5 

 General Properties oj the Ectopias/// 



CL/2 LTHOUGH WE CAN NOT TO-DAY ANSWER THE QUESTION, 



what is life? we can say what are the manifestations of the 

 state of being alive. Respiration, conduction and contrac- 

 tion are fundamental properties of living matter, exhibited 

 by all living cells. Life never appears without them. 

 Whilst inanimate things as well as organisms after death 

 may display properties like these, only the living thing main- 

 tains them in self-regulation through continuous adjust- 

 ment. Now the question arises: to what extent are these 

 biological indices, these manifestations of life, properties of 

 the ectoplasm.^ Study of the egg's behavior in the first 

 moments after sperm-contact will throw light on this 

 problem. 



The attachment of a single spermatozoon to an egg and 

 the effect produced thereby can best be observed micro- 

 scopicalh' b}' adding a drop of sea-water containing very 

 few spermatozoa to sea-water that contains eggs. To eggs 

 of Arhacia spermatozoa attach themselves within two 

 seconds after the)^ are added to the sea-water containing 

 the eggs. Under the impact of a spermatozoon the egg- 

 surface first gives way and then rebounds;^ the egg-mem- 

 brane moves in and out beneath the actively moving 

 spermatozoon for a second or two. Then suddenly the 

 spermatozoon becomes motionless with its tip buried in a 

 slight indentation of the egg-surface, at which point the 

 ectoplasm develops a cloudy appearance. This turbidity 



1 Cf. Dcrhes. I.e. 



104 



