The Evolution of the Sciences 



saline solutions. It has thus been possible for 

 the function of the male celLto be discharged 

 by an entirely inorganic liquid, apparently 

 acting in a purely physical manner by deter- 

 mining a diffusion-current, which deprives the 

 egg of a certain quantity of water. The eggs 

 fertilised by chemical means were able to develop 

 into larvae, and, completing their metamorphosis, 

 to grow into sea-urchins and starfish similar in all 

 points, notwithstanding the smallness of their 

 dimensions, to the most fully formed adults of 

 their species; but more remarkable still, 

 parthenogenesis gave rise to a new species, a 

 sea-urchin with hexagonal symmetry, whereas 

 the symmetry of the present-day types is almost 

 invariably pentagonal. 



The investigations of Messrs Stephane Leduc, 

 Loeb and Delage are truly scientific. They 

 furnish new facts for the explanation of life. 

 The researches of Mr Burke have had a more 

 brilliant destiny; they startled, for a few hours, 

 the scientific world and puzzled even the general 

 public, which began to think that a synthesis of 

 living matter had at last been realised. 



In his youthful eagerness Mr Burke had 

 278 



