Hay-Water , &c., Jg 
¥ 
is very different, fome being an hundred 
Times larger than others, and probably they 
may differ alfo very much in Kind. They 
have in general a nimble wriggling Motion : 
but fome Sorts of them are more a&ive and 
Vigorous than others. 
Vinegar, after handing a few Days unco¬ 
vered, and efpecially in the Summer-Seafon, 
will frequently abound with a Kind of thefe 
Eels , large enough to be difcerned by othe 
naked Eye : which has encouraged fome 
People erroneoufly to affert, that the Sharp* 
nefs of Vinegar is owing to nothing elfe but 
the Striking of thefe Creatures upon the 
Tongue and Palate with their pointed Tails: 
whereas it is very certain, that many Times 
none of them can be difcerned even in the 
foureft Vinegar and befides, Mr. Leeu¬ 
wenhoek has demonftrated, that its Sharp- 
nefs proceeds only from the pointed and 
penetrating Figure of the Salts floating in 
it, as I fhall find Occafion to obferve more 
fully by and by. 
The Shape of thefe Eel-like Animalcules 
is delineated Fig. X. 
Dr. Power tells us *, That if Vinegar 
wherein Eels abound be but moderately 
heated at the Fire, they will all be killed, 
and fink down to the Bottom ; but that 
Cold does them no Injury. For after fuch 
* Power’s Micro/cop. Obfernj. pag. 35. 
Vo l. I. G Vinegar 
