The strength and beauty of this small creature, had it no other relation at
all to man, would deserve a description.
For its strength, the _Microscope_ is able to make no greater discoveries
of it then the naked eye, but onely the curious contrivance of its leggs
and joints, for the exerting that strength, is very plainly manifested,
such as no other creature, I have yet observ’d, has any thing like it; for
the joints of it are so adapted, that he can, as ’twere, fold them short
one within another, and suddenly stretch, or spring them out to their whole
length, that is, of the fore-leggs, the part A, of the 34. _Scheme_, lies
within B, and B within C, parallel to, or side by side each other; but the
parts of the two next, lie quite contrary, that is, D without E, and E
without F, but parallel also; but the parts of the hinder leggs, G, H and
I, bend one within another, like the parts of a double jointed Ruler, or
like the foot, legg and thigh of a man; these six leggs he clitches up
altogether, and when he leaps, springs them all out, and thereby exerts his
whole strength at once.
But, as for the beauty of it, the _Microscope_ manifests it to be all over
adorn’d with a curiously polish’d suit of _sable_ Armour, neatly jointed,
and beset with multitudes of sharp pinns, shap’d almost like Porcupine’s
Quills, or bright conical Steel-bodkins; the head is on either side
beautify’d with a quick and round black eye K, behind each of which also
appears a small cavity, L, in which he seems to move to and fro a certain
thin film beset with many small transparent hairs, which probably may be
his ears; in the forepart of his head, between the two fore-leggs, he has
two small long jointed feelers, or rather smellers, MM, which have four
joints, and are hairy, like those of several other creatures; between
these, it has a small _proboscis_, or _probe_, NNO, that seems to consist
of a tube NN, and a tongue or sucker O, which I have perceiv’d him to slip
in and out. Besides these, it has also two chaps or biters PP, which are
somewhat like those of an Ant, but I could not perceive them tooth’d; these
were shap’d very like the blades of a pair of round top’d Scizers, and were
opened and shut just after the same manner; with these Instruments does
this little busie Creature bite and pierce the skin, and suck out the blood
of an Animal, leaving the skin inflamed with a small round red spot. These
parts are very difficult to be discovered, because, for the most part, they
lye covered between the fore-legs. There are many other particulars, which,
being more obvious, and affording no great matter of information, I shall
pass by, and refer the Reader to the Figure.
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