236 KAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



position. We may, however, employ a more general 

 term to designate these different reproductive bodies, 

 and define them in a more precise manner. The bud 

 is a germ which requires for its development that it 

 should adhere to a parent which does not in reality 

 deserve the name either of male or of female ; the 

 bulbil is a, germ which is detached from the parent, and 

 is developed without fecundation ; whilst the egg is a 

 germ which for its development requires the concur- 

 rence of the two sexes, and is also detached from the 

 parent.* Finally, then, every living being proceeds 

 from a pre-existing germ, and such is in fact the true 

 translation which we ought to give of the Latin 

 aphorism to which we have already referred. 



It would be impossible to give a detailed report of 

 all thaf has been said on the origin, nature, and mode 

 of development of these germs. Absurdities and 

 incongruities abound in most of these reveries, of 

 which only a very small number deserve the title 

 either of a hypothesis or of a system. To give a 

 general idea of the conceptions of the human mind 

 on this subject, we will refer to three leading 

 doctrines, which have been supported by celebrated 

 physiologists, who have attempted to establish an 

 accordance between their theories and the science of 

 the time. These are the doctrines of evolution, of 

 accolement (Button's theory), and of epigenesis. 



* It is now well known that the viviparous as well as the 

 oviparous animals proceed from an egg. The only difference 

 between these two modes of development is, that in the former case 

 the egg is detached from the ovary, and undergoes development 

 within the body of the mother. 



