Value of Sexual Reproduction. 153 



XVII. 



VALUE OF SEXUAL REPRODUCTION. 



INTERESTING and eventful as is the fact of 

 reproduction from the union of two, there no 

 doubt has arisen in the minds of many the query, 

 What is the necessity for two sexes? Why could 

 not the result be more easily and economically 

 obtained by one. 



Why cannot perfect reproductive cells be bud- 

 ded from every creature, perfect cells containing 

 within themselves power to develop into perfect 

 beings? 



There are several deep-lying reasons for the dual 

 necessity, some of which must already have sug- 

 gested themselves to the questioning mind. 



Remembering the history of certain of the pro- 

 tozoa, and how the union of one with another was 

 a matter of self-defence against starvation, then 

 recalling the close relation between reproduction 

 and nutrition in all creatures, it may not be unrea- 

 sonable to suppose that the effort of higher life to 

 produce the complex and vital reproductive ele- 

 ments is so great as to demand a division of labor 

 in the first place, and the union of forces in the 

 second. 



