And of this indeed,
the texture and make is exactly the same with common Sponges, but onely
that both the holes and the _fibres_, or texture of it is exceedingly much
bigger, for some of the holes were above an Inch and half over, and the
_fibres_ and _texture_ of it was bigg enough to be distinguished easily
with ones eye, but conspicuously with an ordinary single _Microscope_. And
these indeed, seem'd to have been the habitation of some Animal; and
examining _Aristotle_, I find a very consonant account hereunto, namely,
that he had known a certain little Animal, call'd _Pinnothera_, like a
Spider, to be bred in those caverns of a Sponge, from within which, by
opening and closing those holes, he insnares and catches the little Fishes;
and in another place he says, That 'tis very confidently reported, that
there are certain Moths or Worms that reside in the cavities of a Sponge,
and are there nourished: Notwithstanding all which Histories, I think it
well worth the enquiring into the History and nature of a Sponge, it
seeming to promise some information of the Vessels in Animal substances,
which (by reason of the solidity of the interserted flesh that is not
easily remov'd, without destroying also those interspers'd Vessels) are
hitherto undiscover'd; whereas here in a Sponge, the _Parenchyma_, it
seems, is but a kind of mucous gelly, which is very easily and cleerly
wash'd away.
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