New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-10
A TALE OF MANY TADpOr %
HALvED AND sPLICED. THEY GROW ~
GETHER AND LIVE.

! X,
OF this salve on the stump, and inside Of thu.
weeks he had brand-new tail. But thai s,,.
the most wonderful part Of it, We put n.
tie Of the stuff on the old TAIL and nv o..
cious! before the end Of two months new A..
had growed on to it, The remarkable experL
ments which a German scientist. DR. Born h..
been conducting during the last few years no,
somewhat different object in view. but a..
almost equally startling. And, what is mon.
the story is not Munchausenism, but a weu
authenticated narrative.
In fact. 1t might be called a tale OF a tan.
for what DR.. Born really did. in many cases wa,
to splice the rear end Of one frog (while va
in a larval state) on to the front end of an.
other, thus getting only one live. businesslk.
animal out Of two undeveloped specimen,
whereas the mendaciouS pedler OF ointment,
claimed to have secured two dogs In place NJ
one.
Among the achievements Of modern surger
are the grating Of bits Of skin taken from IN.
person upon the arm. body or scalp OF som.
one else In like manner. bones and nerys
have been transpIanted. Helpful as such opera
tons are, they are merely patchwork The,
were designed only to repair damage done b,
accident To some IlIllteu region OF part Of thu
body. While the aim Of DR.. Borns researches,
is not altogether clear. it will be seen, never.
theless, that their scope is broader. inasmuch
as he splice1 together, with success, halves Of
entirely different frogs.
All of these experiments took for their start.
ing point that very early stage in the life his
tory OF the batrao hans when they were In a,
eggshell. but nearly ready to hatch out into
tadpoles The Larvae were gently removed from
their gelatinous cases. subjected TO marvellous
surgical treatment. reared in salt water until
they reached the proper Matching time, and
then, as full-feIyed polliwogs Qf one NAV
imagine aquatic creatures to be hedged at aIh
they were transferred TO fresh water When IN.
tim, for final metamorphosis into frogs ar.
rived. many OF the specimens died. probably
through accident. But a few Of them survived
the crisis.
At first DR.. Born would transfer a smaa
piece Of larva, as a graft. to another. A tail or
a head would be transplanted. for instance II
would take root and grow. not perhaps in pro-
portion to the principal larva. or stock" as
nurseryman would call the latter. But even II
deficient in size, the grated piece would never
theess continue to develop in the organization
Of its structure at precisely the same rate az
the other larva. If ii succeeded in establishing
connections with the food supply |, usually
failed. however 10 unite its nerves with those OF
the stock Consequently, il the experimental
tckled the accessory" tail. 1t would wggs
but the main one would not. So too, the extra
head might be excited into swapping or biting
but not the principal head. on the other hand
II the stimulus were applied TO the head or tau
Of the stock, the graft would not respond.
In later and more important combination
though. nerves as we'll as the alimentary canal
and other organs formed perfect union. Lar.
vac would be Sliced in two lengthwlse Or cross
wise. and then Joined A degree Of manipuls
tive skill that is absolutely incredible was re.
quired in such work: that the various severed
organs could be fitted precisely to each other
dertakings as that they should unite, survive
the metamorphosis from tadpole to frog and
perform their functions afterward. This vas
true even Of the spinal cord.
a number Of amusing as well as scientific con.
lectures are provoked by one instance reported
by DR. Born. He took the foremost two-thirds
OF one polliwog and the rear two-th.ris Of an.
other. and brought them together. The weld,
TO borrow smile from the backsmiths trade,
was a success. and the resultant frog "a very
Ions bodied one was alive at last accounts
Most Investigators would be so anxious 10 find
out how the business OF digestion was con,
Quoted by the sunerabundant interior machn.
cry that they would sacrifice the specimen and
hold a post-mortem. But DR.. Born has been
able TO curb his curiosity for the present
The possibility Of grating parts Of larya Of
one species ulOn parts of another ard even Of
thus combining portions of different genera. has
been carefully considered by the biologist - hose
work is here cited. but it is not known that
such a thing has yet been accomplished The
opens up a highly interesting train
~ thought