LOUSE. 351 
the skin is so transparent, that the blood 
may be seen to rush in a bright red 
stream through the trunk, into a small 
cavity in the fore part of the head ; from 
thence it is conveyed into another circular 
cavity at the back of the head, and then 
through the breast into the intestine. 
At the end of the abdomen the intestine 
returns towards the breast for a short 
space, and in this bent part the blood is 
digested, that is, converted into nutri-- 
ment. 
Lucy, Odious as this little animal is, 
it would be very amusing to examine it 
in a microscope. 
Mother, The thinness of its skin 
allows the inward structure and progress 
of the food to be observed better than in 
almost any other animal ; even the mo- 
tion of the muscles, when the antennae, 
or the legs, are moved, is visible in the 
microscope. This species has^^ six legs^ 
and each foot is armed with two claws, 
one of which is long and curved, like the 
talon of a bird, the other short and 
