THK WtKM. 'i!)9 



cious principle with tlie same obstinai-y ; some, wlieii cut in two, 

 were entirely destroyed ; others survived only in the nobler 

 part ; and while the head was living, the tail entirely perished, 

 and a new one was seen to bourgeon from the extremity. But 

 what was most surjirising of all, in some, particularly in the 

 small red-headed earth-worm, both extremities survived the 

 operation ; the head produced a tail, with the anus, the intes- 

 tines, the annular muscle, and the prickly beards ; the tail part, 

 on the other hand, was seen to shoot forth the nobler organs, 

 and ill less than the space of three months sent forth a head, a 

 heart, with all the apparatus and instruments of generation. 

 This part, as m;iy easily be supposed, was ])roduced much more 

 slowly than the former, a new head taking above three or four 

 months for its completion ; 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 ob- 

 tain also in many of the vermicular 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 tiiese the 

 nobler organs are of such little use, that if taken away, the ani- 

 mal does not seem to feel the want of them ; it lives in all its 

 parts, and in every part ; and by a strange jiaradox in nature, 

 the most useless and contemptible life is of all others the most 

 difficult to destroy.* 



» Allied to these iii their vermicular shap", are several other kind< nf 

 u'orius comtnonly known by the name of Thread-worms. — The Cmniiioti 

 Hair-worm is found in fresli waters, or in a, wet rlayey soil, through which 

 it perforates. In size and appearance it exactly resembles tlie hair of a 

 horse's tail ; and when touched, twists itself into a variety of knot-like con- 

 tortions, for which reason it has been called the Gordius. The Guiner- 

 jcofvn is shaped something like this, except that the mouth is dilated, and 

 has a roundish concave lip. It enters the naked arms and legs of the iulia- 

 lutants of the East and West Indies, sinking deep into the muscles, and 

 frequently occasioning inflammation and fever. The Fitry is a still more 

 dangerous worm, and has oti each side a sinijle row of closely pressed re. 

 i:ectHd prickles. It is found in Finland and the northern parts of Sweden, 

 in marshy places, where it crawls up the stems of sedge-grass and low 

 shrubs ; and beiug wafted i>y the wind, darts into the naked parts of such 

 as may li.ijipcu to be near it. The celebrated nat\iralist, Sir Charles Liniie, 



2 .M 3 



