( 282 ) 



" felves, and are eafily by the birds ftroking tiie Feather, or dravv- 

 " ing it tlirough its bill, all of them fettled and woven into their for- 

 " mer and natural pofture ; for there are fiich an infinite company of 

 " thefe fniall fibres in the under fide of the leaves, and moft of them 

 " have fuch little crooks at their ends, that they readily catch and hold 

 " the flalks they touch." 



Here we fee a perfe6l agreement between thefe two valuable wri- 

 ters, in defcribing the fame fubje6l, with this difference only, that 

 the Englilh author has more minutely defcribed that curious part 

 in Feathers, which Mr. Lceuwenhoek only mentioned flightly ; I 

 mean the contrivance of Nature, whereby the feveral minute 

 Feathers compofing the larger, are knit together lb firmly as to bear 

 the rtrong exertion of the bird in flying, without yielding a paflage 

 to the air. 



The fame Author, in treating of hair, has thefe words, " The 

 " root of the hair was pretty fmooth, tapering inwards, almofl like 

 " a parfnip, nor could I find that it had any filaments, or any other 

 " veilels, fuch as the fibres of plants. 



" The top when fplit (which is common in long hair) appeared 

 " like the end of a ftick, beaten till it be all^flittered, there being, 

 " not only two fplinters, but fometimes half a fcore and more. 



" For the briltles of a hog, I found them to be, firft, a hard 

 " tranfparent horny fubflance, without the leaft appearance of pores 

 " or holes in it, and this I tried with the greatell care I was able, 

 " cutting many of them with a very Iharp razor, fo that they ap- 

 '- peared, even in the glafs, to have a pretty fmooth lurface, but 

 " fomewhat waved by the fawing to and fro of the razor, as is vifi- 

 " ble in the end of the prifmatical body A in the figure.* The fliape 

 " of the brifiles was very various, neither perfectly round, nor fliarp 

 •' edged, but prifmatical, with divers fides, and round angles as 

 " appears in the fame figure, -f- 



* iMicrographia, p, 157. f Plate IX. _/% 17. 



