354 ANIMAL REPRODUCTIONS, 
? A 
«I flatter myfelf, that my treatife on the repro* 
‘ ductions of {nails will be fo rich in experiments, . 
and that they will be fo amply and accurately’ 
_ € defcribed, as to convince the moft obftinate m=. 
* fidels.’ 
The reader may now decide whether: I had any 
foundation for reproaching the excels of M. 
Adanfon’s pyrrhonifm concerning the. difcovery 
on {nails. It is truly moft fingular, that he perfifts 
in his doubts, after the perufal of a letter fo ftri@- 
ly demonftrative as that | have juft tranfcribed. 
How many phyfical fa&s are admitted’ by philo- 
fophers, and by M. Adanfon himfelf, which are 
no better eftablifhed than thofe of which we treat. . 
Shall I fay more? M.. Adanfon {till retained his. 
doubts 9 October 1779, as 1 learned from him-- 
felf during a vifit he then paid me on a journey” 
for. the recovery of his health.. At that time, I: 
had no {nails in full reprodu€tion, but I had the 
fatisfaction of convincing him, by the teftimony 
of his own eyes; of the reality of the prodigies- 
prefented by the reproduction of the members of : 
the water newt. I fhowed him newts in various: 
flages of reproduction ; 1 thowed him arms; . 
hands, thighs, legs, feet, perfectly well formed. 
He yielded to fo many accumulated proofs; and. 
was convinced that what he had erroneoufly fup-- 
pofed fimple ftumps were actually real members 
which would be completely regenerated. 
i 
