24 OF REPRODUCTION 



But, it may be demanded, were not all thefe 

 minute, and limilarly organized bodies, contain- 

 ed in the feed ? and may not the order of their 

 imfolding be traced from that fource ? for it-,is 

 apparent, that the firft bud was furmcunted by 

 a fimilar bud, which was not expanded till the 

 fecond year, and the third bud was not unfold- 

 ed till the third year ; and, confequently, the 

 feed may be faid to have really contained the 

 whole buds which would be formed for loo 

 years, or till the dilToluiion of the plant: It is 

 alfo apparent, that, this feed contained not only 

 all the fmall organized bodies which- mull in 

 time have conftituted the individual tree itfelf, 

 but likewife all the feeds, and all the individuals 

 which would fucceffively arifc, till the final de- 

 llrudiion of the fpecies. 



This, indeed, is a capital diiliculty : We 

 iliall therefore examine it with the greater at- 

 tention. It is true, that the feed produced a 

 fmall tree the firft year, folely by the imfolding 

 of the bud or germ which it contained, and that 

 this fmall tree exifted in miniature in the bud. 

 But it is not equally certain that the bud of the 

 fecond year, and thofe of the fucceeding years, 

 nor that all the fmall organic bodies, and the 

 feeds which muft have been formed till the end 

 of the world, or the deftrudion of the fpecies, 

 were contained in the firft feed. This opinion 

 fappofes an infinite progreflion, and makes every 

 individual a fource of eternal generations. The 



firft 



