CRUSTACEA. 211 



sprouting of. the new claw bears a strong analogy to the 

 budding of a plant; both having their origin from an imper- 

 ceptible atom, or germ, which is either formed on the oc- 

 casion, or had pre-existed in the organization. We are, 

 however, totally destitute of the means of deciding which 

 of these alternatives is nearest to the truth. It is but too 

 probable that the agents which can effect such wonderful 

 operations will ever baffle our most scrutinizing inquiries, 

 and that they are of too refined an order to come within 

 the reach of the most subtle conjectures that human imagi- 

 nation can devise. 



