to open any kind of mouth, but I could plainly perceive
a small current of blood, which came directly from
its snout, and past into its belly; and about A there
seem’d a contrivance, somewhat resembling a
Pump, pair of Bellows, or Heart, for by a very swift
systole and diastole the blood seem’d
drawn from the nose, and forced into the body.
It did not seem at all, though I viewed it a good while
as it was sucking, to thrust more of its nose into
the skin then the very snout D, nor did it cause the
least discernable pain, and yet the blood seem’d
to run through its head very quick and freely, so that
it seems there is no part of the skin but the blood
is dispers’d into, nay, even into the cuticula;
for had it thrust its whole nose in from D to CC, it
would not have amounted to the supposed thickness of
that tegument, the length of the nose being
not more then a three hundredth part of an inch.
It has six legs, covered with a very transparent shell,
and joynted exactly like a Crab’s, or Lobster’s;
each leg is divided into six parts by these joynts,
and those have here and there several small hairs;
and at the end of each leg it has two claws, very
properly adapted for its peculiar use, being thereby
inabled to walk very securely both on the skin and
hair; and indeed this contrivance of the feet is very
curious, and could not be made more commodiously and
compendiously, for performing both these requisite
motions, of walking and climbing up the hair of a mans
head, then it is: for, by having the lesser claw
(a) set so much short of the bigger (b) when it walks
on the skin the shorter touches not, and then the feet
are the same with those of a Mite, and several other
small Insects, but by means of the small joynts of
the longer claw it can bend it round, and so with both
claws take hold of a hair, in the manner represented
in the Figure, the long transparent Cylinder FFF,
being a Man’s hair held by it.
The Thorax seem’d cas’d with another kind of substance then the belly, namely, with a thin transparent horny substance, which upon the fasting of the Creature did not grow flaccid; through this I could plainly see the blood, suck’d from my hand, to be variously distributed, and mov’d to and fro; and about G there seem’d a pretty big white substance, which seem’d to be moved within its thorax; besides, there appear’d very many small milk-white vessels, which crost over the breast between the legs, out of which, on either side, were many small branchings, these seem’d to be the veins and arteries, for that which is analogus to blood in all Insects is milk-white.