Views FO RY co 1 Niece eit s, 
this, he went directly in a fmall bark to the 
places he had mentioned, put fome of the 
bloody water into a glafs, and, upon viewing 
it carefully, obferved that it was common 
_ water, and abounded with little red animals. 
Thus his fudden fright was changed into a 
lafting admiration. Before I treat of other 
matters, I fhall difclofe a method, to the dili- 
gent fearchers into nature, by which I have 
difcovered thefe and fuch like aquatic infects 
in water, which, when found, may be ex- 
amined more accurately. ; 
To find fingle infects in water, I know no- 
thing more proper than the glafs vefiel com- 
monly called an urinal ; for if its empty belly 
be fomewhat narrow, the fmalleft animal fwim- 
ming in it muft be feen by us, fince the 
water itfelf contained in it fupplies the place 
“of a microfcope. As the glafs, therefore, is 
- wider or narrower, fo we fee the little animal 
reprefented lefs or greater. But it muft be 
obferved, that this augmentation is not vifible, 
except only when the animal fwims on the 
oppofite fide of the glafs. When the infects 
are once obtained, they may be removed into 
{maller glafs bottles, wherein the parts may be 
feen much more diftinctly: nay, the micro- 
{cope, confifting of only one convex glafs, 
may upon this occafion be ufed to advantage. 
Befides thefe, we have likewife other helps to 
magnify thefe little creatures: we have caufed 
very {mall round bowls to be made of glafs 
with divifions, in which we have, by the help 
A particular treatife on 
EX T in order under this head, come 
the Scorpions, which are viviparous, ac- 
cording to the obfervation of Dr. Francis 
Redi; his words are thefe: «* The thoughts 
*< of the great Ariftotle were juft, who is of 
' opinion that Scorpions are generated by the 
* conjunction of the male and female; the - 
“* Scorpion not laying eggs, like other infects, 
«< but bringing forth little Scorpions alive and 
“« perfect in their {pecies : and of this opinion 
«© are alfo Pliny, Lib. II. Cap. xxv. and A‘lian, 
“© Lib. VI. Cap. xx; and the fame thing has 
*¢ been accurately obferved by Thomas Fure- 
“* nius, and by the very learned John Rhodius, 
in their medical obfervations. 
‘© As, therefore, I had nothing to follow or 
avoid, I began at once my experiments ; 
and having brought a large quantity of Scor- 
“‘ pions from the mountains of Piftoiz, in 
“ ‘Tufcany, I felected fome of the females, 
which, by their fize and roughnefs, are 
eafily diftinguifhed from the males, and on 
the 2oth of July put them in feparate glafs 
veffels, and kept them without food ; fome 
“of them died before they brought forth their 
young. But one of thofe on the sth of 
Auguft brought forth, not eleven, as Pliny 
the Scorpion, which likewife belongs to the 
or order of natural changes. 
Ad 
of a microfcope, viewed the, infect, having 
only a little water, to the utmoft advantage ; 
and gained a very diftinct knowledge of all its 
parts. It may likewife be very conveniently 
examined by the microfcope, if it be placed 
in afmall drop of water, dropped upon white 
paper; provided one takes care to avoid the 
brightnefs produced by the water. Ifthe in- 
fect fhould happen not to be diftinGly feen 
upon a white ground, we may change the 
white into yellow, green, blue, or any other 
colour: we have, for this purpofe, put our 
little glafs bowls before mentioned, into a 
cake or compofition of ftarch and blue, into 
foot, vermillion, and other paints ; and by this 
means our endeavours have been crowned with 
a fortunate event. Since, therefore, the me- 
thod we have been hitherto explaining, has 
been very ufeful to ourfelves in difcovering a 
great many water infects, and viewing their 
parts with the help of a microfcope, we no 
longer defire to conceal it, but communicate 
it for the fervice of the public. To this we 
fhall add, that among all the kinds of micro- 
{copes which have been invented, none is 
better than that which has only one lens. But 
fince we owe the benefit of this inftrument or 
contrivance to: that very great and incompara- 
ble mathematician,, Mr. John Hudden, fenator 
_of the city of Amfterdam, we efteem it our 
duty to do this renowned gentleman honour ; 
and to give him public thanks for the favour 
he has done us in this refpedt. 
fof claf 
and Ariftotle have imagined, but thirty-eight 
Scorpions, well fhaped and of a milk-white 
colour, which every day changed more and 
more into a dark rufty hue. Another fe- 
male in a different veffel brought forth 
‘* twenty-feven of the fame colour, on the 6th 
of the fame month ; and the latter, as well 
‘* as the former, feemed fixed, as it were, to 
“¢ the back and belly of the female. On the 
igth all thefe young ones were living, but 
afterwards fome of them died daily, fo 
that I loft all foon after, except two which 
“* furvived until the 24th of Auguft, and 
** then they died alfo. 
“‘ In the mean time, I had a mind to fee 
how thefe infects were placed in the pa- 
rents womb before their birth. Having, 
therefore, opened fome of them, I found 
different numbers, yet never lefs than 
twenty-fix, nor more than forty; all which 
hung on an oblong thread, and were covered ~ 
with a very fine and delicate membrane, 
in which one Scorpion was very clearly 
diftinguifhed from another, bya certain par- 
tition refembling a fine film.” Thus far 
Dr. Redi, in Exp. Circa Gener. Infe@t. But 
the defcription given by him does not at all- 
M fatisfy 
