Continued his saltation without pause. --Sir W.
Scott.
2. Beating or palpitation; as, the saltation of the great
artery.
3. (Biol.) An abrupt and marked variation in the condition or
appearance of a species; a sudden modification which may
give rise to new races.
We greatly suspect that nature does make
considerable jumps in the way of variation now and
then, and that these saltations give rise to some of
the gaps which appear to exist in the series of
known forms. --Huxley.