Trembley found that when a hydra is cut in two, the time required for
the development of the new individuals is less during warm than during
cold weather. He also found that if a hydra is cut into three or four
parts, each part produces a new individual. If these new hydras are fed
until they grow to full size, and are then again cut into pieces, each
piece will produce a new polyp. The new animals were kept in some cases
for two years, and behaved in all respects as do ordinary polyps.
Trembley also found that if the anterior, or head-end, with its
tentacles, is cut off, it also will make a new animal. If a hydra is cut
lengthwise into two parts, the edges roll in and meet, and in an hour,
or less, the characteristic form may be again assumed. New arms may
appear later on the new individual. If a hydra is split lengthwise into
four pieces, each piece will also produce a new polyp.
If the head-end only of a hydra is split in two, each half becomes a new
head, and a two-headed hydra results. If each of the new heads is split
again, a four-headed hydra is produced; and if each of the four heads is
once more split in two, an eight-headed hydra is formed. A hydra of this
kind, in which seven heads had been produced in this way, is shown in
Fig. 1, _A_. Each head behaves as a separate individual, and all remain
united on the same stalk. If the foot-end of a hydra is split, a form
with two feet is produced.
One of the most ingenious and most famous experiments that Trembley made
consisted in turning a hydra inside out (Fig. 1, _B_, 1 and 2). The
animal tends to turn itself back again, but by sticking a fine bristle
through the body, Trembley thought that the turning back could be
prevented, and that the inner surface of the hollow body remained on the
outside, and the outer surface of the body came to line the new central
cavity. Each layer then changed, he thought, its original
characteristics, and became like that of the other layer. The details of
these experiments will be described in a future chapter, as well as more
recent experiments that have put the results in quite a different light.
Réaumur repeated Trembley’s experiment of cutting a hydra into pieces,
and obtained the same results. He found also that certain fresh-water
worms, as well as the terrestrial earthworm, regenerated when cut into
pieces. At his instigation two other naturalists[1] examined the
starfish and some marine polyps, and they concluded that it was highly
probable that these forms also could regenerate. Réaumur pointed out
that regeneration is more likely to occur in fragile forms which are
more exposed to injury.
Bonnet’s experiments were made on several kinds of fresh-water
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