SPORE-FORMATION IN THE DISPORIC BACTERIA. 593 
the imagination) with maleness and femaleness is—to me— 
quite a mystery. That there may be a connection, I cannot 
deny; but at present it seems to me that there is no more 
justification for such a view than there would be for corre- 
lating males and females with gas-engines and steam-engines. 
I think Schaudinn’s view was largely influenced by the 
fact that he found sexual phenomena not only in many Proto- 
zoa, but also—as he believed—in the Bacteria. If, then, it 
can be shown that the “sexual” process does not occur in 
Bacteria, one of the chief supports of the view vanishes. 
And—as I believe—the observations recorded in the beginning 
of this paper show that—in the disporic forms at least—no 
real sexual process occurs. For my own part, I do not think 
the evidence supports the hypothesis that sexuality is a 
fundamental property of living matter. And certainly I see 
no evidence in favour of such a hypothesis derived from the 
Bacteria. 
I confess there is_ still one unaccountable case of 
“‘ sexuality ” described in Bacteria—that of B. sporonema 
(Schaudinn, 1905). This organism, however, stands alone. 
Perhaps future work will give us an explanation of the 
meaning of its “conjugation.” At all events, it is premature 
to generalise from this single case at present. I hope my 
own researches—which are still in progress—on the Bacteria 
and allied forms may shed some further ight upon this most 
interesting phenomenon. 
ZOoLoGiIcaL LABORATORY, 
CAMBRIDGE; 
February, 1909. 
