"So be it, Willis; but to resume the subject. There is a remarkable analogy in many respects between the lower orders of animals and plants, the bulb is to the latter what the egg is to the former. The germ does not pierce the bulb till it attains a certain organization, and it remains attached by fibres to the parent substance, from which, for a time, it receives nourishment."
"Not unlike the young of animals," remarked Willis.
"When the germ has shot out roots and a leaf or two, it then, but not till then, relinquishes the parent bulb. The plant then grows by an extension and multiplication of its parts, and this extension is accompanied by an increasing induration of the fibres. The same phenomena are observed as regards animals."
"Curious!" said Willis.
"Animals, however, are sometimes oviparous."
"Oviparous?" inquired Willis.
"Yes, that is, they lay eggs; others are viviparous, producing their young alive. A few are multiplied like plants by cuttings, as in the case of the polypi."
"Bother the polypi," said Willis, laughing, "since we have to thank them for destroying some of his Majesty's ships."
"Then again," continued Becker, "both plants and animals are subject to disease, decay, and death."
"But, father, if the analogies are remarkable, the differences are not less marked."