INFLUENCES DETERMINING SEX. 323 



fied into the conception of a power which can not be known or con- 

 ceived, would not be destroyed. It was held that there would survive, 

 and might even increase, the sentiments of wonder and awe in pres- 

 ence of a universe of which the origin and nature, meaning and des- 

 tiny, can neither be known nor imagined ; or that, to quote a state- 

 ment afterwards employed, there must survive those emotions "which 

 are appropriate to the consciousness of a mystery that can not be 

 fathomed and a power that is omnipresent." This proposition has 

 not been disproved ; nor, indeed, has any attempt been made to dis- 

 prove it. 



Instead of assaults on these propositions to which alone I am com- 

 mitted, there have been assaults on various propositions gratuitously 

 attached to them ; and then the incongruities evolved have been rep- 

 resented as incongruities for which I am responsible. 



I end by pointing out as I pointed out before, that " while the 

 things I have said have not been disproved, the things which have 

 been disproved are things I have not said." — Nineteenth Century. 



■» « » 



INFLUENCES DETERMINING SEX.* 



Br Peofessok "W. K, BEOOKS, 



OF JOHKS HOPKIN'S UUIVEESITr. 



OF the many writers upon this subject, some have approached it 

 with such an imperfect and narrow acquaintance with the facts 

 that their contributions are of no interest to the scientific student ; 

 while other writers have allowed some minor generalizations to assume 

 such prominence that their papers are of little value in themselves. 

 The subject has an especial fascination for many minds, apart from its 

 very great scientific interest, and we can, therefore, understand that 

 the fugitive literature is somewhat in disrepute among students. 



In Diiring's papers, however, we find a remarkable combination 

 of the two elements of scientific research : thorough observation and 

 accumulation of evidence, and reflection upon its hidden significance. 

 Although they contain comparatively little original observation, they 

 are remarkable for the encyclopedic information which the author 

 has collected from all sources. In many cases his generalizations are 

 based upon observations which run up into the millions, and, even 

 where the reader is not prepared to accept his conclusions, he will find 

 in the papers a mine of recorded facts. 



Having shown that there is in each species of animals or plants a 



* " On the Laws -which determine the Sex of the Embryo in Mankind, in Animals, 

 and in Plants." Carl During, " Jenaische Zeitschrift," xvi, iii, 1883, p. 428 ; and xvii, 

 1884, pp. 592-940. 



