THE LOUSE. 269 



as it were, fold them up one within another ; in leaping, they all fpring 

 at once, whereby its whole ftrength is exerted, and the body raifed above 

 two hundred times it own diaoieter. 



Fleas are at firft a fort of nits or eggs, round and fmooth ; from thefe 

 proceed white worms, of a (hining pearl colour : in a fortnight they are a 

 tolerable fize, very lively and aiftive. If touched, they roll themfelves 

 up in a ball ; foon after they begin to creep, and feek a place to lie hid 

 in, where they fpin a filken thread from their mouth, and with this in- 

 ciofe themfelves in a fmall round bag or cafe, white within, but dirty 

 without : here they continue a fortnight, and burft from this confine- 

 ment perfcAly formed. 



THE LOUSE. 



IN examining the human loufe with the microfcope, its deformity (Irikcs 

 us with difguft : the fore-part of the head is oblong, the hind-part 

 . fomewhat round ; the fkin hard, and, being ftretched, tranfparent, with 

 here and there feveral briftly hairs j in the fore-part is a probolcis or 

 fucker ; on each fide the head are antenna, or horns, each divided into 

 five joints, covered with briftly hair ; and feveral white veflels are feen 

 through thefe horns j behind thefe are the eyes, which feem to want 

 thofe divifions obfervable in other infects, and appear encompafled with 

 fome. few hairs ; the neck is very (hort, the breaft divided into three 

 parts ; on each fide are fix legs, confifting of fix joints, covered with 

 briftly hairs j the ends of the legs are armed with two fmaller and larger 

 ruddy claws, ferving thofe infefts as a finger and thumb, by which they 

 catch hold of objeds ; the end of the body terminates in a cloven tail ; 

 the fides are all over hairy ; the whole refembling clear parchment, and, 

 when roughly preflcd, cracking with a noife. On a clofer view, its white 

 veins, and other internal parts, appear ; as likewife a moft wonderful mo- 

 tion in its inteftines, from the tranfparency of its external covering. 

 When the loufe feeds, the blood is feen to rufh, like a torrent, into the 

 ftomach ; and its greedinefs is fo great, that the excrements contained in 

 the inteftines are ejedled at the fame time, to make room for this new 

 fupply. The loufe has neither beak, teeth, nor mouth, as Dr. Hooke 

 Part VL No. 30. Z z defcribed 



