l6S ANIMALCULA OF INFtJSIONS. ll 



Hrlftefl; fenfe. When we find infufion animalcula 

 propagating by divifion to be fuch, fince ifola- 

 tion does not prejudice their multiplication, it' 

 may readily be feen how far abfolute hermaphro- 

 difm extends in the animated world, though for- 

 merly limited to few fpecies. 



This difcovery tends greatly to elucidate a dif- 

 ficult queftion concerning the original inhabitants^ 

 of infufions. Some time after an infufion is made, . 

 it will be fwarming with animalcula, thoagh the. 

 utmofl precaution is ufed againft any one being- 

 concealed ; and for greater fecurity it is boiled 

 feveral hours, I afk. How do the original foun- 

 ders of the future moil: numerous inhabitants • 

 come there ? I can conceive only two ways;, 

 they mufl either have pre-exifted in the infufion 

 mixed with it, or they mufl have come there by 

 means of germs. The firfl opinion cannot be 

 adopted 5 for had they pre-exifled in the infufion^^. 

 we are obliged to admit that they would never 

 die when out of a fluid, or that they revive when 

 reflored to one, as the wheel animal and fome 

 other animals do. But experiments without 

 number have demionftrated to me, that the in- 

 habitants of infufions die irrecoverably on evapora- 

 tion of the liquids ( I ). Thus there is a neceHity 



for 



(i) Muller, befides quoting Wrlfberg's experiments^ 

 &r,d mine, fays he has obrerved the fame. Decantatus in- 



fuioriorunii 



