry
meat, whose hollow sides being turn’d downwards, do not only secure their
folded wings from injury of the earth, in which most of those creatures
reside, but whilst they fly, serves as a help to sustain and bear them up.
And these are observable in _Scarabees_ and a multitude of other
terrestrial _crustaceous_ Insects; in which we may yet further observe a
particular providence of Nature.
Now in all these kinds of wings, we observe this particular, as a thing
most worthy remark; that where ever a wing consists of discontinued parts,
the Pores or _interstitia_ between those parts are very seldom, either much
bigger, or much smaller, then these which we here find between the
particles of these brushes, so that it should seem to intimate, that the
parts of the Air are such, that they will not easily or readily, if at all,
pass through these Pores, so that they seem to be strainers fine enough to
hinder the particles of the Air (whether hinder’d by their bulk, or by
their _agitation_, _circulation_, _rotation_ or _undulation_, I shall not
here determine) from getting through them, and, by that means, serve the
Animal as well, if not better, then if they were little films. I say, if
not better, because I have observ’d that all those creatures, that have
film’d wings, move them aboundantly quicker and more strongly, such as all
kind of Flies and _Scarabees_ and Batts, then such as have their wings
covered with feathers, as Butter-flies and Birds, or twiggs, as Moths,
which have each of them a much slower motion of their wings; That little
ruggedness perhaps of their wings helping them somewhat, by taking better
hold of the parts of the Air, or not suffering them so easily to pass by,
any other way then one.
But what ever be the reason of it, ’tis most evident, that the smooth
wing’d Insects, have the strongest Muscles or movent parts of their wings,
and the other much weaker; and this very Insect, we are now describing, had
a very small _thorax_ or middle part of his body, if compar’d to the length
and number of his wings; which therefore, as he mov’d them very slowly, so
must he move them very weakly. And this last propriety do we find somewhat
observ’d also in bigger kind of Flying creatures, Birds; so that we see
that the Wisdom and Providence of the All-wise Creator, is not less shewn
in these small despicable creatures, Flies and Moths, which we have branded
with a name of ignominy, calling them Vermine, then in those greater and
more remarkable animate bodies, Birds.
I cannot here stand to add any thing about the nature of flying, though,
perhaps, on another occasion, I may say something on that subject, it being
such as may deserve a much more accurate examination and scrutiny then it
has hitherto met with; For to me there seems nothing wanting to make a man
able to fly, but what may be easily enough supply’d from the Mechanicks
hitherto known, save onely the want of strength, which the Muscles of a man
seem utterly uncapable of, by reason of their smalness and texture, but how
even strength also may be mechanically made, and an artificial Muscle so
contriv’d, that thereby a man shall be able to exert what strength he
pleases, and to regulate it also to his own mind, I may elsewhere endeavour
to manifest.
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