180 HISTORY OF 



But what was most surprising of all, in some, par- 

 ticularly in the small red-headed earth-worm, both 

 extremities survived the operation ; the head pro- 

 duced a tail, with the anus, the intestines, the 

 annular muscles, and the prickly beards ; the tail 

 part, on the other hand, was seen to shoot forth the 

 nobler organs, and in less than the space of three 

 months sent forth a head and heart, with all the 

 apparatus and instruments of generation. This 

 part, as may easily be supposed, was produced 

 much more slowly than the former, a new head 

 taking above three or four months for its comple- 

 tion, a new tail being shot forth in less than as 

 many weeks. Thus two animals, by dissection, 

 were made out of one, each with their separate 

 appetites, each endued with life and motion, and 

 seemingly as perfect as that single animal from 

 whence they derived their origin. 



What was performed upon the earth-worm, was 

 found to obtain also in many other of the vermi- 

 cular species. The sea-worm, the white water- 

 worm, and many of those little worms with feelers 

 found at the bottom of dirty ditches in all these 

 the nobler organs are of such little use, that if 

 taken away, the animal does not seem to feel the 

 want of them ; it lives in all its parts, and in every 

 part, and by a strange paradox in nature, the most 

 useless and contemptible life is of all others the 

 most difficult to destroy. 



