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Micrographia by Robert Hooke

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Observ. XXX. _Of the Seeds of _Poppy_._

The small seeds of Poppy, which are described in the 19. _Scheme_, both for
their smalness, multiplicity and prettiness, as also for their admirable
soporifick quality, deserve to be taken notice of among the other
_microscopical_ seeds of Vegetables: For first, though they grow in a Case
or Hive oftentimes bigger then one of these Pictures of the _microscopical_
appearance, yet are they for the most part so very little, that they exceed
not the bulk of a small Nitt, being not above 1/32 part of an Inch in
Diameter, whereas the Diameter of the Hive of them oftentimes exceeds two
Inches, so that it is capable of containing near two hundred thousand, and
so in all likelihood does contain a vast quantity, though perhaps not that
number. Next, for their prettiness, they may be compar'd to any
_microscopical_ seed I have yet seen; for they are of a dark brownish red
colour, curiously Honey-comb'd all over with a very pretty variety of
Net-work, or a small kind of imbosment of very orderly rais'd ridges, the
surface of them looking not unlike the inside of a Beev's stomack. But that
which makes it most considerable of all, is, the medicinal virtues of it,
which are such as are not afforded us by any Mineral preparation; and that
is for the procuring of sleep, a thing as necessary to the well-being of a
creature as his meat, and that which refreshes both the voluntary and
rational faculties, which, whil'st this affection has seis'd the body, are
for the most part unmov'd, and at rest. And, methinks, Nature does seem to
hint some very notable virtue or excellency in this Plant from the
curiosity it has bestow'd upon it. First, in its flower, it is of the
highest scarlet-Dye, which is indeed the prime and chiefest colour, and has
been in all Ages of the world most highly esteem'd: Next, it has as much
curiosity shew'd also in the husk or case of the seed, as any one Plant I
have yet met withall; and thirdly, the very seeds themselves, the
_Microscope_ discovers to be very curiously shap'd bodies; and lastly,
Nature has taken such abundant care for the propagation of it, that one
single seed grown into a Plant, is capable of bringing some hundred
thousands of seeds.

It were very worthy some able man's enquiry whether the intention of
Nature, as to the secundary end of Animal and Vegetable substances might
not be found out by some such characters and notable impressions as these,
or from divers other circumstances, as the figure, colour, place, time of
flourishing, springing and fading, duration, taste, smell, &c. For if such
there are (as an able _Physician_ upon good grounds has given me cause to
believe) we might then, insteed of studying Herbals (where so little is
deliver'd of the virtues of a Plant, and less of truth) have recourse to
the Book of Nature it self, and there find the most natural, usefull, and
most effectual and specifick Medicines, of which we have amongst
Vegetables, two very noble Instances to incourage such a hope, the one of
the _Jesuite powder_ for the cure of _intermitting Feavers_, and the other
of the juice of _Poppy_ for the curing the defect of sleeping.

* * * * *


Observ. XXXI. _Of _Purslane-seed_._

The Seeds of _Purslane_ seem of very notable shapes, appearing through the
_Microscope_ shap'd somewhat like a _nautilus_ or _Porcelane_ shell, as may
be seen in the XX. _Scheme_, it being a small body, coyl'd round in the
manner of a Spiral, at the greater end whereof, which represents the mouth
or orifice of the Shell, there is left a little white transparent
substance, like a skin, represented by BBBB, which seems to have been the
place whereunto the stem was join'd. The whole surface of this _Coclea_ or
Shell, is cover'd over with abundance of little _prominencies_ or buttons
very orderly rang'd into Spiral rows, the shape of each of which seem'd
much to resemble a Wart upon a mans hand. The order, variety, and curiosity
in the shape of this little seed, makes it a very pleasant object for the
_Microscope_, one of them being cut asunder with a very sharp Penknife,
discover'd this carved Casket to be of a brownish red, and somewhat
transparent substance, and manifested the inside to be fill'd with a
whitish green substance or pulp, the Bed wherein the seminal principle lies
_invelop'd_.

There are multitudes of other seeds which in shape represent or imitate the
forms of divers other sorts of Shells: as the seed of _Scurvy-grass_ very
much resembles the make of a _Concha Venerea_, a kind of Purcelane Shell;
others represent several sorts of larger fruits, sweat Marjerome and
Pot-marjerome represent Olives. Carret seeds are like a cleft of a Coco-Nut
Husk, others are like Artificial things, as Succory seeds are like a Quiver
full of Arrows, the seeds of _Amaranthus_ are of an exceeding lovely shape,
somewhat like an Eye: The skin of the black and shrivled seeds of Onyons
and Leeks, are all over knobbed like a Seals skin. Sorrel has a pretty
black shining three-square seed, which is picked at both ends with three
ridges, that are bent the whole length of it. It were almost endless to
reckon up the several shapes, they are so many and so various; Leaving them
therefore to the curious observer, I shall proceed to the Observations on
the parts of Animals.

* * * * *


Observ. XXXII. _Of the Figure of several sorts of _Hair_, and of the
texture of the _skin_._

Viewing some of the Hairs of my Head with a very good _Microscope_, I took
notice of these particulars:

1. That they were, for the most part, _Cylindrical_, some of them were
somewhat _Prismatical_, but generally they were very neer round, such as
are represented in the second Figure of the 5. _Scheme_, by the _Cylinders_
EEE. nor could I find any that had sharp angules.

2. That that part which was next the top, was bigger then that which was
neerer the root.

3. That they were all along from end to end transparent, though not very
cleer, the end next the root appearing like a black transparent piece of
Horn, the end next the top more brown, somewhat like transparent Horn.

4. That the root of the Hairs were pretty smooth, tapering inwards, almost
like a Parsneb; nor could I find that it had any filaments, or any other
vessels, such as the _fibres_ of Plants.

5. That the top when split (which is common in long Hair) appear'd like the
end of a stick, beaten till it be all flitter'd, there being not onely two
splinters, but sometimes half a score and more.

6. That they were all, as farr as I was able to find, solid _Cylindrical_
bodies, not pervious, like a Cane or Bulrush; nor could I find that they
had any Pith, or distinction of Rind, or the like, such as I had observ'd
in Horse-hairs, the Bristles of a Cat, the _Indian_ Deer's Hair, &c.

_Observations on several other sorts of _Hair_._

For the Brisles of a Hogg, I found them to be first a hard transparent
horny substance, without the least appearance of pores or holes in it; and
this I try'd with the greatest care I was able, cutting many of them with a
very sharp Razor, so that they appear'd, even in the Glass, to have a
pretty smooth surface, but somewhat waved by the sawing to and fro of the
Razor, as is visible in the end of the _Prismatical_ body A of the same
Figure; and then making trials with causing the light to be cast on them
all the various ways I could think of, that was likely to make the pores
appear, if there had been any, I was not able to discover any.

Next, the Figure of the Brisles was very various, neither perfectly round,
nor sharp edg'd, but _Prismatical_, with divers sides, and round angles, as
appears in the Figure A. The bending of them in any part where they before
appear'd cleer, would all flaw them, and make them look white.

The Mustacheos of a Cat (part of one of which is represented by the short
_Cylinder_ B of the same Figure) seem'd to have, all of them that I
observ'd, a large pith in the middle, like the pith of an Elder, whose
texture was so close, that I was not able to discover the least sign of
pores; and those parts which seem to be pores, as they appear'd in one
position to the light, in another I could find a manifest reflection to be
cast from them.

This I instance in, to hint that it is not safe to conclude any thing to be
positively this or that, though it appear never so plain and likely when
look'd on with a _Microscope_ in one posture, before the same be examin'd
by placing it in several other positions.

And this I take to be the reason why many have believed and asserted the
Hairs of a man's head to be hollow, and like so many small pipes perforated
from end to end.

Now, though I grant that by an _Analogie_ one may suppose them so, and from
the _Polonian_ disease one may believe them such, yet I think we have not
the least encouragement to either from the _Microscope_, much less
positively to assert them such. And perhaps the very essence of the _Plica
Polonica_ may be the hairs growing hollow, and of an unnatural
constitution.

And as for the _Analogie_, though I am apt enough to think that the hairs
of several Animals may be perforated somewhat like a Cane, or at least have
a kind of pith in them, first, because they seem as 'twere a kind of
Vegetable growing on an Animal, which growing, they say, remains a long
while after the Animal is dead, and therefore should like other Vegetables
have a pith; and secondly, because Horns and Feathers, and Porcupine's
Quils, and Cats Bristles, and the long hairs of Horses, which come very
neer the nature of a mans hair, seem all of them to have a kind of pith,
and some of them to be porous, yet I think it not (in these cases, where we
have such helps for the sense as the _Microscope_ affords) safe concluding
or building on more then we sensibly know, since we may, with examining,
find that Nature does in the make of the same kind of substance, often vary
her method in framing of it: Instances enough to confirm this we may find
in the Horns of several creatures: as what a vast difference is there
between the Horns of an Oxe, and those of some sorts of Staggs as to their
shape? and even in the hairs of several creatures, we find a vast
difference, as the hair of a man's head seems, as I said before, long,
_Cylindrical_ and sometime a little _Prismatical_, solid or impervious, and
very small; the hair of an _Indian_ Deer (a part of the middle of which is
described in the third Figure of the fifth _Scheme_, marked with F) is
bigger in compass through all the middle of it, then the Bristle of an
Hogg, but the end of it is smaller then the hair of any kind of Animal (as
may be seen by the Figure G) the whole belly of it, which is about two or
three Inches long, looks to the eye like a thread of course Canvass, that
has been newly unwreath'd, it being all wav'd or bended to and fro, much
after that manner, but through the _Microscope_, it appears all perforated
from side to side, and Spongie, like a small kind of spongy Coral, which is
often found upon the _English_ shores; but though I cut it transversly, I
could not perceive that it had any pores that ran the long-way of the hair:
the long hairs of Horses CC and D, seem _Cylindrical_ and somewhat pithy;
the Bristles of a Cat B, are conical and pithy: the Quils of Porcupines and
Hedghoggs, being cut transversly, have a whitish pith, in the manner of a
Starr, or Spur-rowel: Piggs-hair (A) is somewhat _triagonal_, and seems to
have neither pith nor pore: And other kinds of hair have quite a differing
structure and form. And therefore I think it no way agreeable to a true
natural Historian, to pretend to be so sharp-sighted, as to see what a
pre-conceiv'd _Hypothesis_ tells them should be there, where another man,
though perhaps as seeing, but not forestall'd, can discover no such matter.

But to proceed; I observ'd several kind of hairs that had been Dyed, and
found them to be a kind of horny _Cylinder_, being of much about the
transparency of a pretty cleer piece of Oxe horn; these appear'd quite
throughout ting'd with the colours they exhibited. And 'tis likely, that
those hairs being boyl'd or steep'd in those very hot ting'd liquors in the
Dye-fat, And the substance of the hair being much like that of an Oxes
Horn, the penetrant liquor does so far mollifie and soften the substance,
that it sinks into the very center of it, and so the ting'd parts come to
be mix'd and united with the very body of the hair, and do not (as some
have thought) only stick on upon the outward surface. And this, the boiling
of Horn will make more probable; for we shall find by that action, that the
water will insinuate it self to a pretty depth within the surface of it,
especially if this penetrancy of the water be much helped by the Salts that
are usually mix'd with the Dying liquors. Now, whereas Silk may be dyed or
ting'd into all kind of colours without boiling or dipping into hot
liquors, I ghess the reason to be two-fold: First, because the filaments,
or small cylinders of Silk, are abundantly smaller and finer, and so have a
much less depth to be penetrated then most kind of hairs; and next, because
the substance or matter of Silk, is much more like a Glew then the
substance of Hair is. And that I have reason to suppose: First, because
when it is spun or drawn out of the Worm, it is a perfect glutinous
substance, and very easily sticks and cleaves to any adjacent body, as I
have several times observed, both in Silk-worms and Spiders. Next, because
that I find that water does easily dissolve and mollifie the substance
again, which is evident from their manner of ordering those bottoms or pods
of the Silk-worm before they are able to unwind them. It is no great wonder
therefore, if those Dyes or ting'd liquors do very quickly mollifie and
tinge the surfaces of so small and so glutinous a body. And we need not
wonder that the colours appear so lovely in the one, and so dull in the
other, if we view but the ting'd cylinders of both kinds with a good
_Microscope_; for whereas the substance of Hair, at best, is but a dirty
duskish white somewhat transparent, the filaments of Silk have a most
lovely transparency and cleerness, the difference between those two being
not much less then that between a piece of Horn, and a piece of Crystal;
the one yielding a bright and vivid reflection from the concave side of the
cylinder, that is, from the concave surface of the Air that incompasses the
back-part of the cylinder; the other yielding a dull and perturb'd
reflection from the several _Heterogeneous_ parts that compose it. And this
difference will be manifest enough to the eye, if you get a couple of small
Cylinders, the smaller of Crystal Glass, the other of Horn, and then
varnishing them over very thinly with some transparent colour, which will
represent to the naked eye much the same kind of object which is
represented to it from the filaments of Silk and Hair by the help of the
_Microscope_. Now, since the threads of Silk and Serge are made up of a
great number of these filaments, we may henceforth cease to wonder at the
difference. From much the same reason proceeds the vivid and lovely colours
of Feathers, wherein they very farr exceed the natural as well as
Artificial colours of hair, of which I shall say more in its proper place.

The Teguments indeed of creatures are all of them adapted to the peculiar
use and convenience of that Animal which they inwrap; and very much also
for the ornament and beauty of it, as will be most evident to any one that
shall attentively consider the various kinds of cloathings wherewith most
creatures are by Nature invested and cover'd. Thus I have observed, that
the hair or furr of those Northern white Bears that inhabite the colder
Regions, is exceeding thick and warm: the like have I observ'd of the hair
of a _Greenland_ Deer, which being brought alive to _London_, I had the
opportunity of viewing; its hair was so exceeding thick, long and soft,
that I could hardly with my hand, grasp or take hold of his skin, and it
seem'd so exceeding warm, as I had never met with any before. And as for
the ornamentative use of them, it is most evident in a multitude of
creatures, not onely for colour, as the Leopards, Cats, Rhein Deer, _&c_.
but for the shape, as in Horses manes, Cats beards, and several other of
the greater sort of terrestrial Animals, but is much more conspicuous, in
the Vestments of Fishes, Birds, Insects, of which I shall by and by give
some Instances.

As for the skin, the _Microscope_ discovers as great a difference between
the texture of those several kinds of Animals, as it does between their
hairs; but all that I have yet taken notice of, when tann'd or dress'd, are
of a Spongie nature, and seem to be constituted of an infinite company of
small long _fibres_ or hairs, which look not unlike a heap of Tow or Okum;
every of which _fibres_ seem to have been some part of a Muscle, and
probably, whil'st the Animal was alive, might have its distinct function,
and serve for the contraction and relaxation of the skin, and for the
stretching and shrinking of it this or that way.

And indeed, without such a kind of texture as this, which is very like that
of _Spunk_ it would seem very strange, how any body so strong as the skin
of an Animal usually is, and so close as it seems, whil'st the Animal is
living, should be able to suffer so great an extension any ways, without at
all hurting or dilacerating any part of it. But, since we are inform'd by
the _Microscope_, that it consists of a great many small filaments, which
are implicated, or intangled one within another, almost no otherwise then
the hairs in a lock of Wool, or the flakes in a heap of Tow, though not
altogether so loose, but the filaments are here and there twisted, as
'twere, or interwoven, and here and there they join and unite with one
another, so as indeed the whole skin seems to be but one piece, we need not
much wonder: And though these _fibres_ appear not through a _Microscope_
exactly jointed and contex'd, as in Sponge; yet, as I formerly hinted, I am
apt to think, that could we find some way of discovering the texture of it,
whil'st it invests the living Animal, or had some very easie way of
separating the pulp or intercurrent juices, such as in all probability fill
those _Interstitia_, without dilacerating, brusing, or otherwise spoiling
the texture of it (as it seems to be very much by the ways of tanning and
dressing now us'd) we might discover a much more curious texture then I
have hitherto been able to find; perhaps somewhat like that of Sponges.

That of _Chamoise_ Leather is indeed very much like that of _Spunk_, save
onely that the _filaments_ seem nothing neer so even and round, nor
altogether so small, nor has it so curious joints as _Spunk_ has, some of
which I have lately discover'd like those of a Sponge, and perhaps all
these three bodies may be of the same kind of substance, though two of them
indeed are commonly accounted Vegetable (which, whether they be so or no, I
shall not now dispute) But this seems common to all three, that they
undergo a tanning or dressing, whereby the interspers'd juices are wasted
and wash'd away before the texture of them can be discover'd.

What their way is of dressing, or curing Sponges, I confess, I cannot
learn; but the way of dressing _Spunk_, is, by boiling it a good while in a
strong _Lixivium_, and then beating it very well; and the manner of
dressing Leather is sufficiently known.

It were indeed extremely desirable, if such a way could be found whereby
the _Parenchyma_ or flesh of the Muscles, and several other parts of the
body, might be wash'd, or wafted clean away, without vitiating the form of
the _fibrous_ parts or vessells of it, for hereby the texture of thole
parts, by the help of a good _Microscope_, might be most accurately found.

But to digress no further, we may, from this discovery of the _Microscope_,
plainly enough understand how the skin, though it looks so close as it
does, comes to give a passage to so vast a quantity of _excrementitious_
substances, as the diligent _Sanctorius_ has excellently observed it to do,
in his _medicina statica_; for it seems very probable, from the texture
after dressing, that there are an infinit of pores that every way pierce
it, and that those pores are onely fill'd with some kind of juice, or some
very pulpy soft substance, and thereby the steams may almost as easily find
a passage through such a fluid _vehicle_ as the vaporous bubbles which are
generated at the bottom of a Kettle of hot water do find a passage through
that fluid _medium_ into the ambient Air.

Nor is the skin of animals only thus pervious, but even those of vegetables
also seem to be the same; for otherwise I cannot conceive why, if two
sprigs of Rosemary (for Instance) be taken as exactly alike in all
particulars as can be, and the one be set with the bottom in a Glass of
water, and the other be set just without the Glass, but in the Air onely,
though you stop the lower end of that in the Air very carefully with Wax,
yet shall it presently almost wither, whereas the other that seems to have
a supply from the subjacent water by its small pipes, or _microscopical_
pores, preserves its greenness for many days, and sometimes weeks.

Now, this to me, seems not likely to proceed from any other cause then the
_avolation_ of the juice through the skin; for by the Wax, all those other
pores of the stem are very firmly and closely stop'd up. And from the more
or less porousness of the skins or rinds of Vegetables may, perhaps, be
somewhat of the reason given, why they keep longer green, or sooner wither;
for we may observe by the bladdering and craking of the leaves of Bays,
Holly, Laurel, &c. that their skins are very close, and do not suffer so
free a passage through them of the included juices.

But of this, and of the Experiment of the Rosemary, I shall elsewhere more
fully consider, seeming to me an extreme luciferous Experiment, such as
seems indeed very plainly to prove the _Schematism_ or structure of
Vegetables altogether _mechanical_, and as necessary, that (water and
warmth being apply'd to the bottom of the sprig of a Plant) some of it
should be carried upwards into the stem, and thence distributed into the
leaves, as that the water of the _Thames_ covering the bottom of the Mills
at the Bridge foot of _London_, and by the ebbing and flowing of it,
passing strongly by them, should have some part of it convey'd to the
Cesterns above, and thence into several houses and Cesterns up and down the
City.

* * * * *


Observ. XXXIII. _Of the _Scales_ of a _Soal_, and other Fishes._

Having hinted somewhat of the skin and covering of terrestrial Animals, I
shall next add an Observation I made on the skin and Scales of a _Soal_, a
small Fish, commonly enough known; and here in Fishes, as well as other
Animals, Nature follows its usual method, framing all parts so, as that
they are both usefull and ornamental in all its composures, mingling
_utile_ and _dulce_ together; and both these designs it seems to follow,
though our unassisted senses are not able to peceive them: This is not
onely manifest in the covering of this Fish, but in multitudes of others,
which it would be too long to enumerate, witness particularly that small
Sand Shell, which I mention'd in the XI. Observation, and infinite other
small Shells and Scales, divers of which I have view'd. This skin I view'd,
was flead from a pretty large _Soal_, and then expanded and dry'd, the
inside of it, when dry, to the naked eye, look'd very like a piece of
Canvass, but the _Microscope_ discover'd that texture to be nothing else,
but the inner ends of those curious Scolop'd Scales I, I, I, in the second
_Figure_ of the XXI. _Scheme_, namely, the part of GGGG (of the larger
representation of a single Scale, in the first _Figure_ of the same
_Scheme_) which on the back side, through an ordinary single Magnifying
Glass, look'd not unlike the Tyles on an house.

The outside of it, to the naked eye, exhibited nothing more of ornament,
save the usual order of ranging the Scales into a _triagonal_ form, onely
the edges seem'd a little to shine, the finger being rubb'd from the
tail-wards towards the head, the Scales seem'd to stay and raze it; But
through an ordinary Magnifying glass, it exhibited a most curiously carved
and adorned surface, such as is visible in the second _Figure_, each of
those (formerly almost imperceptible) Scales appearing much of the shape I,
I, I, that is, they were round, and protuberant, and somewhat shap'd like a
Scolop, the whole Scale being creas'd with curiously wav'd and indented
ridges, with proportionable furrows between; each of which was terminated
with a very sharp transparent bony substance, which, like so many small
Turnpikes, seem'd to arm the edges.

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