I have imagined, I know not with
how much truth, that this granulo-pulpy matter was in process of
being converted into ova. Certainly in this zoophyte such appeared
to be the case.) Well may one be allowed to ask, What is an
individual? It is always interesting to discover the foundation of
the strange tales of the old voyagers; and I have no doubt but that
the habits of this Virgularia explain one such case. Captain
Lancaster, in his voyage in 1601, narrates that on the sea-sands of
the Island of Sombrero, in the East Indies, he "found a small twig
growing up like a young tree, and on offering to pluck it up it
shrinks down to the ground, and sinks, unless held very hard. On
being plucked up, a great worm is found to be its root, and as the
tree groweth in greatness, so doth the worm diminish, and as soon
as the worm is entirely turned into a tree it rooteth in the earth,
and so becomes great. This transformation is one of the strangest
wonders that I saw in all my travels: for if this tree is plucked
up, while young, and the leaves and bark stripped off, it becomes a
hard stone when dry, much like white coral: thus is this worm twice
transformed into different natures.
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