“These needles are of two sorts with respect to their structure, as well as materials; the one, either of gold or silver indifferently, and about four inches long, very slender, and ending in a sharp point, and have at the other end a small twisted handle, which serves to turn them round with the extremity of the middle finger and thumb, in order to sink them into the flesh with greater ease and safety; the other is chiefly of silver, and much like the first in length and shape, but exceedingly small towards the point, with a short thick handle, channelled for the same end of turning them about, and to prevent their going in too deep; and for the same reason, some of them are cased in a kind of copper tube, of the bigness of a goose quill, which serves as a sort of guage, and lets the point in, just so far as the operator hath determined it. The best sort of needles are carefully kept in a case made of bull’s horn, lined with some soft downy stuff. This case is shaped somewhat like a hammer, having on the striking side a piece of lead, to give it a sufficient weight, and on the outside a compressed round piece of leather to prevent a recoil, and with this they strike the needle through the thickness of the skin; after which they keep turning the handle about with the hand, till it is sunk to the depth they design it, that is, till it is thought to have reached the seat of the morbific virus, which in grown persons is seldom less than half, or more than a whole inch: this done, he draws it out, and compresses the part, in order to force the morbific vapour or spirit out. “The directions and nice rules for the performing of this curious operation are many, and require great skill and attention in the operator; and when duly performed, may be of excellent use, not only against the excruciating distemper, called Senki, but against many other topical ones, which are most commonly cured by the Indian Moxa, and other caustics. On the other hand, these last are often tried against the distemper above mentioned, by applying the caustic to the belly, on each side of the navel, and about two inches from it, but mostly without any success, it being very unlikely that such an application should reach the seat of the distemper; whereas, the benefit which has accrued from the _acupuncture_, in that one disease, hath encouraged others to apply it indifferently to other parts of the body, where the moxa is used, and by a due care and precaution not to prick any nerves, tendons, or other considerable blood vessels, have cured their patients by it, without putting them to the excruciating torture which attends that of the Moxa, or other caustics.”