THE AMEBIC AN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIV 



embarrassed on this score. Balomoglossus koivalewskii, 

 which served him such a good turn in his contention re- 

 garding the subtle similarity between the regeneration 

 and development of the ccelome of the collar, is of no 

 avail for the present purpose. In Balanoglossus kowa- 

 lewskii the coelome of the proboscis arises immediately 

 from the primitive gut as an unpaired outgrowth. But 

 what does it really matter how this end is accomplished 

 in Balauofilossus kowuleirskii? And why, proceeds Davy- 

 doff, should we be hasty in emphasizing too strongly this 

 difference between ontogeny and regeneration, as long as 

 we know absolutely nothing concerning the formation of 

 the coelome of the proboscis in the ontogeny of Enterop- 

 neustaf 



Davydoff 's criticisms, after the fashion of his argu- 

 mentation, is superficial and unsubstantial. His criti- 

 cism of Morgan misses the point completely. Attacking 

 Morgan as the foremost leader of the opposite camp, and 

 as one who gave the ablest expression to the skepticism 

 concerning the supposed causal relation between proc- 

 esses of regeneration and ontogeny, Davydoff remarks: 



We must agree that Morgan's arguments as well as his whnlo critique 

 are exceedingly weak. While referring in the literary index [Regenera- 

 tion, 1907] to a number of works contradicting his views, he none the 

 less makes no mention of them in the text, but exalts a few facts, which 

 are in reality of no great significance, and often even count directly 

 a:raiii>t "Moroni's own contentions fp. 65). 



This statement requires some comment, so unjustified 

 does it appear to me. In the first place, that Morgan re- 

 fers to works which take the other side in the disputed 

 question is a good warrant that the question has not been 

 considered one-sidedly. Davydoff, on the contrary, for 

 some esoteric reasons and without any excuse whatever, 

 closes his eyes upon the facts which challenge his hypoth- 

 esis. Furthermore, Davydoff 's allusion to the work of 

 Abel, as one of a number of works supporting his as- 

 sumptions, might likewise be questioned upon AbePs 

 own authority. For Abel, enumerating the different 



