?,?A 



Transactions of the Society, 



(1580-1656), who was anions tin 1 pioneer constructors of the 

 instrument.* His tractate, " New observations of the things of 

 heaven and of earth " (1646), contains a terminal chapter of four 

 pages in which is briefly set forth a small series of observations on 

 the mites in cheese, on the structure of the flea, the ant and the 

 fly, and on other subjects, including the human body. We give 

 here an example of his observations, "On the creatures that arise 

 in powdery cheese." " The powder examined by means of this 



Fig. 46. — Francisco Fontana, the Neapolitan Astronomer. From his 

 " Novae Coelestium Terrestrumque Rerum Observationes " of 1640. 



instrument does not present the aspect of dust, but teems with 



animalcula It can be seen that these creatures have claws 



and talons and are furnished with eyes. The whole surface of 

 their body is beautifully and distinctly coloured in such sort as I 

 have never before seen, and which, indeed, cannot be seen without 

 wonder. They may be observed to crawl, eat and move, and are 

 equal in apparent size to a man's nail. Moreover, their backs are 

 all spiny and pricked out with various star-like markings and 



* The very early date, however, which he claims for himself as inventor of the 

 inst rument (1618) will hardly bear critical examination. 



