THE MALE-CELL OR SPERMATOZOON. IO o. 



important observations are those of Miescher, on the milt of salmon. His anal- 

 ysis demonstrated the presence of lecithin, fat, and cholesterin — also component 

 parts of the ovum. Besides these, after the heads of the spermatozoa have been 

 formed, Meischer detected the abundant presence of a substance which he 

 called protamin, which occurs in association with the nuclein already noted as 

 present in the yelk. Albuminoid material, and products of decomposition, such 

 as sarkin and guanin, were demonstrated, according to Hensen, by Picard. 



Miescher emphasized the interesting fact that while the sperm is being formed 

 in the Rhine salmon, the animal is fasting. As no food whatever is taken and as 

 the muscularity of the fish is well known to decrease greatly, Miescher directly 

 connected the degeneration of the lateral muscles with the development of the 

 spermatozoa. 



Zacharias has more recently made a micro-chemical comparison of the male 

 and female elements in Characecp, mosses, ferns, phanerogams, and amphibians. 

 He finds that the male cells are distinguished by their small or absent nucleoli, 

 and by their rich content of nuclein; while the female elements exhibited a pov- 

 erty of nuclein, an abundance of albumen, and one or more nucleoli, more or 

 less large in proportion. The male cells have, in relation to their protoplasm, a 

 larger nuclear mass than the female elements. 



It is interesting to notice that two investigators have recently pointed out that 

 an analysis of two different kinds of pollen showed a great analogy of composi- 

 tion between these male reproductive cells and those of the salmon and ox. 



