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After ha'ving obferved thefe animals during fevcral 
years, both in the fea and in my ftudy, it will no doubt 
be expe6ted, that I lliould now give a particular account 
of their manner of propagation; but here I can only 
confefs my ignorance, having never been able to get at 
the knowledge of any one circumftance relating to it : 
which makes me fufpe61:, that thefe animals prox^agate 
without any communication of individuals. What I 
would here fuppofe is by no means unexampled. Among 
the aphides^ for inftance, (whofe mode of x^rojiagation de- 
ferves to be further examined) though the fexual j:)arts 
have been difcovered, individuals neverthelefs are found, 
which, though deprived of all communication one wdth 
another from the very moment they are brought forth, 
yet produce an offspring, which being like wife denied all 
intercourfe, ftill propagates ; and fo on, through a great 
number of generations, which fucceed each other very 
, rapidly. The mufcle alfo is thought to be an animal of 
the fame nature. 
The 
On s’ attend pent etre qu’apres avoir obferve ces animaux pendant plufieurs 
annees a la mer et dans le cabinet, je vais expofer ici tout cequi concerne leur 
generation : point du tout! il ne m’a pas ete poffible d’en decouvrir la moindre 
cliofe; ce qui m’a porte a croire, que cette efpece fe multiplie fans qu’un individu 
ait befoin de la participation d’un autre. Ce que j’etablis n’eftpas fans exemple. 
Les pucerons, dont la generation merite encore d’etre examinee, quoiqu’on y ait 
decouvert des parties fexuelles, ofFrent, a ce qu’on allure, des individus qui fepares 
les uns des autres des la fortie de la mere, donnent des petits, et ceux-ci prives 
de meme de toute communication en donnent encore, ce qui a ete pouffe jufqu’a 
un grand nombre de generations, parcequ’elles fe fuccedent promptement : mais 
pour ne pas fortir des eaux ; la moule paroit dans le cas que nous fuppofons. 
La 
