22 



THE MUSEUM. 



is some pleasurable sensation connect- 

 ed with the act, which induces them 

 to thus prolong it. Dr. Binney states 

 that he had seen the descent actually 

 practiced by every one of our Atlantic 

 species. 



Besides the watery fluid which at 

 all times lubricates the integuments, 

 the animals can, at their will, secrete 

 at any point or over the whole surface 

 of their bodies, a more viscid and ten- 

 acious mucous than is usually exuded. 

 This power is used as a means of de- 

 fense. Whenever a foreign substance 

 touches them, immediately a quantity 

 of this mucous, of the consistence of 

 milk, and nearly the same color, is 

 poured out and forms a kind of mem- 

 brane interposed between themselves 

 and the irritating substance. So, also, 

 when they are surrounded by a cor- 

 rosive gas, or are thrown into water or 

 alcohol, they form over themselves in 

 this way, a thick protective covering, 

 which is undoubtedly a non-conductor 

 of heat and inpervious, at least for a 

 time, to liquids. Shielded by this 

 coating, they can live the greater part 

 of a day immersed in water, and for a 

 shorter time in alcohol; and M.Ferus- 

 sac asserts that they have survived for 

 hours in boiling water. They leave a 

 trace of their usual secretion on every 

 object over which they pass and thus 

 can easily be traced to their retreats. 

 The ordinary secretion is most abund- 

 ant at their posterior extremety. The 

 secretion of the mucous fluid over their 

 surface is necessary to their existance. 

 Death immediately follows the failing 

 of this power, and is preceded by the 

 drying up on the skin. 



(To be continued.) 



New Discoveries at the Wood's Holl 

 Mass- Biological Station. 



Proffessor Jacques Loeb of the Uni- 

 versity of Chicago, working at Wood's 

 Holl, has succeeded in developing from 

 the unfertilized egg of the sea urchin, 

 by chemical treatment, living and nor- 

 mal plutei, or young sea urchins. He 



is led by further experiments to believe 

 that this can be done with all marine 

 animals, and reasoning from this dis- 

 covery and from the work of his col- 

 leagues he has come to the conclusion 

 that similar results are possible with 

 mammalians. 



In the summary of the year's work 

 at Wood's Holl the discovery is an- 

 nounced in the following terms: 



"The unfertilized egg of the sea ur- 

 chin contains all the essential elements 

 for the production of a perfect pluteus. 

 I consider it possible that only the ions 

 of the blood prevent the parthenogen- 

 etic origin of embryos in mammalians, 

 and I think it not impossible that a 

 transitory change in the ions of the 

 blood may also allow complete parth- 

 enogenesis in mammalians." 



The statement contains the an- 

 nouncement of a theory of generation 

 and reproduction which is almost rev- 

 olutionary. 



Wood's Holl is a little village on the 

 end of a neck of land which forms the 

 southeastern shore of Buzzard's Bay. 

 There in 1888 was established the 

 Marine Biological Laboratory at which 

 the marvelous results of the last sum- 

 mer have been achieved. It had its 

 origin in a marine biological school es- 

 tablished in 1873 on the Island of Pen- 

 nikese, near Wood's Holl, by Alexan- 

 der Agassiz, which lived but two 

 seasons. A later attempt was not 

 successful at Annisquam. In 1888, 

 however, several colleges united in 

 forming the present institution under 

 the direction of C. O. Whitman, now 

 professor of biology at the University 

 of Chicago. Under his lead the work 

 became systematic. 



The simple forms of sea life proved 

 to have wonderful possibilities for 

 study and investigation by the trained 

 scientist, and to throw light on the 

 more complex systems of the higher 

 animals. Wm. T. Sedgwick, Edward 

 G. Gardiner, and Edward O. Jordan 

 of Massachusetts Institute of Technol- 

 ogy, C. B. Atwell of Northwestern 

 University, and F. L. Washburn of 



