animals

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Other animalcules besides these are generated, as we have
already remarked, some in wool or in articles made of wool, as the ses
or clothes-moth. And these animalcules come in greater numbers if
the woollen substances are dusty; and they come in especially large
numbers if a spider be shut up in the cloth or wool, for the
creature drinks up any moisture that may be there, and dries up the
woollen substance. This grub is found also in men's clothes.

A creature is also found in wax long laid by, just as in wood,
and it is the smallest of animalcules and is white in colour, and is
designated the acari or mite. In books also other animalcules are
found, some resembling the grubs found in garments, and some
resembling tailless scorpions, but very small. As a general rule we
may state that such animalcules are found in practically anything,
both in dry things that are becoming moist and in moist things that
are drying, provided they contain the conditions of life.