372 



TYLENCHUS CAXCELLATUS 



nirm 



tm OP 



A fundamental result of this phenomenon is 

 that organisms thus become exact or modified 

 expressions of the mathematical series 1, 2, 4, 8, 

 16, etc., a comparatively unheeded basic fact 

 worthy of careful attention. 



Is it not possible, simply by way of instance, 

 / /// / ^ R t ky studying carefully this more or less 

 MPlMDIttu apparent widespread mathematico-biological ex- 

 pression, we may reach a clearer understanding 

 of organic form and of phylogenetic relation- 

 ships? This question suggests others of deeper 

 tib Cfd import, since form is largely an expression of the 

 interplay of internal forces. 



Such a query leads to counting and comparing 

 more carefully the various features of organ- 

 isms, repetitive and otherwise. Among a multi- 

 Fig. i.-Femaie T v i- tude of others, such questions 



enchus cancettatus n. sp. ., ,, . TITI -j. 



The characters are set as this then ariSC! Why IS it 

 forth in the drawings and , , ,1,1,1 i e 



formula. Above, front that both the number ot 



view of head, followed by , . i , , 



frm 7 cross-sections arranged transverse annules and the 



"'" about opposite the por- , . -. ., , , i 



tions of the body sec- number of longitudinal ele- 

 ments in the cuticle of 

 many nemas is likely to 

 suggest some definite 

 relationship to the geo- 

 metrical series 1, 2, 4, 8, 

 16, etc.? The observed 

 numbers are certainly 

 cellular expressions of 

 the 1, 2, 4 series, or vari- 

 ants, but why and 

 according to what law 

 is it that very often 

 the numbers of ele- 

 ments met with are not 

 members of the series 

 but integers lying 

 between? Why is 

 it that chromosome- 

 counts are suggestive 

 of this same mathe- 

 matical concept? And 

 so on throughout the 

 range of organic struc- 

 2 4 -0.5 TOTO tures. Are not these 



