Problems of Fertilization

Abstract

THE problem of fertilisation, of what really happens when the, spermatozoon meets the ovum, and of how the latter is incited to begin the long series of rhythmical cleavages that finally result in a new organism,is one of the most interesting, and at the same time one of the most complex in biological science. From the time of Aristotle, whoheldthat “thefemale always supplies the, matter, the male the power of creation,” the, problem has engaged the attention of biological philosophers and no doubt it will,continue to do so for generations to come, for the moreitisinvestigatedthe more intricateit becomes, and each new theory, evolved under the influence of new experimentalmethods,isidis- carded in turn as our knowledge of facts increases. Not theleast interesting part of Prof. Lillie's book is the historical survey with which it opens. The discovery of the spermatozoon by Leeuwen-hoek and Hamm in 1677 was epoch-making for biological science,and, of course, was rendered possible only by the adventofthecompound microscope. Like all other great discoveries, it was immediately followed by sensational nonsense, and we find "a certain Dr. Dalen Patius "claiming that the human body isactually visible in perfect miniature within the spermatozoon! This grotesque view, however,wasbutanextreme form of that held by the spermatist. school, in general, which maintained that the ovum plays no other part in the production of the young animal than that of furnishing the germ contained in the spermatozoon with nourishment.

Problems of Fertilization.

By Prof. Frank Rattray Lillie. (The University of Chicago Science Series.) Pp. xii + 278. (Chicago, 111.: The University of Chicago Press; London: The Cambridge University Press, 1919.) Price 1.75 dollars net.