720 JOHN BEARD, 



ably in other cases, this second form of gamete seldom gets beyond 

 the stage of being a spermatocyte — hence its superficial resemblance 

 in some instances to an egg — and in the toad it very often degene- 

 rates in this stage of development. Supposed hermaphrodite male 

 frogs — for the forms are usually at the basis functionally male — 

 are continually cropping up, and getting themselves described as 

 remarkable instances of hermaphroditism in the Vertebrata: the like 

 is true of cod-fish, Gadus morrlma. In the Anat. Anz., V. 11, 

 p. 104 — 112, my friend, F. J. Cole, has brought together in tabular 

 form the described cases of frogs. According to him, of 13 recorded 

 only 3 are "hermaphrodite" females, while 10 are males. To the 

 latter and to Cole's frog one or two more in my own possession may 

 be added. 



I observe with pleasure, that Bonnet i) takes up very much the 

 same attitude towards many supposed cases of hermaphroditism in 

 various individuals among vertebrates. He demands, that as a proof 

 of their true hermaphroditism the ripening of both eggs and sperms 

 shall be demonstrated. With emphasis he states, that this proof has 

 never yet been furnished. I quite agree with him, and would add, 

 that the proof can never be offered; for were the apparent eggs in 

 the testis of a frog or toad to ripen, the result would be a second 

 form of spermatozoon, comparable to the wormlike one of Faludina. 

 This follows from observations by von La Valette St. George -), 

 who found in Bufo calamita occasionally ("kaum unter Hunderten") 

 large spermatozoa of double the usual size. In Bufo, as my own 

 observations prove, they are rare, because many or most of them 

 degenerate before reaching the spermatozoon-stage. While such giant- 

 spermatozoa were also rare in Hyla, von La Valette St. George 



genesis of the four hairlike and the four wormlike spermatozoa formed 

 from two spermatocytes, there are only four abortive gametes, the 

 wormlike spermatozoa. Therefore, in spite of the non-functional nature 

 of the second form of spermatozoon, a greater percentage of abortive 

 gametes may still obtain in oogenesis than in spermatogenesis. Thus, 

 whereas 50 per cent of the spermatozoa ma}' be useless gametes, this 

 number is always much exceeded in oogenesis, where invariably, except 

 in parthenogenesis with a percentage of 50, the corresponding number 

 is 75 out of every 100. 



1) Bonnet, R., Giebt es bei Wirbeltieren Parthenogenesis? in: 

 Ergebn. Anat. Entw., V. 9 for 1899, 1900, p. 865. 



2) vox La Valette St. George, Spermatologische Beiträge, III, 

 in: Arch, mikrosk. Anat., V. 27, p. 393—395. 



