Against this Opinion of the Epicureans, Galen ingeniously argues in his Discourse about the Hand. Non enim Manus ipsæ (saith he) hominem artes docuerunt, sed Ratio. Manus autem ipsæ sunt artium organa; sicut Lyra musici——Lyra musicam non docuit, sed est ipsius artifex per eam, quâ præditus est, Rationem: agere autem non potest ex arte absque organis, ita & una quælibet anima facultates quasdam à suâ ipsius substantiâ obtinet,——Quòd autem corporis particulæ animam non impellunt,——manifeste videre licet, si animalia recèns nata confideres, quæ quidem priùs agere conantur, quàm perfectas habeant particulas. Ego namque Bovis vitulum cornibus petere conantem sæpenumero vidi, antequam ei nata essent cornua; Et pullum Equi calcitrantem, &c. Omne enim animal suæ ipsius Animæ facultates, ac in quos usus partes suæ polleant maximè, nullo doctore, præsentit.——Quâ igitur ratione dici potest, animalia partium usus à partibus doceri, cùm & antequam illas habeant, hoc cognoscere videantur? Si igitur Ova tria acceperis, unum Aquilæ, alterum Anatis, reliquum Serpentis, & calore modico foveris, animaliaque excluseris; illa quidem alis volare conantia, antequàm volare possint; hoc autem revolvi videbis, & serpere affectans, quamvis molle adhuc & invalidam fuerit. Et si, dum perfecta erunt, in unâ eâdemque domo nutriveris, deinde ad locum subdialem ducta emiseris, Aquila quidem ad sublime; Anas autem in paludem;——Serpens verò sub terrâ irrepet——Animalia quidem mihi videntur Naturâ magis quàm Ratione artem aliquam [τεχνικὰ artificiosa] exercere: Apes fingere alveolos, &c. Galen de usu. Part I. c. 3.
[q] Alia dentibus prædantur, alia unguibus, alia rostri aduncitate carpunt, alia latitudine [ejusdem] ruunt, alia acumine excavant, alia sugunt, alia lambunt, sorbent, mandunt, vorant. Nec minor varietas in Pedum ministerio, ut rapiant, distrahant, teneant, premant, pendeant, tellurem scabere non cessent. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 71.
[r] Because it would be tedious to reckon up the Bones, Glands, Muscles, and other Parts belonging to the Mouth, it shall suffice to observe, that, for the various Services of Man’s Mouth, besides the Muscles in common with other Parts, there are five Pair, and one single one proper to the Lips only, as Dr. Gibson reckons them: But my most diligent and curious Friend the late Mr. Cowper, discovered a sixth Pair. And accordingly Dr. Drake reckons six Pair, and one single one proper to the Lips, l. 3. c. 13.
[] Galen deserves to be here consulted, who excellently argues against the casual Concourse of the Atoms of Epicurus and Asclepiades, from the provident and wise Formation of the Mouths of Animals, and their Teeth answerable thereto. In Man, his Mouth without a deep Incisure, with only one canine Tooth on a side, and flat Nails, because, saith he, Hic Natura certò sciebat, se animal mansuetum ac civile effingere, cui robur & vires essent ex sapientiâ, non ex corporis fortitudine. But for Lions, Wolfs and Dogs, and all such as are called Καρχαρόδοντες, (or having sharp, serrated Teeth) their Mouths are large, and deep cut; Teeth strong and sharp, and their Nails sharp, large, strong and round, accommodated to holding and tearing. Vid. Galen. de Us. Part. l. 11. c. 9.
[t] Among Insects the Squillæ aquaticæ, as they are very rapacious, so are accordingly provided for it: Particularly the Squilla aquatica maxima recurva (as I call it) who hath somewhat terrible in its very Aspect, and in its Posture in the Water, especially its Mouth, which is armed with long, sharp Hooks, with which it boldly, and greedily catcheth any thing in the Waters, even one’s Fingers. When they have seized their Prey, they will so tenaciously hold it with their forcipated Mouth, that they will not part therewith, even when they are taken out of the Waters, and jumbled about in one’s Hand. I have admired at their peculiar way of taking in their Food; which is done by piercing their Prey with their Forcipes (which are hollow) and sucking the Juice thereof through them.
The Squilla here mentioned, is the first and second in Mouffet’s Theat. Insect. l. 2. c. 37.
[] For an Instance of Insects endued with a Spear, I shall, for its Peculiarity, pitch upon one of the smallest, if not the very smallest of all the Gnat-kind, which I call, Culex minimus nigricans maculatus sanguisuga. Among us in Essex, they are called Nidiots, by Mouffet Midges. It is about ⅒ of an Inch, or somewhat more long, with short Antennæ, plain in the Female, in the Male feather’d, somewhat like a Bottle-Brush. It is spotted with blackish Spots, especially on the Wings, which extend a little beyond the Body. It comes from a little slender Eel-like Worm, of a dirty white Colour, swimming in stagnating Waters by a wrigling Motion; as in [Fig. 5.]
Its Aurelia is small, with a black Head, little short Horns, a spotted, slender, rough Belly, Vid. [Fig. 6.] It lies quietly on the top of the Water, now and then gently wagging it self this way and that.
These Gnats are greedy Blood-Suckers, and very troublesome, where numerous, as they are in some Places near the Thames, particularly in the Breach-Waters that have lately befallen near us, in the Parish of Dagenham; where I found them so vexatious, that I was glad to get out of those Marshes. Yea, I have seen Horses so stung with them, that they have had Drops of Blood all over their Bodies, where they were wounded by them.
I have given a Figure (in [Fig. 7.]) and more particular Description of the Gnats, because, although it be common, it is no where taken notice of by any Author I know, except Mouffet, who, I suppose, means these Gnats, which he calls Midges, c. 13. p. 82.