Carp louse Martin Frobene Ledermuller

Study of a piece of an aquatic creature, probably a Carp louse, Argulus foliaceus, viewed by microscope, under magnification. With a circled inset detail showing the louse at normal size, to give scale.

Plate 37 from Amusement microscopique, tant pour l'esprit que pour les yeux, contenant... estampes... d'apres nature...by Martin Frobene Ledermuller, plates volume (Adam Wolfgang Winterschmidt, Nuremburg, 1764).

Inscribed above: ‘TAB.XXXVII.’ Inscribed below: ‘M.F.Lederm. del. A.W.W. exc.’

The accompanying text is headed: ‘Table XXXVII. Un petit Insecte Aquatique’. The author commences the associated text: ‘Il y a quelques Semaines, qu’en éventrant une Carpe chés un de mes Amis, on y trouva ce petit Insecte aquatique, qui se sit d’abord remarquer & fixa les Yeux par la Rapidité de ses Mouvemens & par l’Eclat de sa Couleur…’ [A few weeks ago, when opening a carp with a friend of mine, we found this little aquatic insect, which first noticed and attracted the eyes by the speed of its movements & by the brightness of its colour]

Martin Frobene [Frobenius] Ledermuller (1719-1769) German naturalist was employed in various capacities as a notary, turning to microscope studies after an illness induced temporary deafness.