9 6 



THE MECHANISM OF LIFE 



Without attaching to it an importance which is not 

 warranted by experimental results, it is interesting to note 

 that we have here two methods of fertilization, hypertonic and 



Fig. 34. — A triaster produced by diffusion. 



hypotonic, i.e. by centrosomes of greater concentration and 

 by centrosomes of less concentration than that of the plasma 

 of the ovum, and that we have in nature two corresponding 

 results, viz. two different sexes. It is possible that we have in 

 these two methods of producing nuclear division the secret of 

 the difference of sex. 



