This has nothing <br />to do with <br />propagating <br /> <br />The species <br />is continued <br />as so many are <br />(among the smaller creatures) <br />by fission <br /> <br />(and this species <br />is very small <br />next in order to <br />the amoeba, the beginning one) <br /> <br />The paramecium <br />achieves, then, <br />immortality <br />by dividing <br /> <br />But when <br />the paramecium <br />desires renewal <br />strength another joy <br />this is what <br />the paramecium does: <br /> <br />The paramecium <br />lies down beside <br />another paramecium <br /> <br />Slowly inexplicably <br />the exchange <br />takes place <br />in which <br />some bits <br />of the nucleus of each <br />are exchanged <br /> <br />for some bits <br />of the nucleus <br />of the other <br /> <br />This is called <br />the conjugation of the paramecium.<br /><br />Muriel Rukeyser<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-conjugation-of-the-paramecium/
