JUGGLING WITH LIFE 



According to the amount of constriction this dumb- 

 bell mass may expand and become rounded in form, 

 in that case developing a single individual; or the 

 constriction may continue and Siamese twins will 

 result. 



ONE LIFE FOR TWO 



Not content with splitting one individual into two, 

 biologists have attempted successfully the opposite 

 experiment of fusing two individuals into one. Dr. 

 Driesch, at the Marine Biological Laboratory at 

 Naples, forced two embryos together at an early 

 stage, and caused their contents to blend. A single 

 giant embryo was thus produced. Professor Loeb 

 repeated this experiment, and was able to fuse more 

 than two eggs of the star fish, so that a single indi- 

 vidual developed where there should have been two 

 or three individuals. As in Dr. Driesch's experi- 

 ments, the resulting individual was much larger than 

 the average normal individual. 



It seems more than likely that this observed devel- 

 opment of abnormally large individuals by the fusing 

 of egg-cells, may give a clue to the otherwise inex- 

 plicable appearance now and then of a human giant, 

 the offspring of normal parents. The accidental 

 fusing of two ova may produce a giant, just as the 

 accidental division of an ovum produces identical 

 twins. 



In any event, the experiment of blending two or 

 more individuals in the laboratory to produce a 

 single individual suggests interesting questions as to 

 the personality and hereditary potentialities gf the 



H9 



