Note 190 — Chapter X

“Alia vero semen adhuc imperfectum et immaturatum recludunt, incrementum et perfectionem, sive maturitatem, soris acquisiturum; ut plurima genera piscium, ranæ, item mollia, crustata, testacea, et cochleæ: quorum ova primum exposita sunt, veluti origines duntaxat, inceptiones et vitelli; qui postea albumina sibi ipsis circum circa induunt; tandemque alimentum sibi attrahentes, concoquentes et apponentes, in perfectum semen atque ovum evadunt. Talia sunt insectorum semina (vermes ab Aristotele dicta) quæ initio imperfecte edita sibi victum quærunt indeque nutriuntur et augentur, de eruca in aureliam; de ovo imperfecto in perfectum ovum et semen.”—De generatione, Exc. II., p. 183 (1666). Viallanes justifies this view by applying it to the histolysis and regeneration of the tissues in Diptera. But these remarkable changes are surely secondary, adaptive, and peculiar, like the footless maggot itself, whose conversion into a swift-flying imago renders necessary so complete a reconstruction.