DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68888#0219
Micrograph! a. j
Very conspicuous neer the knee, as in the cleft K K, tvhen the Beard was
dry , upon the discovery of whidh. I began to think, that it was upon the
dwelling of this porous pith upon the access ofmoisture or water that the
Beard,being made longer in the midst,was streightned,and by the (brink-
ing or subsiding of the parts of that Spongie substance together, when
the water or moisture was exhal’d or dried, the pith or "middle parts
growing shorter, the whole became twisted.
But this I cannot be positive in, for upon cutting tile wreath’d partin
many places transverlly, I was not so well satisfy’d with thelhapeand
manner of the pores of the pith , for looking on these transverse Sections
with a very good Microfiope, 1 found that the ends of thole ttans-
verse Sections appear’d much of the manner of the third Figure of the*
15. Scheme ABCFE, and the middle or pith CC, seem’d very full of
pores indeed, but all of them feem’d to run the long-ways.
1 his Figure plainly enough (hews in what manner those clefts, K and L
divided the wreath’d Cylinder into two unequal parts, and alsoofwhat
kind of substance the whole body consists 5 for by cutting the same Beard
in many places, with transverse Se&ions, 1 found much the lame ap-
pearance with this express’d 5 so that those pores feein to run, as in most
other such Cany bodies, the whole length of it.
The clefts of this body K K, and L L, seem’d (as is alio express’d in
the Figure) to wind very oddly in the inner part of the wreath 5 and
in feme parts of them, they seem’d stuffed, as it were,with that Spongie
substance, which I just now described.
This so oddly constituted Vegetable substance, is first (that I have
met with) taken notice of by Baptifia Porta, in his Natural Magick^, as a
thing known to children and Juglers, and it has been call’d by some of
thofe last named persons, the better to cover their cheat, the Legg of an
Arabian Spider, or the Legg of an inchanted Egyptian Fly, and has been
used by them to make a small Index, Cross, or the like, to move round
upon the wetting of it with a drop of Water, and muttering certain
words.
But the ufe that has been made of it, sor the difcovery of the various
constitutions of the Air, as to drinels and moistness, is incomparably
beyond any other 5 for this it does to admiration: The manner of con-
triving it so, as to perform this great effe&, is onely thus:
Provide a good large Box of Ivory, about four Inches over, and of
what depth you lhall judge convenient (according to ^our intention
of making use of one, two,three,or more of thefe Imall Beards,ordered in
the manner which I (hall by and by defcribe)let all the sides of this Box be
turned os Balket-work (which here in London is easily enough procur’d)
full of holes,in the manner almost of a Lettice, the bigger, or more the
holes are.the better,that so the Air may have the more free passage to the
inclosed Beard,and may the more easily pals through the Ihstrument 5 it
will be better yet,though not altogether so handsom,is insteed of the Bast
ket-work on the sides of the Box,the bottom and top os the Box be join’d
together onely with three or four (mail Pillars, aster the manner repre-
fented
Very conspicuous neer the knee, as in the cleft K K, tvhen the Beard was
dry , upon the discovery of whidh. I began to think, that it was upon the
dwelling of this porous pith upon the access ofmoisture or water that the
Beard,being made longer in the midst,was streightned,and by the (brink-
ing or subsiding of the parts of that Spongie substance together, when
the water or moisture was exhal’d or dried, the pith or "middle parts
growing shorter, the whole became twisted.
But this I cannot be positive in, for upon cutting tile wreath’d partin
many places transverlly, I was not so well satisfy’d with thelhapeand
manner of the pores of the pith , for looking on these transverse Sections
with a very good Microfiope, 1 found that the ends of thole ttans-
verse Sections appear’d much of the manner of the third Figure of the*
15. Scheme ABCFE, and the middle or pith CC, seem’d very full of
pores indeed, but all of them feem’d to run the long-ways.
1 his Figure plainly enough (hews in what manner those clefts, K and L
divided the wreath’d Cylinder into two unequal parts, and alsoofwhat
kind of substance the whole body consists 5 for by cutting the same Beard
in many places, with transverse Se&ions, 1 found much the lame ap-
pearance with this express’d 5 so that those pores feein to run, as in most
other such Cany bodies, the whole length of it.
The clefts of this body K K, and L L, seem’d (as is alio express’d in
the Figure) to wind very oddly in the inner part of the wreath 5 and
in feme parts of them, they seem’d stuffed, as it were,with that Spongie
substance, which I just now described.
This so oddly constituted Vegetable substance, is first (that I have
met with) taken notice of by Baptifia Porta, in his Natural Magick^, as a
thing known to children and Juglers, and it has been call’d by some of
thofe last named persons, the better to cover their cheat, the Legg of an
Arabian Spider, or the Legg of an inchanted Egyptian Fly, and has been
used by them to make a small Index, Cross, or the like, to move round
upon the wetting of it with a drop of Water, and muttering certain
words.
But the ufe that has been made of it, sor the difcovery of the various
constitutions of the Air, as to drinels and moistness, is incomparably
beyond any other 5 for this it does to admiration: The manner of con-
triving it so, as to perform this great effe&, is onely thus:
Provide a good large Box of Ivory, about four Inches over, and of
what depth you lhall judge convenient (according to ^our intention
of making use of one, two,three,or more of thefe Imall Beards,ordered in
the manner which I (hall by and by defcribe)let all the sides of this Box be
turned os Balket-work (which here in London is easily enough procur’d)
full of holes,in the manner almost of a Lettice, the bigger, or more the
holes are.the better,that so the Air may have the more free passage to the
inclosed Beard,and may the more easily pals through the Ihstrument 5 it
will be better yet,though not altogether so handsom,is insteed of the Bast
ket-work on the sides of the Box,the bottom and top os the Box be join’d
together onely with three or four (mail Pillars, aster the manner repre-
fented