The Beginning of Life 49 



nourish the beginning existence. Dr. Charles 

 Mercier ^ aptly puts it thus, — '^My hypothesis 

 is that the contributions of these two elements 

 (sperm cell and germ cell) to the product differ 

 in this way : the female element contributes the 

 Bubstance or matter of the offspring; the male 

 element contributes the force or energy that 

 animates the matter. The female element is 

 the coals in the grate ; the male element is the 

 match that sets them alight." 



After conception, a series of marvelous 

 changes rapidly takes place. From the first 

 dawn of life to full development, there is con- 

 stantly going on a remarkable series of rapid 

 evolutions that are not only fraught with the 

 greatest interest but accompanied by the largest 

 possibilities. 



In the course of development before birth, the 

 human embryo passes through different stages 

 of resemblance to a similar period of evolution 

 in the lower animals. In various earlier stages, 

 the human embryo can hardly be distinguished 

 from the embryonic fish, reptile, and the lower 



T- Lancet, November 8, 1913. 



