(1695) This being so , I did not have to wonder that among ten lice which I had put on my hand to suck blood there was only one which I felt , though I had at least twenty - five young lice in my stocking , two thirds of which had already sucked blood , which I had felt so little that I had thought I had not one living creature on my leg .From this I considered whether the greatest pain which lice cause to human beings may not be brought about through the stinging by the stings which the male lice have in their abdomen .When I examined the eggs , in other words : nits , of the lice , I was bound to think that the bark of the eggs was composed of round scaly parts , each of which in turn was composed of many tiny globules , of which some exceeded the others in size , which afforded a pleasant spectacle .