REPRODUCTION BY OFFSHOOTS. 75 



straying to a distance from the parent plant, again 

 take root, and thus progressively spread far and wide, 

 sending up other stems and giving birth to numerous 

 progeny. The Hydra we are now contemplating is 

 sometimes propagated in a manner precisely similar, 

 long filaments derived from some point of its sub- 

 stance spread themselves upon the stone or shell 

 whereon the animal is fixed, like creeping stems, 

 from which at intervals young Hydrse sprout, until 

 a numerous colony thus emanating from a single in- 

 dividual rewards the patience of the naturalist. 



The Hydrae can endure long-protracted abstinence, 

 under which their size gradually diminishes ; but they 

 may be speedily restored again by plentiful sustenance, 

 and will survive during years. They are likewise very 

 tenacious of life, and are endowed with extraordinary 

 regenerative faculties enabling them to survive the 

 severest wounds and lacerations, and to reproduce 

 mutilated parts. 



