REVERSION, NOT A LAW, SUI GENERIS. 109 



" Now, when the leg, for instance, of a salamander, 

 is cut off, a slight crust forms over the wound, and be- 

 neath this crust, the uninjured cells, or units of bone, 

 muscle, nerves, &c, are supposed to unite with the 

 diffused gemmules of those cells which in the perfect 

 leg come next in order; and these as they become 

 slightly developed, unite with others, and so until a 

 papilla of soft cellular tissue, the 'budding leg' is 

 formed ; and in time a perfect leg. Thus, that portion of 

 the leg which had been cut off, neither more nor less, 

 would be reproduced. If the tail or leg of a young 

 animal had been cut off, a young tail or leg would have 

 been reproduced, as actually occurs with the ampu- 

 tated tail of the tad-pole" (pp. 450, 45 1, Vol. ii, Animals 

 and Plants, &c). 



" Spallanzani, by cutting off the legs and tail of a 

 salamander, got in the course of three months, six 

 crops of these members; so that 687 perfect bones 

 were reproduced, by one animal, during one season. 

 At whatever point, the limb was cut off, the deficient 

 part, and no more, was exactly reproduced. Even 

 with Man, as we have seen in the twelfth chapter, 

 when treating of polydactylism, the entire limb, whilst 

 in an embryonic state, and supernumary digits, are 

 occasionally, though imperfectly, reproduced after am- 

 putation. When a diseased bone has been removed, 

 a new one sometimes gradually assumes the regular 

 form, and all the attachments of muscles, ligaments, 

 &c, become as complete as before" (p. 354, Vol. ii, 

 Animals and Plants, &c). 



"No doubt, the power of reparation, though not 

 always quite perfect, is an admirable provision, ready 

 for various emergencies, even for those which occur 

 only at long intervals of time" (p.. 355, Vol. ii, Animals 

 and Plants, &c). 



In all of these cases of repair, or reproduction, the 

 10* 



