REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 43 



are more sensible to ether than others, perhaps some could be made 

 inactive, and the qualities they represent would fail in the develop- 

 ment of the organism. 



Ivoeb, of the University of California, has shown that the stim- 

 ulus which fecundation gives to growth, besides and above the 

 mixture of the hereditary qualities of the parents, may be replaced 

 by purely chemical agents. He pointed out that the unfertilized 

 egg remains inactive through the action of some unknown cause, 

 which may be removed by the use of distinct salts. , 



Delage has markedly improved this method by making use of 

 carbonic acid instead of salts, and it seems highly probable that by 

 this or other gaseous agents the representative particles of the 

 hereditary qualities might be attacked separately. 



Davenport has studied the effect of poisonous chemical substances 

 upon the growth of organisms, and shown that by gradually sub- 

 jecting them to various poisons they become immune to them. 

 Applying this principle to the representative particles in the e^g, 

 we might expect to find some immune while others were not, and thus 

 to remove distinct peculiarities from the ensuing process of evolution. 



Other agencies might be tried. The finest and most effective 

 methods offered by allied sciences have to be made use of. If one 

 way fails, another may succeed. The rays discovered by Rontgen 

 and the radio-activity of the new element, radium, have already 

 proved themselves capable of provoking important changes in living 

 organisms. These changes are partly of a retarding nature, and 

 some processes are more sensible to them than others. If the same 

 holds good for our dormant representatives in the egg, we may hope 

 some day to apply the physiological activity of the rays of Rontgen 

 and Curie to experimental morphology. 



Be this as it may, it is only a dream. Perhaps I have recalled to 

 your mind too manj^ facts and discoveries in too short a time, ^.y 

 object was only to convey to you the idea that the future work of 

 this laboratory must keep in close relation with all the great victories 

 of the sister sciences. It has to keep up with the newest researches 

 and to omit not even the slightest occasion of profiting by the work 

 of others. All sciences converge toward one main point, and any 

 noticeable advance in one direction must obviously favor the work 

 on the other lines. Opportunities of rapid success are not rarely 

 offered, but the success really comes only to him who is steadily on 

 the lookout for a chance and who is thoroughly prepared to profit 

 by it. 



