THE BAT OF BISCAY. 239 



himself, admit that germs are only to be met with 

 in certain organs. Now as a germ can only enclose 

 its descendants in the same organ in which it was 

 itself contained by its predecessors, it results, if we 

 admit the first proposition, that the germs of all past, 

 present, and future generations have been and still 

 are contained within one another by emboitement. 

 According to this hypothesis, an animal may be 

 compared to a sort of juggler's box, and when a new 

 individual is produced it is simply as if one of the 

 double bottoms of the box had been removed. The 

 mere enuciation of such views is sufficient for their 

 refutation. 



The doctrine of Buffon, to which the term accole- 

 ment is applied, is not more rational. According to 

 this illustrious naturalist, there exists in nature a 

 primordial matter, which is alike common to animals 

 and plants. This matter is composed of living, 

 incorruptible, and ever active organic particles. 

 These universally diffused particles serve for nutri- 

 tion and growth, while the surplus of what is 

 necessary to attain this result is transmitted from all 

 parts of the body into certain organs specially 

 destined to serve in the place of a reservoir. When 

 these molecules are arranged in a suitable place they 

 exercise a sort of elective affinity. All those which 

 come either from the foot or the hand, attract one 

 another reciprocally, and become aggregated together, 

 whilst they maintain the order which they previously 



will continue to be consulted, if for no other reason, for the obser- 

 vations which they contain in reference to the embryology of Birds 

 and Mammals. 



