MIRACLES OF SCIENCE 



succeeded in causing the eggs of a relatively high 

 organism, the sea-urchin, to develop without fertili- 

 zation. 



The method by which Professor Loeb had effected 

 this astonishing result was a relatively simple one. 

 It consisted essentially in rendering the water in 

 which the eggs were kept more concentrated by the 

 addition of chemicals no more mysterious than com- 

 mon salt. As finally perfected, the process was a 

 trifle more complicated, inasmuch as the egg was 

 first placed for a brief period in a weak acid solution 

 before being subjected to the influence of the salt 

 solution. The acid causes the formation of a mem- 

 brane which ordinarly does not develop excepting in 

 a fertilized egg. The salt solution extracts a certain 

 amount of water from the cell and in so doing in- 

 augurates mysterious chemical changes that result 

 presently in the development of an embryo which 

 advances, for a time at least, as if the egg had been 

 fertilized. 



Professor Loeb's experiments were repeated by 

 various investigators, and more recently it is re- 

 ported that a French biologist has extended the 

 process to even higher organisms, and with the use 

 of a platinum needle and electricity has been able to 

 cause the development of unfertilized eggs of the 

 frog. This proof that even the egg cell of a verte- 

 brate may be caused to develop without fertilization 

 is highly interesting, suggesting as it does that there 

 is probably no limit to the possible extension of the 

 method; but the newer experiments are only an 

 amplification of the earlier demonstrations. Profes- 



144 



