XIII. 



THE WOMAN OF EVOLUTION AND THE WOMAN 

 OF PESSIMISM. 



THE primary function of sex is the production of 



variation. Unlikeness among organisms makes possible 



an increased number. With variety of 



qualities there is room for variety in 



meaning of sex. . ,. . , 



adaptation to the possible conditions of 



life. With single parentage or parthenogenesis the 

 young will resemble the parent so exactly that the com- 

 petition one with another must be of the closest possible 

 kind. In the degree that competition is close it must be 

 destructive. With double parentage no organism can 

 be a slavish copy of any other. Each creation must in 

 the nature of things have twice as many ancestors as 

 either parent had, and from these ancestors the mosaic 

 of its hereditary character must be made up. 



In the beginning of life, so far as we know, the two 

 sexes must have been identical. From the point of view 

 of evolution neither can be superior nor prior to the 

 other. Each is complementary to the other ; the dif- 

 ferences which have arisen in the progress of develop- 

 ment being responses to the needs of 



Primal equality division Qf , abour 



of sexes. , ..... 



The cells of Protozoa which unite in 



the function of conjugation are apparently alike as to 

 sex. Their union serves to modify the hereditary char- 



