Micrographia Restaurata, & c

Many Sorts of Herbs, if placed about the Bed, are said to destroy, or at least drive away Fleas ; such as Elder, Fern, Penny-Royal, Rue, Mint, Hops, Laurel, Walnut, Ars- mart, Hellebore, &c. also the Seeds of Staves-Acre, Coriander, Flea-Wort, &cc. but without doubt the most effectual Remedy is Cleanliness.

If you attempt to catch them, remember always to wet your Thumb and Finger with Spittle.

An EXPLANATION of the THIRTY-THIRD PLATE

The Louse

THIS last Plate shews us the Figure of a Louse magnified to a very great Degree,

The Louse,

that every Part thereos may be perfectly known and distinguished : And indeed this Creature is so transparent, that the internal Structure, Disposition, and Motion of its Bow- cls, and their Contents, may be discerned therein much better than they can in most other Insects.

It is represented in this Picture with its Belly upwards, grasping a Hair between its Claws.

The Head A, somewhat resembles the Fashion of a Cone, but is a little flatted on the upper and under Part. On each Side, just where the Head is widest, a large shining black Eye appears, very protuberant, and encompassed with a Number of small Hairs. These Eyes B B, are situated a little behind the Head, in the Place where the Ears of other Creatures stand ; and where one would expect to find the Eyes, a Couple of Horns come out C C, extending themselves in such a manner, that they defend its Eyes from being in- jured by the Hairs through which it passes.

Our Author says, each of these Horns has four Joints, fringed as it were with small Bristles ; and the Picture C C shews no more than that Number of Divisions ; but SWAM- MERDAM reckons five Joints to each Horn of the Louse he describes

Swammerd, Hist, Gener, des Insect. p. 174.

; so that either the Lice these two Observers examined, were of a different Species, or one of them must be mistaken.

The Head grows round and tapering from where the Horns come out to the Top of the Snout D, which ends in a sharp Point, and seems to be a tubular Instrument where- by the Louse sucks in the Blood of the Animal it seeds on ; it is likewise probably the Sheath of a Peircer that serves to penetrate the Skin and make a Wound for the Blood to issue out.

In the Position before us, there seems to be a Resemblance of Chaps or Jaws, as at the Letters E E ; yet when placed in another View those Lines or Appearances are not discern- able. SWAMMERDAM says, it has no Mouth that opens ; and our Author observes, that having kept several of them in a Box for two or three Days, whereby they were become extremely hungry, upon letting one creep on his Hand, he found that it immediately fell to Sucking ; and though it neither seemed to thrust its Nose very deep into the Skin, nor to open any kind of Mouth, he could plainly discern a small Current of Blood passing directly from its Snout into its Belly ; and there appeared about A some Contrivance like a Pump, Pair of Bellows, or Heart, which by a very swift and alternate Dilatation and Contraction drew up the Blood from the Nose and forced it into the Body. Though he viewed it very attentively while sucking, he could not perceive that any more of its Nose was thrust into the Skin than the very Snout D ; nor did it give him the least Pain, not- withstanding the Blood ran through its Head very quick and freely : Which fully proves that Blood-Vessels are dispersed into every Part of the Skin, nay, even into the Cuticula ; for had its whole Snout been thrust in from D to C C, it would not have amounted to the supposed Thickness of that Tegument, the Length of the whole Nose not being more than the three hundredth Part of an Inch.

The Thorax or Breast is covered with a thin, transparent, horny, or shelly Substance, which did not sink or become shrivelled by the Creature's fasting, as the Covering of the Belly did. Through this our Author could plainly distinguish that the Blood sucked from