262 METAMOKPHOSES OF MAN 



oases.* In proportion as researches multiplied, these 

 relations became more numerous and general. At 

 present we may safely assert, that wherever genea- 

 genesis occurs, there is established between the two 

 kingdoms, not only analogies requiring a certain 

 mental strain for their comprehension, but an evident 

 resemblance, and in some instances almost an 

 identity. 



It is necessary, in order to avoid being charged 

 with exaggeration, to enter into some details, and to 

 describe the nature of a plant or tree ; but to do this, 

 it is first necessary to know what an individual is, 

 whether in the animal or vegetable kingdom. 



Our ideas in this regard are sufficiently clear when 

 we speak of a man, a pigeon, or a frog. Bach of 

 these words is associated in our minds with a certain 

 series of parts — definite in number and relations — 

 which collectively constitute the individual. When 

 one of these parts is multiplied or transposed, we 

 attribute it to an anomaly. If one of them is absent, 

 we perceive that the individual is incomplete. This 

 appreciation is frequently expressed by special terms, 

 such as monstrous, blind, and maimed, which are 

 found in almost every language. 



What we have said of man, and of animals familiar 

 to all our readers, is equally applicable to an infinite 

 number of other species. A naturalist can say, at a 

 first glance, whether an insect wants a leg or a wing, a 

 Mollusk a tentacle, a Star-fish one of its rays, or a 

 Medusa one of its filaments. He sees an incomplete 

 individual in every whole which has lost one of its 



* " Souvenirs d'un Naturaliste." 



