Home on Comparative Anatomy. 323 



oval shape. I cried out, ' We have got it ;' Mr. Clift less 

 sanguine, and not seeing the change of colour, my eye being 

 directly over the basin, believed it was only a little coagulated 

 lymph. Perfectly satisfied that I had got the ovum, I went imme- 

 diately to Mr. Bauer, that he might submit it to the test of the mi- 

 croscope, and by this means, have the fact completely confirmed." 



That all animals originate from an ovum, formed in the ovarium 

 of the female, and afterwards impregnated, has been an opi- 

 nion universally believed ever since the time of Harvey, but 

 it is to our author, that we are indebted for the demonstrative 

 proof of such an opinion ; to him also is the merit due of having 

 ascertained the real use of the corpus luteum, which before was not 

 at all understood. He also has set to rest all the vague theories 

 respecting generation, having by his experiments and observations, 

 brought forward facts explanatory of all the occurrences, in the 

 different stages of that most curious and wonderful operation. 



The mode of breeding of the marsupial animals, in which the 

 ovum never becomes attached to the uterus, and that of the orni- 

 thorhyncus which lays its eggs in the same manner as the bird, 

 while they connect classes of animals together, in other respects 

 so different from one another, will be found to be highly interest- 

 ing to the philosopher, and indeed to all those who are admirers 

 of the works of nature. That an animal should exist with so 

 many remarkable peculiarities is so extraordinary, that some 

 of the best anatomists of the present day, not having a concep- 

 tion that there could be such a construction of parts, and the 

 specimens under their examination not being well preserved, 

 entirely overlooked the fact. As we are not venturing to attempt 

 more in this short article than to point out to our readers the most 

 prominent facts which the author has laid before the public, we shall 

 pass over what is said upon the breeding of cold-blooded animals, 

 in which there are two sexes, and go at once to the account of 

 those that impregnate themselves. And in this place we are 

 ready to admit that there is a reason beyond those already given, 

 (hat prevents us from venturing too far into these terrce incognita; 

 of science, lest we should commit ourselves, either on the one side 

 in praising, or on the other in condemning opinions, because we 

 ourselves do not understand them ; we therefore, repeat here, that 

 it will require the confirmation of future labourers in the wide field 

 of comparative anatomy, to confirm or refute the statements given 

 by the author. 



That he was the first who had the opportunity of examining the 

 internal structure of the Teredines, and shewing, that an animal 

 of the same description was met with in India, of so gigantic a size 

 as to exceed in an equal degree the Teredo Navalis, met with in 

 our ships, as the Clamp of New South Wales does the common 

 oyster, is fully established by his account many years ago in the 



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