L ANIMALCULA OF INFUSIONS. 123, 



" beak or hook, divide tranverfely in two. A 

 ^« contraction appears at the middle, which gra=- 

 " dually increafes until the two parts are attach- 

 " ed only by a thread : the animal, or rather two 

 " animals, make violent efforts to complete the 

 " reparation ; and, after it is effected, feem flun- 

 " ned for fome feconds. They afterwards begin 

 " to traverfe the liquid as the entire animal did. 



'' You willeafily conceive, that, in the firft: 

 " movements of their new hfe, they are fmaller 

 " than the animal they compofed, each, in reality, 

 " is only one half, but it foon acquires the fize 

 '* of the whole, and, in its turn, divides into 

 ' " animalcula that rapidly become equal to it, 

 " Mr Needham has done me the honour ta 

 *' commend this obfervation in his notes on the 

 " tranflation of Signor Spallanzani's excellent 

 " performance ; and employs it in fupport of his 

 " theory, which is, that the fmalleft animalcula of 

 " infufions, thofe that feem points before the mod 

 " powerful microfcopes, are produced by continu- 

 " al divlfions and fubdivifions of the large fpecies* 

 " Undoubtedly, in four years which have elapfed 

 " fmce I communicated this obfervation, he mull 

 '*■ have forgot that I conftantly obferved the 

 " parts of the divided animalcula in a fhort time 

 " became as large as the whole to which they 

 '* had belonged. Therefore, in their propaga- 

 " tion, we find the fame conftancy and unifor- 

 '' mity that is feen in the reft of nature. Per- 



*' haps 



