148 ZOOPHYTES. 



ful anatomist above named, is full of interest ; nor, however desirous, 

 could I pretend to offer any additional illustrations, of that which I do 

 not consider a department which I am entitled to embrace. 



Nevertheless, there are some other branches curious and useful to be 

 known, in the nature of the living subject, essential also in illustrating its 

 history, for our whole acquaintance with animal physiology is not confined 

 to that which can be chiefly discovered only when life has fled. 



The frequency of disappointment obstructing the pursuits of man- 

 kind, whatever they may be, ought to teach them more than ordinary 

 satisfaction, when their purpose proves successful. 



I had long and earnestly endeavoured to discover the precise nature 

 of the young of the Ascidia, and the form wherein it appeared at its 

 earliest stages. I could find no definite and satisfactory account of either 

 recorded in the annals of science, which, to say the truth, I ascribed to my 

 very limited acquaintance with the published works of naturalists. There- 

 fore, I kept numberless specimens of various kinds, in hopes of verifying 

 such desiderata by actual observation. But herein I was uniformly frus- 

 trated. I might have reflected, indeed, on the peculiarities just specified 

 — so uncommon among the animated tribes, — and I might have there 

 found so many impediments to the fulfilment of my expectations, — for how 

 could animal propensities be demonstrated where there was hardly the 

 semblance of life ? 



Yet here, as in some other subjects, obscurely denoting it, animation 

 did certainly exist, and if the vital functions of other creatures might be 

 discharged in confinement, it certainly was not impossible that a station- 

 ary position, under suitable treatment, should be rather favourable for 

 their preservation and exhibition than otherwise. 



An animal, however, which is rooted to the same spot, void of active 

 external organs, whose food is unknown, which scarcely betrays symptoms 

 of life, it must be admitted, seems the least likely to gratify the curiosity 

 of naturalists in any respect. It appears, indeed, as if Nature, willing to 

 conceal her hidden mysteries, exacted more than ordinary care to discover 

 them. 



Nothing can prove more decisively than the subject of these reflec- 



