THE CELL 97 



thousands or millions. How these primordial beings that 

 make up the cell actually multiply and grow, we have no 

 means of knowing nor microscope to tell us. You see life 

 is based on organization and specialization. When the cell 

 multiplies by division there is simply an equal division of 

 the colony of specifically skilled workers in the cell, which 

 is called the nucleus. In this way, you can clearly see, 

 that the knowledge, skill and experience possessed by the 

 cell, or more correctly speaking, by the individuals com- 

 posing the cell, and which they have accumulated through 

 the past ages of experience, is handed on to posterity and 

 preserved. 



It is a singular thing how everything works out accord- 

 ing to a preconceived plan ; how exactly one part is made 

 to meet or fit into another part in the course of develop- 

 ment. The spermatozoon knows what the female cell 

 will have to start in life with so he comes to meet her pre- 

 pared accordingly. The female cell seems to know what 

 the spermatozoon will bring, so she leaves those same 

 things behind. She knows what he will have to contend 

 with in his struggle to reach her and that he cannot be 

 bothered with carrying a food supply, so she provides the 

 food. She seems to know how much she will need and 

 how long it will take the body cells to connect them with 

 food supply from the body. In several species special 

 food carriers .are provided, which are called nurse cells. 

 They stay with the germ cells and furnish them with food 

 until they get started in life. Here is what Prof. Wilson 

 has to say about them : 



"As the primordial germ cells enlarge and form the 

 mother cells of the egg, they almost invariably become 

 intimately associated with neighboring cells, which not 

 only support and protect them but also serve as a means 

 for the elaboration of food for the growing egg cells. In 



