morphallaxisn.

1898 T. H. Morgan in Archiv f. Entwickelungsmechanik der Organismen 7 385 Thus the relative proportions of the planarian are attained by a remodelling of the old tissue. I would suggest that this process of transformation be called a process of morpholaxis.

1901 T. H. Morgan Regeneration i. 23 At present there are known two general ways in which regeneration may take place... In order to distinguish broadly these two modes I propose to call those cases of regeneration in which a proliferation of material precedes the development of the new part, ‘epimorphosis’. The other mode, in which a part is transformed directly into a new organism, or part of an organism without proliferation at the cut-surfaces, ‘morphallaxis’.

1924 G. R. de Beer Growth viii. 53 In regeneration in some cases (where morphallaxis occurs), it [sc. material needed for growth] is derived from the other tissues of the organism which thereby undergo reduction.

1956 C. H. Waddington Princ. Embryol. xiv. 304 Animals such as coelenterates, flatworms and oligochaetes in which morphallaxis occurs to a considerable extent.

1965 V. Kiortsis & M. Moraitou in V. Kiortsis & H. A. L. Trampusch Regeneration in Animals 259 If the anteriorly facing cut end of the nerve cord [in the polychaete worm Spirographis spallanzanii] is deflected, there is a morphallaxis on one or both sides.

1984 L. W. Browder Developmental Biol. (ed. 2) xiv. 710 In limb regeneration there is considerable reorganization of the tissues within the stump (morphallaxis) before the epimorphic outgrowth can occur.