Life Sciences Commons^™

Translation Of: Trembley À Réaumer, Abraham Trembley, Morgan Mclaughlin

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

While examining a jar filled with aquatic plants and animals, Abraham Trembley, a young tutor working for Count William Bentinck in the Netherlands, noticed tiny, green, tube-shaped organisms attached to aquatic plants. Uncertain whether they were plants or animals, he devised a brilliant series of experiments to understand their biology. He observed them contract when disturbed and take steps towards a light, gathering in front of a chevron-shaped opening in a piece of cardboard. Nearly convinced they were animals, he cut one in half expecting to see it die. Instead, it regenerated two perfectly formed bodies from the severed halves. …