LETTER 18. CLOVE-WATER Loh 
The 8th ditto, I saw very many animalcules whose 
figure was like an oval, and these were to my eye, through 
my microscope, like coarse sand-grains to the naked eye; 
and there were some few animalcules with tails; likewise 
some little animalcules, and plenty that were bigger, and 
had the length of the eye of a louse. These were bent a 
bit crooked, the underneath part flat; and therewithal 
looking much like an eighth part of a preserved citron- 
peel. Their motion was all turning about, so that I am 
persuaded that they had no little legs; and though they 
were a bit smaller, they resembled very closely the little 
animals previously likened to a piece of citron-peel. So 
great was their number, that it did not amount to a mere 
thousand or two in one drop. 
The 17th of August, the animalcules found as before ; 
but their motion was very slow: and as over a half of 
this water was evaporated away, I added well-water to it 
again. 
The 18th ditto, the animalcules as before, and now 
their motion was a bit quicker again; and I now saw 
again more animalcules with tails. 
The 20th ditto, the animalcules with tails were so 
multiplied, that by now they were the most plentiful. 
The 21st and 22nd ditto, the animalcules with tails 
were now less, and their motion, too, was very slow. 
Furthermore, these animalcules with tails, whenever they 
got themselves stuck by the tail in any bit of dirt, 
stretched ’emselves out somewhat longer than the 
animalcules with tails which I have seen in pepper- 
water. The little animalcules were now also less; and 
here and there [ discovered one of the animalcules that 
I have likened to an eighth of a citron-peel. 
The 3rd September, I took one or two cloves out of the 
water, and they were now become so soft that one could 
rub them to bits between one’s fingers: and moreover, I 
found but little savour in them. The animalcules were 
now much decreased, and therefore, as the water was also 
