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Gemmule   Listen
noun
Gemmule  n.  
1.
(Bot.)
(a)
A little leaf bud, as the plumule between the cotyledons.
(b)
One of the buds of mosses.
(c)
One of the reproductive spores of algae.
(d)
An ovule.
2.
(Biol.)
(a)
A bud produced in generation by gemmation.
(b)
One of the imaginary granules or atoms which, according to Darwin's hypothesis of pangenesis, are continually being thrown off from every cell or unit, and circulate freely throughout the system, and when supplied with proper nutriment multiply by self-division and ultimately develop into cells like those from which they were derived. They are supposed to be transmitted from the parent to the offspring, but are often transmitted in a dormant state during many generations and are then developed. See Pangenesis.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Gemmule" Quotes from Famous Books



... pollinigerous lower cell, perfectly homologous with that which is normally developed in Salvia officinalis. This case of atavism is truly singular. According to the theory of Pangenesis, it is necessary to assume that all the gemmules of this anomalous formation, and therefore the mother-gemmule of the cell, and the daughter-gemmules of the special epidermic tissue, and of the very singular subjacent tissue of the endothecium, have been perpetuated, and transmitted from parent to offspring in a dormant ...
— On the Genesis of Species • St. George Mivart

... traversing the water, permanently expose any part to special conditions. But when we come to creatures that are either fixed, or while moving, severally preserve a definite attitude, we no longer find uniformity of surface. The gemmule of a Zoophyte, which during its locomotive stage is distinguishable only into outer and inner tissues, no sooner takes root than its upper end begins to assume a different structure from its lower. The free-swimming ...
— Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I • Herbert Spencer



Words linked to "Gemmule" :   possibility, theory, hypothesis



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