112 STUDIES IN ELECTRO-PHYSIOLOGY: 



(3) the force of attraction or repulsion varies inversely as 

 the square of the distance between the two electrified 

 bodies, and directly as the amount of the charge of the two 

 bodies. 



We are also aware that one of the earliest changes to 

 occur in mitosis and in segmentation is the breaking up of 

 the nuclear membrane. Assume, then, that the nucleus is 

 an electrified body and that those portions of it which 

 become the polar bodies are the first to detach themselves 

 or be detached from it, and the process of extrusion (by 

 repulsion) becomes clear. We are also entitled to believe 

 that their amount of charge is exactly equal, and have 

 seen that the chromosomes are always in multiples of two. 

 That being so, the latter should, upon regaining some 

 measure of their insulation, trend towards the polar bodies 

 (by attraction) in two groups of equal numbers. 



In plant life sexual reproduction is first found in the 

 form of conjugation, as in mucor and spirogyra, where the 

 male and female elements are similar in shape and size. They 

 are simple cells, and fuse together to produce a zygospore. 

 " Fucus exhibits sexual production alone, and that in a 

 very typical manner. Male and female organs, in this case 

 trichomes, are present, which produce respectively small 

 motile male cells, spermatozoids, and passive, relatively 

 large female cells, the oospheres. One male cell fuses with 

 each female cell, which is now fertilised, and can develop 

 into a new plant." (Davis.) 



The phenomena presented by sexual or asexual repro- 

 duction appear to be common to all forms of animal and 

 vegetable life, from the lowest to the highest. The presence 

 of nuclei has been demonstrated in the vegetative and 

 reproductive parts of fungi belonging to widely separated 

 orders, and Schizomycetes are of the class of fungi and 

 require organic matter as food ; in diatomaceae and in 

 protozoa ; and I have little doubt that if a sufficiently high 



