CYCLOPEDIA: >^^^ 



V. !(o 



OR, A NEW 



UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY 



OF 



ARTS and SCIENCES. 



GENERATION. 



GENERATION is that funftion of the animal econo- 

 my by which the fpecies is perpetuated. Inanimate 

 matter and unorganized bodies are fiibjeft to no alterations, 

 and would never chansre their condition, did not external 

 forces dtllroy or modify them. On the contrary, organized 

 bodies, very different from thefe inert mafl'es, are adlivc 

 media of new combinations and changes ; they undergo al- 

 terations, and are even deib"oycd by the exercile of their own 

 powers, the entire ccfFation of wliich delivers up their fpoils 

 to the grand circle of changes, which organized matter is 

 conftantly undergoing. Although fome of thefe bodies may 

 laft for a century, while the greater number live only for a 

 few years, days, or even hours, this unequal duration, thefe 

 moments or ages of exiilence, are nothing with refpeft to 

 nature, and the death which {he allots to man, to the 

 plant or the infeft, is not the lefs neceflary and certain. But, 

 if individuals are facnficcd and perifh, the fpecies furvive 

 and are immortal ; by a conftant and general law, animated 

 bodies never die altogether, but are renewed and perpetuated 

 by various modes of re-produftion. Some tenninate their 

 vital courfe while others are beginning it ; and never, fays 

 Lucretius, does morning or night vifit the globe, without 

 having funeral lamentations round a bier, and tlie plaintive 

 cries cf an infant in the cradle. There is a conftant alter- 

 nation of deaths and births, of loffes and reparations ; and 

 the torch of life is rapidly tranfmitted in the feries of fuc- 

 ceeding generations ; " quail currentes vital lanipada tra- 

 dunt.'' At a certain point of elevation in the fcale of ani- 

 mal exiflence, this objeA is accomplidied by a double feries 

 of organs, executing very different funftions ; and re-pro- 

 duftion is efivAcd by a true proccfs of gtneration, under the 

 influence of that phyfical feeling, the Venus, whofe univer- 

 V&i.. XVI. 



fal empire and irrefiftible attraflions are fo beautifully deli- 

 neated by the Roman poet. 



" jEneadum genetrix, hominum divumque voluptas,. 

 Alma Venus ! cceli lubter labentia iigna 

 Quae mare navigerum, quae terras frugiferenteis 

 Concelebras ; per Te quoniam genus omne animantum 

 Concipitur, vifitque exortimi lumina foHs : 

 Te, Dea, tc fugiunt venti, te nubila coeli, ' 



Adventumque tuum : tibi fuaves dsdala tellus 

 Submittit flores ; tibi rident aequora ponti, 

 Placatumque nitct diffufo lumine coelum. ^. 



Nam, fimul ac fpecies patefaifta eft verna diei, 

 Et referata viget genitabilis aura Favonii ; 

 Aeria: primum vohicres, te. Diva, tuumque 

 Significant initum, perculfa: corda tua vi. 

 Inde ferae pecudes perfaltant pabula laeta, 

 Et rapidos trauant amnes ; ita, capta lepore, 

 lUecebrifque tuis omnis natura animantum 

 Te fcquitur cupide, quo quamque inducere pcrgis.. 

 Denlque, per maria, ae monies, fluviolque rapaces, 

 Frondiferafque domos avium, campofque vircntes. 

 Omnibus incutiens blnndnm per peClora amoiem,,, 

 Efficis, ut cupide generatim lecla propagent. 

 Generation is the greateft niyftery prefented to our view 

 in tlie economy of living bodies ; and its real natme is Hill 

 involved in tlie moll complete obfcunty. Hitherto no ob- 

 fervation authurizes us to admit the iimultaneous formation 

 of a living body in all its parts ; that is to fay, by the union 

 of particles fuddenly brought together. The compariion 

 of generation wicli cryftallizalion is fupportcd by no j nil 

 analogy: cryilals are made up of homogeneous particles, 

 attracting each other indillinclly, and agglutinated by their 



£ faces. 



444057 



