* * * * *
Observ. XLIII. _Of the _Water-Insect_ or _Gnat_._
This little creature, described in the first _Figure_ of the 27. _Scheme_,
was a small scaled or crusted Animal, which I have often observ'd to be
generated in Rain-water; I have also observ'd it both in Pond and
River-water. It is suppos'd by some, to deduce its first original from the
putrifaction of Rain-water, in which, if it have stood any time open to the
air, you shall seldom miss, all the Summer long, of store of them frisking
too and fro.
'Tis a creature, wholly differing in shape from any I ever observ'd; nor is
its motion less strange: It has a very large head, in proportion to its
body, all covered with a shell, like other _testaceous_ Animals, but it
differs in this, that it has, up and down several parts of it, several
tufts of hairs, or brisles, plac'd in the order express'd in the Figure; It
has two horns, which seem'd almost like the horns of an Oxe, inverted, and,
as neer as I could guess, were hollow, with tufts of brisles, likewise at
the top; these horns they could move easily this or that way, and might,
perchance, be their nostrils. It has a pretty large mouth, which seem'd
contriv'd much like those of Crabs and Lobsters, by which, I have often
observ'd them to feed on water, or some imperceptible nutritive substance
in it.
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