758 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIII 



ent number of paternal and maternal features and character- 

 istics inherited by the respective children must be due to a vary- 

 ing quantity of the paternal body or germ-plasm carried to each 

 ovum fertilized by the varying number of spermatozoa" (100 

 or more). He armies for the necessity in human fertilization of 

 multiple spermatozoa on the basis of (1) prolific supply at each 

 ejaculation (200,000,000— Lode) ; (2) very frequent renewal ; (3) 

 long life in oviduct. According to this argument the color 

 of the child resulting from the development of the egg of a 

 blonde fertilized by the spermatozoon of a negro would be 

 blonde if only one sperm entered, black if many entered — the 



Again, the author holds that there is no question of heredity 

 or "the exhibiting of ancestral tendencies or peculiarities in a 

 varying degree" among the invertebrates! All that is necessary 

 here at fell ili/at ion is to provide stimulus to development; con- 

 ring one sperm is held to be sufficient for the same reason. The 

 number of spermatozoa demanded for the expression of any 

 particular degree of inheritance is believed to be indicated by the 

 number of micropyles in the egg. If always only one, or the 

 same number of spermatozoa, entered the human ovum there 

 could be no such thing as somatic variation. Evidently our 

 author knows^little of the later studies on the nature of fertiliza- 



general inheritance. It is stated that "many spermatozoa en- 

 tering the ovum lead to a father-like child whether boy or girl : 

 a tew only entering leave the yolk still maternally superior or 

 prepotent .so that the child whether boy or girl takes after the 

 mother * 1 because it is too much to ask of a single chance sperma- 

 tozoon "besides fertilizing the ovum nucleus, also ... to settle 

 the sex of the coming child and likewise impart to the oosperm 



skin faCe ' tdentS tendendes ' colorati ™ o f h^r, 



son am e,\es. mo\ements and mannerisms, and even diseases of 



chromosT'' ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ hypothesis that in the 



t liomosomes of a single spermatozoon reside such potency can 

 >< txp . lined the various phenomena of Mendelian inheritance 

 — -moieoxer. c uiracters can be added and subtracted in accord 

 with this theory. How could tHp t^«t™ * i j • 



eoum rnt phenomenon of color domi- 



