VOLVOX GLOBATOR 63 



Nature's purposeful prodigality whereby there is in- 

 surance against risks and chances. Were only one 

 spermatozoid formed for one egg-cell, it might miss its 

 mark; but seeing that the proportion of male elements 

 to egg-cells averages about sixteen to one, the risk of 

 failure to fertilize is negligible. The male elements are 

 poorly nourished; they are creatures of an hour, special- 

 ized vehicles of a mysterious stimulus, eager, excited, 

 even feverish in their passion for union with their natural 

 mates; sufficient nutrient material within their slender 

 bodies to sustain them in their mission is all they need. 

 They seem to have meat to eat that we know not of, 

 for it is not by strength of body but by some elusive 

 power of which we know nothing that they do their 

 work. The egg-cell is the potential mother, furnished 

 by Nature with abundant substance for the building up 

 of that sacred thing which it is called to bear. One 

 might almost aver that the egg-cell, or mother-element, 

 is the builder of the body, while the male element is the 

 vehicle of the soul of the as yet unborn colony. 



In Gonium, Pandorina, and Volvox we have seen 

 three stages in the evolution of colonial aggregates of 

 cells of the Ghlamydomonas type. Volvox is the most 

 speciaHzed form, but there are intermediate forms that 

 we have not described that fill in the gaps and make a 

 complete series, illustrating an attempt of Nature to 

 evolve higher plants along the lines of spherical colonies. 

 The attempt culminated in Volvox. The whole series 

 stands as a side-line of evolution. Volvox leads no- 

 where; it is a cul-de-sac. One could hardly expect the 

 attempt to succeed beyond such a stage, for the Volvox 

 colony is delicate, easily ruptured, and liable to collapse. 



