266 BIOLOGICAL LECTURES. 



If the Hydra-bud need not necessarily contain "#//the parts 

 that characterize the species," what does it contain ? What is 

 this " secret preorganization " if not a subterfuge to cover de- 

 feat and retreat ? Where are we to find the promised " recon- 

 ciliation of those wonders revealed in the history of the polyps 

 with the law of evolution " ? 



But Bonnet goes on unaware of any inconsistency or conces- 

 sion that admits epigenesis. Was he blind to the consequences 

 involved in his definition of the germ ? Or was the definition 

 perfectly consistent with preformation, excluding still, as com- 

 pletely as ever, every possibility of a really new formation ? 

 For a final and decisive answer to these questions, we must 

 turn to Part X of the Paling tndsie ; for this is the source of the 

 evidence adduced to show that Bonnet modified the hypothe- 

 sis of evolution, by defining the germ in such a way that its 

 development would not be distinguishable from epigenesis. 



VARIETIES OF GERMS. 



According to Bonnet's earlier notions, all germs were sup- 

 posed to be germs of whole organisms; no germs of parts were 

 admitted. 1 Regeneration of lost parts was referred, not to 

 partial germs, but to partial development of complete germs, 

 which were supposed to be scattered 2 throughout the organ- 



1 " Je ne pense pas qu'on veuille admettre des germes particuliers pour chaque 

 organe, et multiplier ainsi les etres inutilement. " (Corps Organises, Chap. IV, 

 p. 24.) 



2 " The hypothesis of germs dispersed through all parts of nature furnishes a 

 spectacle not less interesting, though of an entirely different kind. Every organ- 

 ized body presents itself to me under the image of a little earth, where I perceive 

 in miniature all the sorts of plants and animals that appear on the surface of our 

 globe. An oak seems to me composed of plants, of insects, of shell-fishes, of rep- 

 tiles, of fishes, of birds, of quadrupeds, and even of men. I behold ascending in 

 the roots of this oak, together with the juices designed for its nourishment, innu- 

 merable legions of germs. I see them circulate in the different vessels and then 

 lodge in the thickening of their membranes, to extend them in every way. I ob- 

 serve them ranging themselves side by side or intertwining with one another, 

 forming thus tiny edifices, which recall to my mind those strange monuments that 

 American superstition once reared in honor of its gods, and which were construct- 

 ed solely of the heads of animals sacrificed for that purpose. The winds, the rains, 

 the heat, the cold, etc., beating in turn on the oak, finally triumph over its force 

 and its vigor. I see the structure crumble, and become a heap of dust. Then the 



