WHAT IS THE OFFICE OF THE SPERM-CELL? 319 



have seen to be identical, since not only are Fission and 

 Gemmation admitted to be identical, but we have further 

 seen that between Gemmation and Generation no real vital 

 distinction exists. By a real and vital distinction, I mean 

 one which implies an essential and indispensable diiFerence 

 in the two processes, and in the two results. But if the 

 Hydra produced from a bud is in every respect the same as 

 the Hydra produced from an ovum, and is capable in its turn 

 of producing buds and ova, we can hardly suppose this iden- 

 tity of result to arise from processes essentially tlissimilar. If 

 the Bee, or Moth, produced from an unfertilised egg is pre- 

 cisely the same as the Bee or Moth produced from the fer- 

 tilised egg, and is capable of producing offspring in the same 

 way, we can hardly suppose this identity of result to arise 

 from processes essentially dissimilar. We may distinguish the 

 process of the union of two cells from that of the simple divi- 

 sion of one cell, and call this union by the name of Genera- 

 tion ; and there will be obvious convenience in having such a 

 name ; but if the result of Generation is the production of an 

 animal perfect in all its parts, and capable of propagating its 

 species, it is quite clear that the union of two dissimilar cells 

 is not the essential and fundamental process necessary for such 

 a result, since the result is frequently attained without it. 

 When we consider Generation in the higher animals, we seem 

 justified in establishing the union of germ-cell and sperm- 

 cell as the distinctive and indispensable condition ; but when 

 we consider Generation in the abstract, and observe its phe- 

 nomena in the simpler animals, we are forced to admit that 

 this condition is no longer distinctive and indispensable, but 



