A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, PUBLISHING THE 



OFFICIAL NOTICES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 



FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 



Friday, October 4, 1907 



CO'NTE'NTS 



On the Chemical Character of the Process of 

 Fertilization and its Bearing upon the 

 Theory of Life Phenomena: Peofessob 

 Jacques Loeb 425 



Scientific Books: — 



Mathematical Teost-iooks: Peofessor C. J. 

 Keysee. Von Noorden's Metabolism and 

 Practical Medicine: Peofessob Otto Folin. 

 Clements's Plant Physiology and Ecology: 

 Peofessob Chaeles E. Bessey 437 



Scientifi.0 Journals and Articles 441 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



The Parasitism of Neocosmospora: Howaed 

 S. Reed. An Official Letter on " Temper- 

 ance Physiologies " : Peofessob M. A. Bige- 

 ^Lp^y. The Types of North American Centra 

 of Birds : Peofessob Witmee Stone 441 



■Special Articles: — ■ 



Sotne Old-ivorld Types of Insects in the 

 Miocene of Colorado: Peofessob T. D. A. 

 Cockekell. Census of Four Square Feet: 

 W. L. McAtee 446 



Quotations : — 



Agricultural Education 449 



Current Notes on Land Forms: — 



Relation of Valleys to Joints; Valleys of 

 Southwestern Wisconsin; Block Mountains 

 in New Zealand: W. M. D 450 



James Carroll: G. M. S 453 



Scientifio Notes and News 453 



University and Educational News 455 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., Intended for 

 -review should be sent to the Editor of Science, Garrison-on' 

 Hudson, K. Y. 



ON THE CHEMICAL CHARACTER OF THE 



PROCESS OF FERTILIZATION AND ITS 



BEARING UPON THE THEORY OF 



LIFE PHENOMENA^ 



I 



There may be a difference of opinion 

 as to whether or not it will ever be possible 

 to produce living matter from inanimate; 

 but I think we all agree that we can not 

 well hope to succeed in making living 

 matter artificially unless we have a clear 

 conception of what living matter is. Liv- 

 ing organisms have the peculiarity of de- 

 veloping and reproducing themselves auto- 

 matically, and it is this automatic character 

 of reproduction and development which 

 differentiates them, for the time being, 

 from machines made of inanimate matter. 

 Hence the answer to the question of what 

 living matter is will have to be an answer 

 to the question what determines the phe- 

 nomena of automatic development and re- 

 production. Since all life phenomena are 

 ultimately purely chemical, the answer 

 must consist in pointing out one or more 

 series of definite chemical reactions, for 

 which it can be proved that they are iden- 

 tical with the phenomena of development 

 and self -perpetuation. It always seemed to 

 me that the natural starting point for a 

 search after this definite chemical reaction 

 or series of reactions was the analysis of 

 that process which causes the resting egg to 

 develop into an embryo, namely, the process 

 of fertilization. 



'Address delivered at the International Zoolog- 

 ical Congress at Boston, August 22, 1907. 



