1861.] Mr. Chorley on English Poetry in reference to Music. 317 



scribed by him. No other observer, however, has been able to discover 

 a trace of this process ; and it may be regarded as tolerably certain 

 that its describer was mistaken. 



2. According to BischofF, Kolliker, and the majority of embryolo- 

 gists, the germinal vesicle and its contents disappear, and have no 

 direct connection with the cells of the blastoderm. 



3. According to observations of the late Johannes Muller, of 

 Gegenbaur and others, the germinal vesicle may give rise directly, 

 by division, to the cells of the blastoderm. 



The study of the development of the embryo of Pyrosoma yields 

 results in close conformity with the last view. The ovum of this ani- 

 mal is, in fact, composed, at first, like all others, of germinal vesicle, 

 germinal spot, and vitellus ; but, in the course of development, the vitel- 

 lus disappears, probably becoming liquefied, and the genninal vesicle 

 is laid bare, so that it becomes comparatively easy to watch the sub- 

 sequent changes in its interior. These consist in the deposit of a 

 somewhat opaque matter and the division of the germinal spot, so as to 

 give rise to the endoplasts, or " nuclei *' of the blastoderm, which is thus 

 primarily formed within the interior of the germinal vesicle. 



The speaker concluded by observing, that it is not improbable that 

 the process thus traced, is similar to that by which the blastoderm of 

 the higher Annulosa arises, and that it will probably furnish the key to 

 the signification of the multiple germinal spots observed in so many of 

 the lower Vertebrata ; while, by proving the direct descent of some of 

 the histological elements of the progeny from those of the parent, it 

 combines the theories of the pre-existence of germs with that of 

 epigenesis. 



[T. H. H.] 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, February 15, 1861. 



Sir Charles Hamilton, C.B. in the Chair. 



Henry F. Chorley, Esq. 

 On English Poetry in reference to Mttsic, 



The speaker maintained, as a general principle, that every poet must 

 be born a musician, though many instances to the contrary had been 

 cited ; — Sir Walter Scott, among others, who was said to care for 

 nothing save ballads for the sake of their words. This might arise 



