o fine,
that if any of it be rubb'd, or fall on the back of ones hand, or other
tender parts of the skin, it will cause a kind of itching, but not strong,
nor long induring, but passing quickly away, without either danger or harm;
the Beans were smaller then ordinary, and of a black shining colour._

Having one of these Cods given me by a Sea-Captain, who had frequented
those parts, I found it to be a small Cod, about three Inches long, much
like a short Cod of _French Beans_, which had six Beans in it, the whole
surface of it was cover'd over with a very thick and shining brown Down or
Hair, which was very fine, and for its bigness stiff; taking some of this
Down, and rubbing it on the back of my hand, I found very little or no
trouble, only I was sensible that several of these little downy parts with
rubbing did penetrate, and were sunk, or stuck pretty deep into my skin.
After I had thus rubb'd it for a pretty while, I felt very little or no
pain, in so much that I doubted, whether it were the true Couhage; but
whil'st I was considering; I found the Down begin to make my hand itch, and
in some places to smart again, much like the stinging of a Flea or Gnat,
and this continued a pretty while, so that by degrees I found my skin to be
swell'd with little red pustules, and to look as if it had been itchie. But
suffering it without rubbing or scratching, the itching tickling pain
quickly grew languid, and within an hour I felt nothing at all, and the
little _protuberancies_ were vanish'd.

The cause of which odd _Phaenomenon_, I suppose to be much the same with
that of the stinging of a Nettle, for by the _Microscope_, I discover'd
this Down to consist of a multitude of small and slender conical bodies,
much resembling Needles or Bodkins, such as are represented by AB. CD. EF.
of the first Figure of the XVI. _Scheme_; that their ends AAA, were very
sharp, and the substance of them stiff and hard, much like the substance of
several kinds of Thorns and crooks growing on Trees. And though they
appear'd very cleer and transparent, yet I could not perceive whether they
were hollow or not, but to me they appear'd like solid transparent bodies,
without any cavity in them; whether, though they might not be a kind of
Cane, fill'd with some transparent liquor which was hardned (because the
Cod which I had was very dry) I was not able to examine.

Now, being such stiff, sharp bodies, it is easie to conceive, how with
rubbing they m