59^ 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



multitudes of other less complex organisms, seem only 

 explicable in accordance with such a notion ^ 



looked 

 fully a 



Mr 



Darwin. One of the simplest 

 and yet most satisfactory examples is that recorded con- 

 cerning the rare and occasional production of nectarines 

 upon peach-trees, and the reverse. Speaking of the 



peach, Mr. Darwin says 



' This tree has been culti- 



true to its kind. 



,lly 



^ 



1 



\ 



n 



vated by the million in various parts of the world, has 

 been treated differently, grown on its own roots and 

 grafted on a stock, planted as a standard, against a wall, 

 and under glass j yet each bud of each sub-variety keeps I ^\^^ they are 



red balance 

 tECcmes neces 

 Sich an explar 

 ttanges in pi 

 are Hal 



Mr, Wallace s; 







time, a tree in England, or under the widely different j ^^ ^ ^^^ious 



climate of Virginia, produces a single bud, and this j He feathers of 



yields a branch which ever afterwards yields nectarines. ^^^^^ ^^^^^ 



Nectarines differ, as every one knows, from peaches in ^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ 

 their smoothness, size, and flavour ; and the difference 

 is so great that some botanists have maintained that 

 they are specifically distinct. So permanent are the 



J 



r 



1 In addition to the cases of repair and reproduction of lost parts 

 already alluded to (p. 88), we are now in a position to refer to others 

 occurring even in mammals. Thus it has been ascertained by M. Pey- 

 raux and M. Phillipeaux that the spleen is restored in animals after its 

 extirpation, provided a minute portion of the organ is left m ^itxi 

 ('Ann. des Sci. Nat.,' Zool., Jan. 1867); and Dr. Carpenter ('Comparative 

 Physiology,' 4th ed. p. 480) refers to interesting cases in which m the 

 human subject the thumb and the ramus of the lower jaw were repro- 

 duced after removal. 



2 'Animals and Plants under Domestication,' vol. i. pp. 337' 339"34'- 



fch wound 

 5 small toad. 

 colour, and 



of the s 

 ough this 



a 



definite 



W 



actual 



\ 



age: 

 step 



^ekn 



o\\ 





tavels 



ontl] 





