EMBRYOLOGY. 
iS3 
have four well-defined legs. They have gills, 
too; and, what is very strange, these gills are 
long, feather-like processes, on the outside of 
their necks.” 
“ Indeed ! Why don’t they protect them, as fishes 
do, or else dispose of them, like respectable batra- 
chians ? ” I questioned, thinking to remind her 
that I was not the only person who did not know 
everything. 
“ They have been found to do the latter, under 
very favorable circumstances ; but, as a rule, they 
remain in a permanently larval state,” she replied. 
“ Legs ! Permanent larvse ! Gills on the out- 
side of them ! Do tell me : are they like any- 
thing else on earth ? I confess, I’m completely 
confused ! ” I exclaimed. 
“ They are quite an exceptional race of beings. 
You could understand their peculiarities better, 
if you knew more of embryology ; but, as it is, 
you do know that no animal passes its entire ex- 
istence in a mature state.” 
“Your remark,” I said, “ corresponds with my 
observation of at least the mental condition of 
the human species.” 
She did not notice my interruption, but continued, 
“With the majority, the external form they 
possess when they leave the embryo state is 
essentially the same as they have at maturity, 
though there is a large class of insects, and a 
