The Dawn of Reason; or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals — John Shaqi
The Dawn of Reason; or, Mental Traits in the Lower AnimalsWeir, James, Jr.
Science
The Dawn of Reason; or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals
Weir, James, Jr.
Psychology, Comparative; Reason
Another aquatic worm, Myrianida, is still more remarkable, not only on
account of its eyes, but also on account of the wonderful way in which
it reproduces its young. When seen swimming in the water it presents the
appearance of a long, many-ringed worm, which impels itself through and
by the aid of its hundreds of flat, oar-like legs. Closer inspection
reveals the startling fact that this seemingly single worm is really a
multiple worm--six or more individuals being joined together, thus
forming a living chain. This creature reproduces itself by
fissigemation; that is, when the young worms arrive at a certain age
they separate from the parent worm and begin life as individuals. These
in turn eventually become multiple worms and divide into individuals,
and so on _ad infinitum_. The tail worm, or that section farthest from
the head, is the oldest and is always the first to leave its comrades
and take up a separate existence. The adverb _always_ in the above
sentence is, strictly speaking, not exactly accurate, for on one
occasion I saw the separation occur at the second head from the tail,
thus producing twins. The two sections came apart, however, in a very
few seconds after their departure from the colony. I am inclined to
believe that this deviation from the normal was due to accident;
probably to manipulation. This annelid is really "many in one" until the
very moment of division; the alimentary canal, nerves, blood-vessels,
etc., extend in unbroken continuity from the head of the parent worm to
the tail of the last section. In every fourth (sometimes fifth) ring two
round, dark-colored spots will be observed; these spots are ocelli, and
some of them eventually become the eyes of young worms. These organs
even in their embryonic state possess sight, for they have special
nerves and pigment-cells; they can differentiate between light and
darkness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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