326 " SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



work have been of essential service in tlie formation of 

 those conclusions which force me to regard Partheno- 

 genesis as not presenting SlWJ peculiar mystery. I shall 

 endeavour to show that it is no deviation from the 

 ordinary processes of Reproduction, except in formal 

 and quite accessory details. Do not, however, suppose 

 that, in denying the relative marvellousness of a pheno- 

 menon which has excited so much astonishment, any 

 attempt is made to lessen the original marvel. "When 

 the rise of a feather in the air is explained by the same 

 law of gravitation which explains the fall of the quill, 

 no mystery is dissipated by this reduction of two seem- 

 ingly contradictory facts to one law. In like manner, 

 the eternal mystery of Reproduction remains the same 

 dark Dynamis, baffling all comprehension, although by 

 its laws we may also explain this novel phenomenon of 

 Parthenogenesis. 



Hitherto physiologists have admitted three forms of 

 Reproduction. 1. The fissiparous ; e. g. when a cell 

 spontaneously divides into two cells. 2. The gemmi- 

 parous; e.g. when a plant puts forth buds, or a polype 

 sends forth polypes from its stem. 3. The oviparous; 

 e. g. when the plant and animal produce seeds and 

 eggs. Fission, Gemmation, and Generation, are the 

 three names designating these processes. The two first 

 are universally admitted to be identical processes ; but 

 almost all writers regard Gemmation and Generation 

 as two essentially distinct processes. Owen denies that 

 there is any essential distinction. The Hydra, as he 

 remarks, produces Hydree both by Gemmation and 



