( 1^5* ) 
III. Another Letter from the fame Mr Leewuenhoek, 
concerning his ohfer vations on ^{ain Water. 
Delp, April, 28. 1 70 1. 
ON the i^rh of SepUmk 1701. it rain d a little while 
about noon, whreupon I intercepted fome of the 
•Water in a fine ChinA Bafon, made as clean as wa$ pofli- 
ble. 
I put this Water into a Glafs Tube, in order to try whi- 
ther there were any living Creatures in it. 
I yiew'd this Water federal days together, and could 
difcoverin it abundance of fmall Atoms of Dufi: or Particles 
that were floating in the Air, and confifting of exceeding 
fmall parts of burnt Wood or Charcoal wherein I did per- 
ceive the Horizontal and Afcending Veflels, alfo a very 
fmall piece of Straw, and feveral blackifn Particles which I 
imagin'd to be conglomerated Atoms of the fmoke pro- 
ceeding from the Coals which our Brewers and Smiths ufe, 
and among thefe was an odd Phenomenon made up of lit- 
tle round Bubbles, that were, as I may fay, congeal'd toge- 
ther, iike our little Stars of Snow in Winter ^ but I could 
meet with no living Creatures till the oS^h of September^ at 
which lime I difc/ vered exceeding fmall AnimalcuU^ that 
one while faften'd themfdves to the fides of the Glafs, and 
then fwam in the Water with a trcraulou;) motion, which 
wals a very agreeable fpeftacle. 
Thefe Creatures were fo very fmall, and the Glafs Tube 
To ihick, that it was verydifEcult for me to fee them, and 
the more bccaufe they were as Pellucid as the Glafs itfelf^ 
their Budies were twice as long as they were big, and both 
ends thereof Taper, or dwindling into a fmall Point. 
Frcm the loth of O^ioher tO/the t4th I could find no li- 
ving Creatures in the Water, tho I lought them very care- 
iuJJy- Where- 
