FEELING AND MOTION 99 
structure, I began to prick it with a knife, and to cut 
it open, when I saw that it moved and was sensitive to 
the touch, as it shrank together, and folded itself up at 
every prick and puncture; yet in its internal cavity, whose 
walls were milky white, there was nothing but clear water 
of a salty taste, and some white filaments, that stretched 
irregularly from wall to wall. And do not sponges, 
which many learned men class among plants, also move 
and shrink when attacked? 
In cases of paralysis, it sometimes happens that the 
sense of feeling will disappear in a limb, though the 
power of motion remain, and inversely, there will be a 
loss of motive power without any damage to the acute- 
ness of feeling. Now, who could tell, in this second in- 
stance, that the paralyzed and motionless limb had any 
feeling if the patient had neither mouth nor voice with 
which to state the fact and complain of the punctures and 
lacerations made by the surgeon to restore his health? 
Again, who would ever believe, on seeing the free move- 
ments of another limb, that there was no feeling in it, 
if the sick person gave no Sign? Hence motion, wher- 
ever occurring is not a proof of feeling, as many insist. 
Let every one think as he likes, but in view of my experi- 
ments, I am inclined to believe that the generation of 
worms in live fruits, plants, and trees is not accidental, 
but invariably of the same nature, and that all that class 
of worms is afterwards changed into winged animals 
according to the different species. And here I cannot 
refrain from describing the birth and transformation 
of one or two kinds, which may further elucidate my 
theory. 
Cherries of all kinds grow wormy on the trees, and 
each cherry has always one worm; in a single cherry I 
