THE PROCESS OF REPRODUCTION. 455 



perly said to come from eggs: "Omne vivum ex 

 ovo." Thus not only do oviparous animals pro- 

 duce by means of eggs, but in those which are 

 viviparous, the process of generation begins with 

 the developement of a small vesicle, which conies 

 from the ovary, and which exists before the embryo: 

 and thus viviparous or suckling-beasts, notwith- 

 standing their name, are born from eggs, as well 

 as birds, fishes, and reptiles 6 . This principle also 

 excludes that supposed production of organized 

 beings without parents (of worms in corrupted mat- 

 ter, for instance,) which was formerly called spon- 

 taneous generation ; and the best physiologists of 

 modern times agree in denying the reality of such 

 a mode of generation 7 . 



Sect. 2. The Examination of the Process of 

 Reproduction in Vegetables. 



THE extension of the analogies of animal genera- 

 tion to the vegetable world was far from obvious. 

 This extension was however made ; with reference 

 to the embryo plant, principally by the microscopic 

 observers, Nehemiah Grew, Marcello Malpighi, and 

 Antony Leeuwenhoek ; with respect to the exist- 

 ence of the sexes, by Linnaeus and his predecessors. 

 The microscopic labours of Grew and Malpighi 

 were patronized by the Royal Society of London in 

 its earliest youth. Grew's book, The Anatomy of 

 6 Bourdon, p. 221, 7 Ib. p. 49. 



