426 Microscopical Essays. 



fide, fo that the animal can live whether the fkin is turned one 

 way or the other. The Author of nature did not create the 

 polype to be turned as we turn a glove ; but he formed an animal 

 whofe vifcera were lodged in the thicknefs of the fkin, and with 

 powers to refift the various accidents to which it was unavoidably 

 expofed by the nature of it's life ; and. the organization neceffary 

 for this purpofe was fo conflrucied, that the fkin might be turned 

 without deftroying life. 



Every portion of a divided polype has, like the vegetable bud, 

 all the vifcera neceffary to it s j exigence ; it can, therefore, live by 

 itfelf, and pufli forth a head and tail, when placed end to end 

 againft another piece. The vegetation confifts in uniting the por- 

 tions, the veifels of each part increafe in length, and a commu- 

 nication is foon formed between them, which unites the whole. 

 The eafe with which the parts unite, is, as has been obferved be- 

 fore, probably owing to their gelatinous nature; for we find 

 many fimilar instances in tender lubifances. The folid parts of 

 the embryo, as the fingers, unite in the womb ; tender fruit and 

 leaves may be alfo thus united. 



A portion of thefe . creatures is capable of devouring it s prey 

 almort. as foon as it is divided from the reft. In the ftruclure of 

 thofe animals which are moft familiar to us, a particular place is 

 appropriated for the developement and paifage of the embryo. 

 But on the body of an animal, which, like a tree, is covered 

 with prolific gems, it is not fiirprizing that the young ones fhould 

 proceed from it's fides, like branches from a tree. The mother 

 and her young ones form but one whole ; fhe nourimes them, and 

 they contribute to her exiftence, as a tree fupports and is recipro- 

 cally fupported by it's branches and leaves* 



6 9? 



