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122 lines
8.3 KiB
122 lines
8.3 KiB
12 years ago
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<h1 align="center"><br>
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Observ. XLIX. Of an Ant or Pismire.<br>
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</h1>
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<p align="center"><img src="images/Octavo/ant.jpg" width="481" height="325"></p>
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<p align="center"> </p>
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<blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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<p><font size="4">This was a creature, more troublesom to be drawn, then any
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of the rest, for I could not, for a good while, think of a way to make it
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suffer its body to ly quiet in a natural posture; but whil'st it was alive,
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if its feet were fetter'd in Wax or Glew, it would so twist and wind its body,
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that I could not any wayes get a good view of it; and if I killed it, its
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body was so little, that I did often spoile the shape of it, before I could
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throughly view it: for this is the nature of these minute Bodies, that as
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soon, almost, as ever their life is destroy'd, their parts immediately shrivel,
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and lose their beauty; and so is it also with small Plants, as I instanced
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before, in the description of Moss. </font></p>
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<p><font size="4">And thence also is the reason of the variations in the beards
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of wild Oats, and in those of Muskgrass seed, that their bodies, being exceeding
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small, those small variations which are made in the surfaces of all bodies,
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almost upon every change of Air, especially if the body be porous, do here
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become sensible, where the whole body is so small, that it is almost nothing
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but surface; for as in vegetable substances, I see no great reason to think,
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that the moisture of the Aire (that, sticking to a wreath'd beard, does make
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it untwist) should evaporate, or exhale away, any faster then the moisture
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of other bodies, but rather that the avolation from, or access of moisture
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to, the surfaces of bodies being much the same, those bodies become most
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sensible of it, which have the least proportion of body to their surface.
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</font></p>
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<p><font size="4">So is it also with Animal substances; the dead body of an
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Ant, or such little creature, does almost instantly shrivel and dry, and
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your object shall be quite another thing, before you can half delineate
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it, which proceeds not from the extraordinary exhalation, but from the small
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proportion of body and juices, to the usual drying of bodies in the Air,
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especially if warm. </font></p>
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<p><font size="4">For which inconvenience, where I could not otherwise remove
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it, I thought of this expedient. I took the creature, I had design'd to delineate,
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and put it into a drop of very well rectified spirit of Wine, this I found
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would presently dispatch, as it were, the Animal, and being taken out of
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it, and lay'd on a paper,the spirit of Wine would immediately fly away,
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and leave the Animal dry, in its natural posture, or at least, in a constitution,
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that it might easily with a pin be plac'd, in what posture you desired to
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draw it, and the limbs would so remain, without either moving, or shriveling.
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</font></p>
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<p><font size="4">And thus I dealt with this Ant, which I have here delineated,
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which was one of many, of a very large kind, that inhabited under the Roots
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of a Tree, from whence they would sally out in great parties, and make most
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grievous havock of the Flowers and Fruits, in the ambient Garden, and return back
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again very expertly, by the same wayes and paths they went. </font></p>
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<p><font size="4">It was more then half the bigness of an Earwig, of a dark
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brown, or reddish colour, with long legs, on the hinder of which it would
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stand up, and raise its head as high as it could above the ground, that it
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might stare the further about it, just after the same manner as I have also
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observ'd a hunting Spider to do: and putting my finger towards them, they
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have at first all run towards it, till almost at it; and then they would stand
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round about it, at a certain distance, and smell, as it were, and consider
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whether they should any of them venture any further, till one more bold then
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the rest venturing to climb it, all the rest, if I would have suffered them,
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would have immediately followed : much such other seemingly rational actions
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I have observ'd in this little Vermine with much pleasure, which would be
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too long to be here related; those that desire more of them may satisfie
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their curiosity in Ligons History of the Barbadoes. </font></p>
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<p><font size="4">Having insnar'd several of these into a small Box, I made
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choice of the tallest grown among them, and separating it from the rest,
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I gave it a Gill of Brandy, or Spirit of Wine, which after a while e'en knock'd
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him down dead drunk, so that he became moveless, though at first putting
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in he struggled for a pretty while very much, till at last, certain bubbles
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issuing out of his mouth, it ceased to move; this (because I had before found
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them quickly to recover again, if they were taken out presently) I suffered
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to lye above an hour in the Spirit; and after I had taken it out, and put
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its body and legs into a natural posture, remained moveless about an hour;
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but then, upon a sudden, as if it had been awaken out of a drunken sleep,
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it suddenly reviv'd and ran away; being caught, and serv'd as before, he
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for a while continued struggling and striving, till at last there issued
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several bubbles out of its mouth, and then, tanquam animam expirasset, he
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remained moveless for a good while ; but at length again recovering, it was
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again redipt, and suffered to lye some hours in the Spirit; notwithstanding
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which, after it had layen dry some three or four hours, it again recovered
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life and motion: Which kind of Experiments, if prosecuted, which they highly
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deserve, seem to me of no inconsiderable use towards the invention of the
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Latent Scheme, (as the Noble Ve rulam calls it) or the hidden, unknown Texture
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of Bodies. </font></p>
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<p><font size="4">Of what Figure this Creature appear'd through the Microscope,
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the 32. Scheme (though not so carefully graven as it ought) will represent
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to the eye, namely, That it had a large head A A, at the upper end of which
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were two protuberant eyes, pearl'd like those of a Fly, but smaller B B;
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of the Nose, or foremost part, issued two horns C C, of a shape sufficiently
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differing from those of a blew Fly, though indeed they seem to be both the
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same kind of Organ, and to serve for a kind of smelling; beyond these were
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two indented jaws D D, which he open'd sideways, and was able to gape them
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asunder very wide; and the ends of them being armed with teeth, which meeting
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went between each other, it was able to grasp and hold a heavy body, three
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or four times the bulk and weight of its own body: It had only six legs,
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shap'd like those of a Fly, which, as I shewed before, is an Argument that
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it is a winged Insect, and though I could not perceive any sign of them in
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the middle part of its body (which seem'd to consist of three joints or pieces
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E F G, out of which sprung two legs, yet 'tis known that there are of them
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that have long wings, and fly up and down in the air. </font></p>
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<p><font size="4">The third and last part of its body I I I was bigger and
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larger then the other two, unto which it was joyn'd by a very small middle,
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and had a kind of loose shell, or another distinct part of its body H, which
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seem'd to be interpos'd, and to keep the thorax and belly from touching.
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The whole body was cas'd over with a very strong armour, and the belly I
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I I was covered likewise with multitudes of small white shining brisles;
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the legs, horns, head, and middle parts of its body were bestruck with hairs
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also, but smaller and darker. </font></p>
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</blockquote>
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<p> </p>
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<p><a href="seaweed.html"><img src="images/htmldemo/back.jpg" width="146" height="40" align="left" border="0"></a><a href="bug.html"><img src="images/htmldemo/forward.jpg" width="196" height="40" align="right" border="0"></a></p>
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<p> </p>
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<p> </p>
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</blockquote>
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</body>
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