EVIDENCES OF DESIGN IN. REPRODUCTIVE ELEMENTS 



149 



desire are equally predetermined. The globular, concentric, radiating, branched, segmented, curved, and spiral 

 arrangements of the reproductive cells are also predetermined. 



The way in which the male and female reproductive elements in the higher animals deport themselves is worthy 

 of careful study, as further illustrating design. In the human race, the male element or spermatozoon, and the 

 female element, ovum or egg, make their appearance in the boy and girl long anterior to puberty ; they can be 

 detected even in the male or female child. The reproductive elements anticipate the reproductive function by a 

 great many years. They are separate creations. The spermatozoa are prepared in incredible numbers in the testes 

 of the male, and the ova or eggs are developed in very large numbers in the ovaries or egg-sacs of the female. The 

 spermatozoa after puberty are always available ; the ova or eggs at stated intervals. The spermatozoa and ova 

 in the genus homo (and in animals generally) are living, and have separate existences. Their movements are neither 

 intellectual nor voluntary : yet they seek and find 

 each other with unerring precision. The ovum or 

 ova, as happens, are discharged from the surfaces of 

 the ovaries at the monthly periods, and find their way 

 into the Fallopian tubes of the uterus, where, after 

 the congress of the sexes, they are met by the sper- 

 matozoa. The spermatozoa enter the ova, and im- 

 pregnation, in healthy individuals, follows. The male 

 element penetrates the female element. The male 

 and female elements seek each other as wholes : the 

 essential parts of each element also seek the essential 

 parts of the complementary element and so ensure a 

 perfect amalgamation or blend. The male element 

 even sheds its vibratile flagellum or swimming tail 

 when it is no longer useful. The ovum extrudes a 

 portion of its substance (polar globule or directive 

 corpuscle) to make room for the spermatozoon, and 

 provides an aperture for its entrance. This aperture 

 is, in due course, found and utiUsed by the sperma- 

 tozoon. The male and female sexual elements are 

 to be regarded as centres of force, and streams of 

 power and growth radiate from them as Ught from 

 a star : indeed the term aster, in embryology, is 

 employed to denote certain radiating structures and 

 movements. These extraordinary arrangements can 

 only be accounted for by design and prevision. For 

 changes occurring in the cell, especially in the nucleus, 

 after impregnation, see Plates Ixi., Ixii., and Ixiii., pp. 154, 156, and 158. 



When the male and female sexual elements have met and blended with each other, a still more remarkable 

 series of phenomena present themselves. As a matter of fact, two sets of changes are to be noted, namely, those 

 which occur before impregnation, and those which occur after impregnation. 



The series of changes before and after impregnation are involved and complicated, but they form, strictly 

 speaking, different stages or phases of the reproductive process, which is to be regarded as one continuous act. 

 The term evolution, if employed at all in this connection, can only be employed, strictly speaking, in 

 development. 



Reproduction consists of a progressive series of co-ordinated transformations and movements in the male 

 and female elements : these elements participating equally, but in different ways. The transformations are of 

 the most remarkable and striking character, and cannot be explained as apart from pre-arrangement, design, and 



a Designer. 



In some animals reproduction results in the most beautiful concentric, radiating, branching, and spiral arrange- 

 ments, and in a compUcated process of weaving as shown at Plates Ixi. and Ixii. In others it gives rise to 

 bewildering divisions and reunions, and the formation of membranes and other structures as shown in Plates Ixi., 



Ixii., and Ixiv. 



The appearances presented by, and the changes occurring in, the sexual elements of plants are m some respects 

 quite as extraordinary as those witnessed in animals. Plate Ixv. shows the appearance presented by the pollen. 



Fig. 34. — A. Tnnia saginata. B. Yi.ea.di oi Ta.'nia svlmni. C. Semi-dia- 

 gi-ammatic view of a single proglottis of tienia. «, Ovaiy ; 6, testis ; 

 <S receptacle ; d, seminal vesicle ; e, common sexual aperture ; /, uteras ; 

 g, yolk -gland ; h, shell-gland ; i, excretory canal ; j, nerve cord. D, E, F, 

 G, H. Development of Tasnia solium (after Leuckart). 



