SEX IN LIVING FOEMS 93 



reproductive element, the zoosj)erm or the ovum? The 

 ancients supposed the male element to be the essential 

 element, being simply nourished and developed by the 

 female ; but modern research in biological science does 

 not sustain this view. Probably neither one enjoys 

 special pre-eminence; for neither can undergo com- 

 plete development without the other. In very rare 

 cases, the ovum has been observed to undergo a cer- 

 tain amount of development of itself; but a perfect 

 individual can be produced only by the union of the two 

 kinds of elements,— a process known as fecundation. 



The fact that the spermatozoa are swallowed up 

 and lost in the ovule, would rather indicate that the 

 spermatozoa are inferior in physiological importance 

 to the ovule, and that their chief action is to stimulate 

 the ovule to active growth and complete development. 



The instant the union between the ovum and sper- 

 matozoa occurs, the life of a new individual begins. Ail 

 the changes which result between that moment and the 

 birth of the individual are those of development only. 

 Indeed, the same existence continues from the instant 

 of the union of the two elements, not only until birth, 

 but through growth, the attainment of maturity, the 

 decline of life, and even until death. 



It is interesting to observe the different methods 

 by which fecundation is effected, in both plants and 

 animals ; for this is a process common to both. 



Fecundation in Flowers.— The great naturalist, 

 Linnaeus, was the first to explain the reproductive proc- 

 ess in plants. He tells us that ''the flower forms the 

 theater of their amours; the calyx is to be considered 

 as the nuptial bed; the corolla constitutes the cur- 

 tains ; the anthers are the testes ; the pollen, the fecun- 

 dating fluid ; the stigma of the pistil, the external gen- 



