16 Report of the American 



1st. From Mr. Stone, viz. : " For tlie benefit of those to whom 

 this part of the subject is unfamiliar, I will say that the milt or 

 seminal fluid of the male fish consists [or contains, I have forgotten 

 the exact language in that case] of innumerable living inicrosco'piG 

 organisms, called spermatozoa or zoosperms ; these millions of infini- 

 tesimal creatures, during their brief career in the outer world, are 

 endowed with great activity, and jump and plunge about among one 

 another with a motion as ceaseless as it is rapid and vigorous." 



From this you will see that Mr, Stone believes them to be living 

 animals, but Dr. Dalton does not agree with him in that respect, 

 although Mr. Mather does. I will next quote from Mr. Mather's 

 article in the December number of the " Farm and Fireside 

 Journal ;" he says : " As before stated, the egg will absorb milt 

 or water for about half an hour, and is, of course, open for impregna- 

 tion nearly that length of time ; but the animalculcB of the milt, 

 though they will live in their own fluid we know not how long, will 

 die in a few minutes in cold water." 



In this article Mr. Mather does not hesitate to call the spermatozoa 

 animalculiB, a title that I do not think appropriate or correct ; but as 

 he and Mr. Stone together opprove of the term, I would not venture 

 to correct them myself, but I will submit the evidence on both sides 

 to the association, and they shall decide, not whether we shall 

 call them " zoosperms " or " animalcule," but whether they are 

 living animals or simply shreds of albumen. 



The following extract is from Dr. Dalton's " Treatise on Physi- 

 ology," published in 1859, at Boston : 



" The most remarkable peculiarity of the spermatozoa is their 

 very singular and active movement, to which we have already alluded. 

 If a drop of fresh seminal fluid be placed under the microscope, the 

 numberless minute filaments of which it is composed are seen to be 

 in a state of incessant and agitated motion ; this movement of the 

 spermatozoa, in many species of animals, strongly resembles that of 

 the tadpole." * * * " The tail-like filament constantly keeps up a 

 lateral and vibratory motion by which the spermatozoon is driven from 

 place to place in the spermatic fluid, just as the fish or tadpole is 

 propelled through the water. In other instances, as, for example, in 

 the water lizard, the spermatozoa have a continuous writhing or spiral- , 

 like movement, which presents a very peculiar and elegant appearance 

 when large numbers of them are viewed together; it is the existence 

 of this movement that first suggested the name of spermatozoa, to 



