ANNO l682.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 543 



Some further Observations about the Fabric and Texture of Muscular Fibres, By 

 M. Leuwenhoeck. Philos. Collect. N° 7^ P* 188. 



I have several times observed and examined the muscular flesh of the large 

 sea lobsters found upon the coast of Norway. But by all my observations of 

 them I could not satisfy myself of the true texture and fabric of them. But about 

 a fortnight since, 2 lobsters were sent me from Rotterdam ; on which I renewed 

 my observations about the texture of their flesh ; since which time I have clear- 

 ly seen that the muscular flesh of the body, as well as of the claws of the 

 lobsters, is composed of exceedingly small strings, which strings also have their 

 rimples, in the same manner as I mentioned in my last letter that the muscu- 

 lar strings both of flesh and of other fish also had. I separated these one from 

 another; and notwithstanding their minuteness, 1 have again split some of them, 

 and to my full satisfaction I have discovered and clearly seen that every string 

 of the muscles of a lobster is again composed, of a great number of much 

 smaller threads. 



These are the observations which I have made about the texture of the 

 muscles of lobsters, which as they are new, so I hope they will be pleasing to 

 you, and agree with what you have observed, which I should very gladly under- 

 stand at your first conveniency. 



In your last letter of the 10th of March, 1681-2, you say as follows— -Your 

 discoveries both in your former and this last letter are very considerable, but I 

 am not a little pleased to find by this, that you have discovered the same thing 

 in the muscles of flesh, which I long since did in those of fish ; especially in 

 those of lobsters, crabs, shrimps, of which I gave you some account about 4 

 years since, at which time also I showed them to the Royal Society at their 

 meeting, namely, that the muscles of these consisted of an innumerable com- 

 pany of exceedingly small filaments or strings, almost 100 times smaller than a 

 hair of my head, each of which filaments was of the shape of a string of 

 pearl, or beads of glass, so that a small string of such a muscle as large as 

 hair seemed like a necklace of small seed pearl, which is usually made up 

 of a great number of smaller strings, of such seed pearls. On examin- 

 ing the muscles of a prawn, I took notice that when I saw several of these 

 small muscular strings lying together, that they would appear as if thev had 

 been so many strings of bullets, corals or pearls lying together. But among 

 about 25 small separations or bundles of these muscular strings taken from the 

 prawn, there was one of them which was about the size of a head hair, which 

 lay very neatly to my view, for every string of it had its particular rimples. 



