ii6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



different question from that as to whether the nucleus or the cytoplasm 

 of the egg determines which of the two possibilities that are potentially 

 present in the nucleus shall be awakened. 



5. Our general conclusion is that while recent theories have done 

 good service in directing attention to the early determination of sex in 

 the egg, those of them which have attempted to connect this conclusion 

 with the assumption of the separation of male from female primoidia 

 in the germ-cells have failed to establish their point of view. The egg, 

 as far as sex is concerned, appears to be in a sort of balanced state, and 

 the conditions to which it is exposed, even when it is not fully formed, 

 may determine which sex it will produce. It may be a futile attempt 

 to try to discover any one influence that has a deciding influence for all 

 kinds of eggs. Here, as elsewhere in organic nature, different stimuli 

 may determine in different species which of the possibilities that exist 

 shall become realized. 



