two fmall horns i i on the fore-part of the head. The fnout is
crooked, and ends in a fharp point as at f; but what is altogether
lingular and furprizing, though no doubt wifely contrived
by the great and Almighty Architect, is, that this infeft’s legs are
placed near the fnout, between the finuffes, in which the eyes are
fixed. Each of thefe legs confifts o f three joints, the outermoft
of which is covered with hard and ftiff hairs like briftles. From
the next joint there fprings a homy bone h h, which the infeft
ufes as a kind o f thumb ; the joint is alfo o f a black fubftance,
between bone and hom in hardnefs ; the third joint is o f the fame
nature. T o diftinguilh thefe particulars, the parts that form the
upper fides o f the mouth and the eyes muft be feparated by
means of a fmall fine knife; you may then, by the affiftance o f
the microfcope, perceive that the leg is articulated by means o f
fome particular ligaments, with that portion of the inle&’s mouth
which anfwers to the lower jaw in the human frame. We may
then alfo difcem the mufcles which ferve to move the legs, and
draw them up into, a cavity that lies between the fnout and thofe
parts of the mouth which are near the horns i i.
This infeft not only walks with thefe legs at the bottom o f the
water, but even moves itfelf on land by means of them; it like-
wife makes ufe of them to fwim, while it . keeps it’s tail on the fur-
face contiguous to the air, and hangs downward with the reft of
the body in the water ; in this fituation no motion is perceived in
it but what arifes from it’s legs, which it moves in a molt elegant
manner. It is reafonable to conclude from what has been faid,
that the principal part of the creature’s lirength lies , in thefe legs :
nor will it be difficult for thofe who are acquainted with the
nature o f the ancient hieroglyphics (which are now opening fo
clearly)
clearly) to fix. the rank of this'infe£t in animated life, and point
out thofe orders of being, and the moral ftate through which it
receives it’s form and habits o f life.
The fnout is black and hard, the back part is quite folid, and
fomewhat o f a globular form, whereas the front, f, is fharp and
hollow ; on the back part three membranaceous divifions may be
obferved, by means of which, and the mufcles contained in the
fnout, the infed can at pleafure expand or contfaft it.
The tail is conftru&ed and planned with great fkill and wifdom.
The extreme verge, or border, is furrounded by thirty hairs, and
the fides .adorned with others that are fmaller ; here and there the
large hairs branch out into fmaller ones, which may be reckoned
as Angle hairs. Thefe hairs are all rooted in the outer fkin,
which in this« place is covered with rough grains, as may be
feen by cutting it off, and holding it up, when dry, againft the
light, upon a thin plate of glafs. By the fame mode you will
find, that at the extremities of the hairs there are alfo grains like
thofe o f the Ikin'; in the middle o f the tail there is a fmall opening
; within it are minute holes, by which the infedt takes in
and lets out the air it breathes. The hairs are very feldom dif-
pofed in fo regular a manner, as they are reprefented in Fig. 3,
Plate XI. except when the infect floats with the body in the
water, and the tail with its hairs a little lower than the furface,
for they are then difplayed exactly as delineated in the
plate. The leaft motion downward o f the tail produces a concavity
in the water, and it then affumes the figure o f a wine glafs,
wide at the top, narrow at the bottom.