The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1820-08-08
TIE NATuRAI.lsT,s DIARY, Juns.

u
scos aud are eminentiy worthy OF our OBSERVE
ton They who possess this amusing instlumeAt
may easily perform with It a variety ot piean4I
experiments; among others, the following -
Leave some vinegar exposed, IN sauces. ~
a lew days, to the open air then place eesp og
il, by means of clean pen, or cancels har orQsh,
on the transparent object plate OF the microscops{
and il the object plate be properly liiuminA&eq
from below, you will Observe IN tins drop OF hque9
animals resembling small eels, which are An CO
tinual motion.
If you slightly bruise some pepper corns, ~
infuss them in water for few days, and thea
expose a drop Of It to the microscope, number
of animals OF different Kind will be vificie. =
These OF AN obsns shape, and IKE the oth-
ers, in continual motion, gong oackwafds ano
forwards in directions, turning ASIDE when they
meet each other, or when their passage IS stop
ped by some obstacle. In other iniusions, as IN
that OF n, hay, differently shaped animaicula
will be found. When the drop IN which they
SWIM and which to them is like pond, becomes
diminished by evaporation, they gradually retire
towards the middle, where they accumulate, aud
at length perish VIXEN deprived 81 moisture. fre-
vi0usly to tins they appear in great distress,
writhe their bodies, and endsavour to escape
from that state Of uneas,ness which they eyi-
IDENTIFY feel. Ii the smallest quantity or drop oil
sulphuric acid be put into drop ei the INFUSION,
| ately throw themselves on their backs, and ca
pre- sometimes losing their skin, which bursts
| and suffers small PARTICLES OF AR to escape
| Those who wish to observe the circulation OF
blood, by means Of the microscope, may readily
obtain the desired satisfaction. he objects em-
| ployed chiefly for this purpose are the delicate
| transparent members which unite the toes oil the
| frog and the tail oil the tadpoe. II this member
be extended and fixed on glass illuminated
below, the motion OF the blood IN the vessels will
be distinctly visible, the appearance resembles
| number. Of small islands with rapid current
flowing between them. Take small tadpole,
and having wrapped its body in piece Of moist
cloth, place its tan the object plate OF the MI
croscope and enlighten it below, aud you will see
very distinctly the circulation Of the blood, which
in some Of the vessels proceeds by Kind OF I'M
| dulations. and in others with an uniform motion.
| The former thought to be the arteries IN
which the blood moves in consequence OF the AL
ternate pulsation Of the heart the latter are said
TO be the veins. The circulation oil the blood may
be seen also in the legs and tails OF shrimps. The
| transparent legs Of small spiders, and those OF
| bugs will also afford the means Of observing the
| circulation OF the blood. The latter said, by
| Mir. Baker, to exhibit an extraordinary vibration
| Of the vessels, which he never saw any where
else. Very small fish are good objects for this
| purpose but the most curious oil all spectacles
OF this kind, is that exhibited by the mesentery
OF living frog, applied IN particular to the solar
microscope. According TO Mr.. Baker, who saw
the fact which he describes, II u Impossible to
express the wonderful scene which presented it,
self TO his observation. We saw he says, at
the same moment, the blood which flowed in
| prodlgious number Of vessels, moving in some to
one side and in others to the opposite side. Sew
sral OF these minute vessels were magnifisd 80 as
to appear an inch in diameter, and the globulss
OF blood seemed almost as large as small grains Of
pepper, while in some vessels they could pass
only one BY one, and were Obliged to change
their ure into that Of an oblong spheroid before
they could pass.'
II any doubt that the blood 10 formed Of small
particles, he may easily obtain an ocular dem
onstraton Of the subject. With the tip Of a fine
pen or camel's hair brush, take small drop Of
blood, just drawn from the body, and spread Il as
thin as possible over piece Of tale, to which APP
ply one Of the most powerful magnIfers, and the
globuies viii DO distinctly seen. by this simple
method it has been found that the red globules Of
the human blood are each composed Of six small
Ter slebnlss, united together, and that, when
disun'tsd by any cause, they are no longer red
The globules are so exceedingly minute, that
their diameter is only about to 16O0th part Of
An inch. SO that sphere Of an inch in diameter
would contain 4,o96, 900 Of them.
To proceed to the skin, its pores, and scales.
If you take of small piece Of the sperdermis.
or scarf skin, Of the hand, by means Of a sharp
razor, and place il the object plato Of the mi
croscope, you will see it covered with multi
tude Of small scales so exceedingly minute, that
according to Leuwenhock, grain Of sand would
cover 200 Of them. These scales are arranged
like those the back Of fishes or like the tiles
of house, each in part, covering the other. Ii
the form OF these little scales TO be ascertain
ed, scrapc the skin with penknife, and put the
dust thus obtained into a drop Of water, and it
will be seen that these scales, small they arc,
have in general five planes, and that each con-
sists Of several strata. Underneath these scales
are the pores OF the epidermis, which when the
former are removed may be distinctly seen. ap.
psrently like small holes pierced with an ex-
! ceedingiy fine needle. la the length If an inch
| 1900 have been counted, that, in a surface
equal to square inch, there are ID 400 and as
there are ia in a square foot, the number Of
pores in a square foot Of surface would be more
| than two millions and as the surface Of the hu
man body is reckoned at Ii feet, the number Of
| pores in its surface, through which there is a
I perpetual preparation going on, must be more
| than % millions. Zach Of these pores, indeed,
| corresponds IN the akin TO an excretory tube,
/ the edge Of which 10 lined with the epdermis. |
| When the epidermis has been detached from the
skin, these internal prolong ations ofthe epider-
mis- may be observed in the same manner we |
see in the reverse Of piece Of paper pierced
with blunt needle. The pores Of the skin are |
more particularly remarkable in the hands and |