?84 EXPERIMENTS 



been boiled, upon water in which pepper had 

 been fimply infufed, and upon water in which 

 pink-feeds were infufed. The bottles contain- 

 ing all thefe infafions were exactly corked. At 

 the end of two days, I faw, in the oyfter- water, 

 a vaft quantity of oval and globular bodies, 

 which feemed to fwim like fifhes in a pond, and 

 had every appearance of being real animals. 

 They had no members that could be difcovered, 

 and no tails. They were tranfparent, and pretty 

 large; I faw them change their figures; they 

 became gradually fmallcr and fmaller during 

 the feven or eight days that they exifled ; and, 

 laftly, along with Mr Needham, I faw animal- 

 cules fo very fimilar, in an infufion of the jelly 

 of roafted veal, \yhich had likewife been clofe 

 corked, that I am perfuaded they are not true 

 animals, agreeable to the common acceptation 

 of that term, as (hall afterwards be fully ex- 

 plained. 



The infufion of pink-feeds was crowded with 



innumerable moving globules, which appeared 

 to be equally animated with thofe in the feminal 

 liquors and infufions of f.eiii. At firft they were 

 pretty large, and moved with great rapidity 

 in every polTible diredion. They continued in 

 this Hate during three weeks, and gradually di- 

 miniihed in fize till their minutenefs rendered 

 them inviiible. 



The fame phaenomenon took place in the in- 

 fliiipns of* popper; but the moving bodies did 

 '"'■''■'"' ■ • ' • not 



