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gemmule


gemmule


  1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Gemmule  \Gem"mule\,  n.  [L.  gemmula,  dim.  of  gemma:  cf  F. 
  gemmule.  See  {Gem}.] 
  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  alg[ae]. 
  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}.