360 
HERBERT H. BROWN. 
1, x). This separation of globules is of considerable interest 
from a biological standpoint, for it apparently corresponds to 
the separation of polar globules from the ovum, and may re- 
represent the elimination of the female element from the 
spermatozoa. Apparently the ova and spermatozoa are derived 
from similar embryonic cells — the primitive ova, which are 
hermaphrodite. In a cell which is destined to develop into 
spermatozoa the male element predominates, and increases 
until, by the separation of the globules, the spermatozoa 
become wholly male, while in the cell which is going to become 
an ovum the female element predominates, and by the separa- 
tion of the polar globules the cell becomes unisexed and ready 
to be fertilised by the addition of a new male element. 
In invertebrate animals the separation of the female element 
would seem to take place at an earlier period during the pro- 
duction of the spermatozoa, and not, as in the present in- 
stance, during the development ; and this is probably the 
meaning of the blastophoral body, as described by Blomfield 
in the case of the earthworm. 1 In this animal the young 
spermatozoa undergo their development in groups — “ the sperm 
polyblasts.” The “ sperm polyblast” is a mulberry-like mass, 
which results from the repeated division in geometrical pro- 
gression of a single cell — “ the spermatospore,” or male ovum ; 
during each division a certain amount of the protoplasm of the 
mother cell remains behind, connecting together the daughter 
cells; this residual protoplasm accumulates at the centre of the 
group of cells, so that when the process is completed the sperm 
polyblast is composed of a central protoplasmic body — the 
“ sperm blastophore,” which is covered all over by “ sperma- 
toblasts,” or young spermatozoa, which remain planted on the 
blastophore until their development is completed. 
This interpretation of the separation of the globules, and 
the comparison with the blastophore of the earthworm, was 
suggested to me by Professor Lankester, The blastophore of 
the earthworm, though it has much the same function as the 
1 “The Development of the Spermatozoa,” part i, “Lumbricus,” by J. 
E. Blomfield, B.A., ‘ Quart. Journ. Jlicr. Sci.,’ Jan., 1880. 
