630 PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 



specimens than are dams, which should give a heavy prepon- 

 derance of males, a fact not substantiated. 



4. That service early in heat will produce a male (some say a 

 female), and that service late in heat (with ovum stale) will 

 produce the opposite sex. Disproved by the fact that in 

 nature females, especially in herds, are served early in heat, 

 a fact that should make the offspring practically all of one sex. 



5. That the older parent will determine the sex, some say 

 the parent nearest the prime of life ; not substantiated. 



6. That extreme sexual excitement on the part of the female 

 is almost certain to result in male (some say female) offspring. 

 This is a difficult assumption to prove or to disprove, because 

 everything turns upon what would be called extreme excitement, 

 and the singular fact is that the believers in this theory them- 

 selves appear quite unable to decide which sex is indicated by 

 the violent disturbances of the female ; some say one, some say 

 the other, until it looks like a case of the indigo test over again. 



It is inconceivable that the general disturbance of the body 

 attending heat should have the slightest influence upon the 

 character of the union of the nuclear matter of two germ cells, 

 which is all that we now know to be involved in fertilization. 



It is noticeable that nearly every theory on determination of 

 sex contains some trace of " male superiority," many going so 

 far as to state that females are undeveloped males. This con- 

 ceit is evidenced wherever an advantage is supposed to exist, as 

 by excess of fertilization, such advantage being always given 

 to the male. 



Any theory not involving obscure distinctions as does this 

 one can be easily proved or disproved by the statistical 

 method, always remembering that a correlation up to 50 per 

 cent is inevitable, indicating no cause at work but chance. It 

 is far more profitable to leave speculation and inquire what is 

 actually known about the causes that determine sex. 



Sex differences slight. First of all, the idea of fundamental 

 sex differences is greatly exaggerated. About the only attribute 

 that can be ascribed to " maleness " in general throughout the 

 whole range of life is a little higher state of activity, usually but 

 not always accompanied by somewhat decreased size. Typically 



