i'iijiilli 
 
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The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240757731 1 3 
 
..CORNELL UNIVEHSITV LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 075 773 113 
 
THE LAW 
 
 Sex Determination 
 
 PRACTICAL APPLICATION 
 
 BY 
 
 LAURA A. CALHOUN 
 
 (MRS. E. E. CALHOUN) 
 
 THE EUGENICS PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 G. P. O. Box 935, New York City 
 
 New York, 1910 
 
Copyrighted 1910 by 
 
 LAURA A. CALHOUN 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
THIS WORK 
 IS 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 TO ALL WHO MAY BE MINDED TO LOOK INTO THE MYSTERIES 
 or THIS MUTABLE EARTH-LIFE AND INVESTIGATE 
 THE VARIOUS MEANS OF ITS GREAT 
 PROGRESSIONS 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The problem of sex determination has always been of great 
 interest. It has been the subject of investigation at all times, 
 and has been supposed to have many solutions. These solu- 
 tions have usually proved to be founded on nothing better 
 than conjecture and coincidence, the two factors that vitiate 
 so many investigations with regard to things human. During 
 the last two or three generations there have been so many 
 disappointments in this matter that there has come to be a 
 very general impression that the problem would never be 
 solved. The present volume is a contribution to the subject 
 founded on observation in human beings and experiments in 
 cattle breeding. The writer is convinced that at least very 
 definite progress toward the solution of the problem, if not 
 its actual solution, has been made by these studies. And 
 they are here presented to the public entirely with the idea 
 of securing scientific control, and it is hoped eventual confirma- 
 tion of this law, by further observation and experiment con- 
 ducted under such variant conditions as will test it effectively. 
 
 Publication has not been undertaken hurriedly, though this 
 subject might be presumed to be a sensational and popular idea. 
 Not only have the studies been pursued for years, but a number 
 of distinguished biologists have been consulted, and all of them 
 agreed that the subject was worthy of thorough consideration, 
 and that the work that had been done should be published in 
 order that further investigation of a like nature from differing 
 
 (5) 
 
6 PREFACE 
 
 standpoints might be made. In order that the subject should 
 be better understood, and that the scope in biological investiga- 
 tion in cognate subjects in recent years should be better known, 
 a number of contributions in the recent biological literature 
 relating to this subject and to cognate topics have been quoted. 
 These serve not only to give information that is interesting 
 in itself, but also indicate how much progress is being made 
 in subjects and with regard to biological relations that were 
 formerly, and that not so very long ago, thought to be quite 
 outside the domain of investigation. It is evident that there 
 are a great many questions relating to human origins that are 
 to lose most of their mystery in the near future, and sex determi- 
 nation would seem to be one of these that has now yielded to 
 patient research. This work does not pretend to explain or 
 analyze the phenomena of the presence of the two sexes 
 among beings nor the possibility of a neutral sex among them, 
 but it has to do with the knowledge of manifest mechanics that 
 determine which of the two sexes shall appear in offspring. 
 The observation has been made that there is a definite check 
 on any tendency that might exist in humanity toward an over- 
 production, or even an overpreservation, of either sex; that 
 nature has some means even of restoring the equilibrium of 
 the sexes when that has been disturbed by unusual conditions 
 in humanity. After the Thirty Years' War, for instance, in 
 Germany so many men had perished in battle, by pestilence in 
 camp, by ineffectual medical and surgical assistance, from famine 
 because of neglect of agriculture and the waste of planted 
 territory, that it is said there were two women alive for every 
 man in the region we now know as the German Empire. 
 Because of this some of the German states relaxed their mar- 
 riage laws and allowed a man to have two wives. The balance 
 
PREFACE 7 
 
 of the sexes, it is stated, at once began to restore itself, and 
 before the end of the century the normal equilibrium of the 
 sexes had once more been reestablished. 
 
 Such biological mutations with regard to the ratio of the 
 sexes have also been noted in other animals as well as man, and 
 these have been employed with the idea of throwing light on 
 cases similar to the classical example of the German population 
 after the Thurty Years' War. The question of the explanation 
 of them has been taken up very seriously. A few years ago 
 it was thought that some very significant and definite conclu- 
 sions in the matter had been reached from experiments and 
 observations on tadpoles. Some were led to believe that by 
 feeding embryonic forms of the frog in various ways when they 
 were sexless great influence might be exerted upon sex forma- 
 tion. Embryos fed luxuriantly developed into females in much 
 greater proportion than usual, while those scantily fed developed 
 more frequently into males. 
 
 Unfortunately, further experiments and observations have 
 not confirmed this conclusion, though as yet there are many 
 biologists who consider that there is something in it, and that 
 this is one mode of investigating nature's methods in the 
 determination of sex. Apply this conclusion to the case 
 above cited of a restoration of the equilibrium of the sexes 
 after the Thirty Years' War. At times when men are in small 
 proportion in the population, women have to work much 
 harder, the means of sustenance are limited, and the human 
 embryos, therefore, may be expected to receive much less nutri- 
 tion than usual, or, at least, to be much less likely to have a 
 superabundance of nutrition, and therefore, because of these 
 privations and vicissitudes during the Thirty Years' War, 
 according to this theory, a great preponderance of boy babies 
 
8 PREFACE 
 
 would have been born in the German states during thirty years, 
 and therefore, at the end of that period, could there have been 
 two women for every man? And according to this theory, 
 after the war, in case there were two women to every man, the 
 mothers being more luxuriantly fed, war ended, the men at 
 home, it would seem that the equilibrium would continue to be 
 disturbed by the preponderance of girl babies bom — if lux- 
 uriant or scanty nutrition determine sex. It is easy to see 
 why there should be the supposition of scanty or luxuriant 
 nutrition as determining factors in the sex of cattle, although 
 such a theory has not been susceptible of substantiation, and 
 the so-called " hunger sex" among them is reasonably accounted 
 for along other lines in the light of the sex-determining law 
 as the author understands it. 
 
 These and such considerations serve to show that evidently 
 the problem of sex determination was not solved by processes 
 of nutrition, and yet that it is just a biological problem that 
 will have its solution and probably in some very simple way. A 
 great American biologist once said that Nature always accom- 
 plishes her purposes much more simply than the philosophic 
 theorist or maker of scientific hypotheses is likely to think. And, 
 indeed, it is a simple solution of this problem that is found. 
 The explanation offered in this book might very well be applied 
 to the conditions that are said to have existed after the Thirty 
 Years' War, since in times of hardship and severe labor the 
 positions assumed before and during sleep are likely to have 
 definite reference to the muscles that have been employed 
 during the day and their mode of employ. We know nothing, 
 then, that in any way contradicts the idea here advanced, and 
 much that seems to suggest that some such simple explanation 
 is probably the correct solution of this interesting problem. 
 
PREFACE 9 
 
 While the writer has carefully investigated the conditions of 
 the problem, and has come definitely to the conclusion here 
 announced, and is familar with the biological literature relating 
 to the subject, she feels that trained biologists will probably 
 find here and there in the work traces of the amateur rather 
 than of the professional biological worker. Dealing with a 
 difficult subject, she would crave indulgence for such inaccu- 
 racies in the use of terms as may have occasionally crept in. 
 The subject is placed before the scientific world with the 
 definite idea of eliciting opinions and proving an incentive 
 to other work along the same line. We have learned so much 
 about human conditions by observation and experiment in late 
 years, and the outlook for future biology is so promising because 
 of recent studies, that this contribution is offered not for its 
 popular interest, but for the sake of quickening at once the 
 practical and scientific consideration of the same problem. 
 
 Laura A. Calhoun. 
 New York City, 1910. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 The Law of Sex Determination Among Human Beings and Higher 
 Animals, with the Discussion of Some Theories of Sexual 
 Biology which this Law Seems to Entail 13 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 Sex-determining Factors in the Reproduction of Human Beings 
 and Higher Animals, and Their Different Modes of 
 Operation 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Methods for Determining the Sex of Human Offspring — the Sex- 
 determining Law Consistent with an Apparent Scheme of 
 Human Architecture 39 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Telegyny S° 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Some Matters Addressed Especially to Women 78 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Sex-determining Theories and Basic Principles Involved ... 103 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Basic Principles Involved in Other Theories 105 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Dr. Erasmus Darwin on Human Generation and Sex Determina- 
 tion in the Year 1784 127 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Excerpts from the History of the General Subject of Sex, by 
 
 WiUiam H. Howell, Ph.D., M.D 138 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Excerpts from Cellular Life History as Set Forth by Leading 
 
 Scientists of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries . . 145 
 
 (II) 
 
12 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Physiological Inter-relation of the Cells. By Dr. Edmund 
 
 B. Wilson, of Columbia University 162 
 
 PART III. 
 
 Synopses of a Number of Popular Sex-determination Theories by 
 Leading Scientists, with an Analysis and Valuation of their ' 
 Practicability According to Other Prominent Scientists of 
 Today - 177 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 A Theory of Sex Determination, by William Ernest Castle, of 
 
 Harvard College 179 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Views on Sex Determination, by M. L. Cu^not, of Nancy, France 186 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Theory of John Beard 196 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Views on Sex Determination, by Professor T. H. Morgan . . 200 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Views on the Origin and Determination of Sex, by John Adam 
 
 Ryder - 206 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The Dependence of Sexual Difference Upon Outward Influences, 
 
 by the Late Professor S. L. Schenck, of Vienna .... 209 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 On the Evolution of Sex and Sex Determination, by Geddes and 
 
 J. Arthur Thomson, 1889 . . . , 218 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Statistical Inquiry Into the ProbabiUty of Causes of the Produc- 
 tion of Sex in Human Oflfspring, by Professor Simon 
 Newcomb, 1904 225 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Heredity and Sex — Internal Conditions, by Dr. J. Arthur Thomson 236 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Ofl&ce and Purpose of the Sexes 241 
 
 AFF£NSIX 247 
 
PART I. 
 
 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION AMONG HUMAN 
 
 BEINGS AND HIGHER ANIMALS, WITH THE 
 
 DISCUSSION OF SOME THEORIES OF 
 
 SEXUAL BIOLOGY WHICH THIS 
 
 LAW SEEMS TO ENTAIL. 
 
 , ('3) 
 
THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION AND 
 ITS PRACTICAL APPLICATION. 
 
 PURPOSE OF THIS WORK. 
 
 The purpose of this work is to set forth as well 
 as may be two theses : one concerns the law which 
 determines the sex of the embryo in man and the 
 higher animals, and the other a practical application 
 of the theory thus involved to the needs of human 
 life. 
 
 (IS) 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS IN THE REPRODUC- 
 TION OF HUMAN BEINGS AND HIGHER ANIMALS, 
 AND THEIR DIFFERENT MODES OF 
 OPERATION. 
 
 THEORY OF SEX DETERMINATION. 
 
 The writer maintains that the sex of the embryo in 
 man and the higher animals is determined in the ovary 
 from which the ovum in question is developed. In 
 the normal female the ovary of the right side yields 
 ova which on fertilization develop as males, and the 
 ovary of the left side yields ova which are potentially 
 female. (See Plate I.) 
 
 VOLUNTARY DETERMINATION OF SEX. 
 
 If the above thesis is true, it is possible in human 
 life to determine sex at will by some method which 
 will provide that only those ova of the sex desired 
 shall become fertilized. To this end the influence of 
 gravitation can be utilized. The ova are met by the 
 spermatozoa at or near the ovary. The direction that 
 these fertilizing spermatozoa take, whether passing to 
 
 (17) 
 
18 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 the right ovary or the left ovary, must depend largely 
 upon the law of gravity; that is, the spermatozoa 
 would be carried by the fluid which contains them, 
 according to the law of gravity, their power of loco- 
 motion affected not only by their own natural actively 
 aggressive quality, but, as has been demonstrated, by 
 their contact with the ciliary movements in the epithe- 
 lium lining the passages. 
 
 In order that fertilizing spermatozoa shall reach 
 the right or left ovary, it is necessary that gravity 
 should carry them in the direction desired. (See 
 page 44, Chapter II.) 
 
 VERIFICATION OF THIS THEORY. 
 
 Certain scientists have suggested, including Ahl- 
 feld, Schultz, Cuenot, Beard, and others, a theory 
 that the sex of human offspring is determined in the 
 egg; that is, that all human ova contain at the same 
 time both sexes, potentially, and that the sex of the 
 developing embryo of a given ovum is finally deter- 
 mined — ^whether it is to be male or female — accord- 
 ing to influences to which the germ cell is subjected 
 before or at fertilization. Some hold that these in- 
 fluences are the result of the nutrition received by the 
 mother during pregnancy; some that they are de- 
 pendent upon the laws of dominance, segregation, etc. 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 19 
 
 Within a few weeks there has been reviewed another 
 egg theory, by E. Rumley Dawson, who claims, 
 however, that the sex of the offspring is dependent 
 upon a monthly periodic ovulation, alternating male 
 and female ova, and that this period is manifested 
 only by the monthly menstruation. (For this last egg 
 theory, see Appendix, page 247.) And as a conse- 
 quence of this alternating periodic ovulation of male 
 and female ova, its author claims that he is able by 
 careful data from the mother to forecast after the first 
 born the sex of a child to be born; and, also, that after 
 the first child born, he would be able from this exact 
 and careful data from the mother possibly to deter- 
 mine the sex of the next child to be conceived. How- 
 ever, up to the present none of these egg theories have 
 received adequate verification. 
 
 PRACTICAL VERIFICATION. 
 
 The writer is not in a position to furnish absolute 
 verification, through methods of anatomy or physi- 
 ology, of her theory. She has no laboratories nor 
 methods of precision by which her theory can be di- 
 rectly tested. But she is convinced of its truth from 
 her own extensive experience in its practical applica- 
 tion for a period of thirty years. She lived on a ranch 
 in one of the mountain valleys in Southern California, 
 
20 .THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 and there experimented with flowers, vegetables, and 
 fruits. The result was that interesting and fantastic 
 qualities in color, size, and shape appeared among 
 them. These experiments were made not as a student 
 of science, but as a lover of nature.' (See Appendix, 
 page 249.) 
 
 The cattle, goats, and pigs were slaughtered on the 
 ranch, and the size, shape, color, and location of the 
 nerves, fibers, filaments, ganglia, and vitals of the 
 dissected animals were as instructive and interesting 
 as the living animals' personalities and habits. (See 
 Appendix, page 250.) 
 
 A considerable acquaintance was made with the 
 nature and habits of fowls, also with the growth and 
 maturation of their interior structure. 
 
 The horses and cattle were so generously endowed 
 with the elemental qualities of the primitive human 
 being that they made first-rate companions. They 
 are exceedingly entertaining in their affections and 
 jealousies for their own kind, as well as their likes 
 and dislikes for human beings. 
 
 ' My husband. Judge E. E. Calhoun, on account of his official 
 and business duties, was obliged to remain at Bakersfield, the 
 county seat, a great deal of the time. Because of this necessity, 
 my solitude, I realize now, was the best possible opportunity for 
 acquiring knowledge of some of Nature's facts concerning the 
 plant and animal life on our ranch. 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 21 
 
 Scarcely less interesting and instructive than these 
 creatures were those of the almost microscopic life. 
 
 It was from the ardent desire of having and always 
 seeking, that, little by little, from here and from there, 
 the principles of the law of sex determination became 
 manifest to her. And according to this law a son was 
 born to her. Afterward, from time to time, friends 
 were instructed when they would desire a son or a 
 daughter. The results have always verified the law, 
 which during thirty years of observation and testing 
 have never failed. 
 
 RECORD OF CASES. 
 
 For obvious reasons actual names cannot be given, 
 but the accuracy of the following is vouched for and 
 represents a variety of phases of the law of sex deter- 
 mination in different experiences: 
 
 Mrs. J. C, of Bakersfield, California, after having 
 given birth to six or seven sons successively, after fol- 
 lowing these directions gave birth to a daughter in 
 1880. 
 
 Mrs. N. E. E. C, of Bakersfield, California, had 
 given birth to six daughters successively, and after 
 that, according to these directions, gave birth to a 
 son. 
 
 Mrs. J. H., of Caliente, California, in 1880, wish- 
 
22 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 ing her first child to be a son, according to these 
 directions gave birth to a son; also, desiring the sec- 
 ond child to be a son, two years after, by these same 
 directions, gave birth to the second son. Then wish- 
 ing a daughter, according to these directions, in 1885 
 gave birth to a daughter. 
 
 Mrs. T. B., of Bakersfield, California, had given 
 birth to four sons successively. Her right ovary be- 
 came diseased and her physician found it necessary to 
 remove it; but as her left ovary seemed healthy and 
 normal, it was not removed. Since that operation she 
 has given birth to several children, and they have all 
 been girls. 
 
 Mrs. A. J. W., of Pacific Grove, California, having 
 had four daughters, wished for a son, and accord- 
 ing to these directions, in 1885 gave birth to a 
 son. 
 
 Mrs. A. P., of Watsonville, California, having had 
 two sons, wished for a daughter, and according to 
 these directions, in 1884 gave birth to a daughter. 
 
 Mrs. H. M. S., of Santa Crux, California, had had 
 three daughters and wished for a son. In 1883, accord- 
 ing to these directions, she gave birth to a son. 
 
 Mrs. J. G., of Santa Clara, California, had two sons 
 and wished for a daughter, and according to these 
 directions, in 1883 gave birth to a daughter. 
 
 Mrs. M. J., of Fresno, California, had three daugh- 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 23 
 
 ters, and according to these directions had two sons 
 afterward. Both of these sons were born some time 
 during the '80s. 
 
 Mrs. K. S., of Bakersfield, California, had three 
 sons and wished for a daughter, and according to 
 these directions, in 1890 gave birth to a daughter. 
 
 Mrs. A. B., of San Jose, California, had five daugh- 
 ters, and according to these directions, in 1895 gave 
 birth to a son. 
 
 Mrs. G. J., of San Fransico, California, wishing her 
 first child to be a daughter, according to these direc- 
 tions her first child was a daughter, born in 1905. 
 
 Mrs. A. W. H., of San Francisco, California, after 
 having been married about a year, and not becoming 
 pregnant, was given electric treatment to her left 
 ovary, but only to her left. She took treatment to her 
 left ovary, after having received these directions, as 
 the wished for a daughter. And accordingly, in 1896, 
 gave birth to a daughter. About four years later she 
 became pregnant again and said to me: "If your 
 theory is true, this child will be a girl also." In due 
 time the child was born, a daughter. 
 
 Countess H. S., of London, England, wished her 
 first child to be a son. In 1885 I had written her care- 
 ful directions concerning the law governing the deter- 
 mination of sex, and during the years that followed 
 we corresponded much upon the various phases of 
 
24 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 this theory according to her observations after my 
 directions to her, and upon various phases occurring 
 among my observations. For a period of two years 
 after her marriage she observed carefully the direc- 
 tions for having a son, but she had no child during 
 that time. She then gave up the idea of having a son, 
 and lay on her left side, vs^hen she was soon pregnant, 
 and in due time gave birth to a daughter. (See Ap- 
 pendix, page 251.) 
 
 This case of the Countess indicates that fertil- 
 izing spermatozoa take their direction, going either to 
 the right or left ovary, according to the law of gravity, 
 and not according to the nature of the spermatozoa 
 themselves. But controUing the direction of fertil- 
 izing spermatozoa does not conflict "with the wide- 
 spread principle in nature known as chemotaxis, or 
 chemotropism." 
 
 While the above-mentioned cases do not by any 
 means cover all those with which I have had experi- 
 ence by giving directions for the determining of the 
 sex of the child according to the parent's desire, nor 
 do they cover all of those I have observed that were 
 examples of the operating of this law, yet they cover 
 the various phases of the sex-determining law's oper- 
 ations that have during a period of thirty years con- 
 vinced me of the validity of the law's operating in 
 normal mothers according to these directions. From 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 25 
 
 time to time during this period mothers have re- 
 minded me that it was according to my directions 
 that they had a son or a daughter, and often I had 
 forgotten these cases entirely. 
 
 There is a case upon which I would be very glad 
 to get data, and with which I have had no experience 
 during these years. It is the case of a left-handed 
 mother. It is possible that in her case the law of sex 
 determination would be reversed, and that the right 
 ovary would produce ova potentially female, and the 
 left ovary ova potentially male. While that fact 
 would neither add to nor take from the law of sex 
 determination according to these directions, it would 
 open up interesting opportunity for further physio- 
 logical observations. (See Appendix, page 252.) 
 
 GENERAL THEORY OF HEREDITY. 
 
 It is not necessary to discuss the general theory 
 of heredity. It has been proved, apparently, that the 
 germ cells at the time of ripening are of equal value 
 in heredity, that each is then a half cell, having the 
 number of chromosomes found in ordinary or somatic 
 cells, and that these chromosomes are the bearers of 
 hereditary qualities. These views of heredity have 
 been set forth satisfactorily and conclusively in The 
 Cells in Development and Inheritance, by Edmund B, 
 
26 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 Wilson; in Heredity, by J. Arthur Thomson, and in 
 many other records and publications. All this, the 
 modern conceptions of heredity, resting on intimate 
 studies of histology and mitosis, may be taken for 
 granted. But this theory has never claimed to show 
 why the germ cells, apparently sexless, at the moment 
 of the mingling of the chromosomes from the sper- 
 matozoon with those of the ovum, at once begin 
 development as male or female. The belief is gain- 
 ing ground that sex is predetermined by the nature 
 of one or both germ cells. The writer believes that 
 such is the case. Furthermore, she believes that 
 the right ovary develops only ova potentially male, 
 and the left ovary only those potentially female. 
 Furthermore, if this is true, the fact can be 
 made of practical value in the determination of sex. 
 And, as a matter of fact, as already stated, it has 
 been thus successfully used in all the cases noted 
 above since 1880. 
 
 DETERMINING THE SEX OF CATTLE. 
 
 According to my observations during experience 
 with cattle breeding, the law that determines the sex 
 of cattle shows features of difference from that which 
 determines the sex of human beings. With cattle, 
 ova require, dating from menstruation, about four 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 27 
 
 weeks to mature. The cow's maternal ovum is 
 matured and ovulated some hours before her pater- 
 nal ovum. The exact time intervening between the 
 maturation and ovulation of the cow's maternal and 
 paternal ova is difficult to determine exactly, but not 
 impossible to approximate. As a rule, within five 
 hours of the maturation and ovulation of the maternal 
 ovum, if it is fertilized, the product will be a heifer 
 calf. 
 
 The manifestation of "heat" marks the matura- 
 tion and ovulation of the maternal ovum of cattle. 
 If the maternal ovum is fertilized, the paternal ovum, 
 which matures some five hours after this manifesta- 
 tion of "heat," does not appear to mature. If the 
 maternal ovum in this case is not fertilized within at 
 least five hours after the manifestation of "heat," it 
 disintegrates and passes away. At that period the 
 paternal ovum is matured and ovulated and may be 
 fertilized. But if it is not fertilized within five hours 
 after its maturation and ovulation, it also disinte- 
 grates and passes away; then follows the menstrual 
 flow of blood, a phenomenon which contradicts what 
 some scientists have said, that "monkeys are the only 
 lower animals subject to menstruation." It may be 
 that the period of time during which fertilization may 
 take place after the maturation and ovulation of the 
 maternal and paternal ovum would vary with differ- 
 
28 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 ent cattle, and according to conditions of their food, 
 the climate, etc. 
 
 In the case of "true twins" with cattle — that is, 
 two offspring of the same sex — so far as data has 
 been obtained they have been perfectly normal 
 animals. 
 
 In the case of twin calves, a cow and a bull calf, 
 scientists say that the heifer, so far as has been re- 
 ported, is always a "free-martin." (See Appendix, 
 page 249, for explanation of free-martin.) 
 
 THE "free-martin." 
 
 So far as data have been gathered, scientists say 
 that in the case of twin calves of the two sexes the 
 heifer is always a "free-martin," and barren. From 
 my experience with cattle breeding, this abnormality 
 among cattle is the result of the fact that cattle have 
 two ovaries — one developing ova potentially male, 
 and the other developing ova potentially female. Also, 
 from the fact that the male and female ova are ma- 
 tured and ovulated periodically with cattle, and also, 
 that the female ovum is matured and ovulated a few 
 hours in advance of the male ovum; and that the 
 "free-martin" appears to be the result and proof 
 of the fact that the male ovum is not evolved or 
 developed from the female ovum. 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 29 
 
 The following is from my experience in cattle breed- 
 ing: After the manifestation of "heat" in the cow 
 there was a delay before fertilization could take place 
 that made it seem probable that the calf would not be 
 a heifer. In due time the cow gave birth to two calves 
 — twins — a bull and a heifer calf. The heifer was 
 kept a number of years, but never showed signs of 
 having a calf. And so being a twin calf and a heifer, 
 and also barren, according to the verdict of scientists 
 she should have been a "free-martin." The other 
 twin calf, the bull, in this instance was a perfectly 
 normal animal, which is also according to the opinion 
 of scientists in the case of a free-martin twin. And 
 according to the law of sex determination of cattle 
 this should be the case, for the female ovum having 
 matured, ovulated, and not having been fertilized 
 until it began to disintegrate, would have developed an 
 imperfect animal from the imperfect ovum; but, on 
 the other hand, the male ovum being matured, ovu- 
 lated, and fertilized before disintegration began would 
 produce a normal male animal, as was the case. 
 
 Since the maturation and ovulation of the ova of 
 cattle is periodic, occurring monthly, and since the 
 time between the maturation and ovulation of the 
 male and female ovum may be determined, therefore 
 the sex of the offspring may be determined according 
 to the wish of the cattle breeder. 
 
30 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 AS REPORTED BY HUNTERS, A PREPONDERANCE OF 
 MALE OFFSPRING OCCURS IN DRY, POOR YEARS. 
 
 The report has been made to sc entists bv hunters 
 that there are more male than female offspring in 
 poor years, especially in regard to the deer. If this 
 be true, the lack of food probably affects the vitality 
 of the mother animal, so that the maternal ovum may 
 disintegrate and pass away before marked manifesta- 
 tion of "heat." And in this case of an impoverished 
 mother animal the maternal ovum would pass quickly, 
 the period of " heat" would pass quickly, and perhaps 
 not very marked at that, so that the greater chance 
 of fertilization would be with the paternal ovum. 
 
 TO THE BREEDER OF ANIMALS. 
 
 If my belief regarding the fertilization of ova be 
 true, the following may be of practical value to the 
 breeder of animals, cattle, horses, goats, pigs, dogs, 
 etc. (See page 40, Chapter II.) 
 
 In the case of animals whose periods of "heat" 
 may be observed by the breeder, the sex of their off- 
 spring may be controlled according to his wish, with- 
 out too much care, according to the fact of the period 
 and length of time of maturation and ovulation of 
 the female and male ovum of the mother animal. 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 31 
 
 But in the case of large herds of these animals the 
 fact of the fertilization of ova by the right and left 
 spermatozoa of the paternal animal may be made of 
 practical value to the breeder; that is, in case male 
 offspring are desired from a large herd of mother 
 animals, then the male that serves them may have 
 the left testicle castrated. In that case the off- 
 spring would probably be only males. This could be 
 tested by a breeder of animals, and if it proved to be 
 the case, would be of great value. And if female off- 
 spring were desired, the sire animal or animals that 
 run with the herds of mother animals may have their 
 right testicle castrated. In that case the offspring 
 would probably be females. 
 
 There are some points to be careful about in this 
 undertaking. First, that sometimes animals are 
 supposed to be castrated when the operation has not 
 been thoroughly done, and therefore offspring corre- 
 sponding in sex to the supposed castrated testicle 
 may appear. 
 
 Another matter to be considered by the breeder is 
 that it may be that the left testicle of a male may 
 fertilize the right ovary of a female animal, and that, 
 consequently, the right testicle of a male may fertilize 
 the left ovary of a female animal. Before undertaking 
 to use practically this law in nature, the breeder should 
 ascertain whether spermatozoa from the right or left 
 
32 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 testicle of the male fertilizes the right or left ovary's 
 product in the mother animal. After that the practi- 
 cal operation of this law will be a simple matter for 
 him to take advantage of. 
 
 The breeder of animals will no doubt be impressed 
 with the economy of nature in the power to control 
 the sex of the offspring of animals in either large or 
 small numbers. In the case of a small number of 
 animals the sex may be controlled by observing the 
 law operating in the mother animal, and according to 
 the directions above. In large herds of animals the 
 sex of the offspring may be controlled by observing 
 the law operating in the father animal, according to 
 the above directions. 
 
 THE FUR SEAL AND FRENCH MORENO RAM. 
 
 Contributed by Dr. David Starr Jordan, President of the Leiand 
 
 Stanford, Junior, University, California. 
 
 REPRODUCTION OF THE FUR SEAL. 
 
 " In the group of eared seals, including the fur seal, 
 the sea lion, and the walrus, the uterus is Y-shaped. 
 Each horn of the uterus is impregnated in alternate 
 years. Imrriediately after the birth of the young from 
 the right side, the left side develops ova and becomes 
 pregnant. There is never more than one embryo at 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 33 
 
 a time, which may indicate that but one ovum is pres- 
 ent. The period of gestation is about 360 days, just 
 short of a year. Males and females are developed in 
 equal numbers, but there are no observations to show 
 that the embryos in the one side (right) of the uterus 
 are males, and in the other (left) females." (These 
 matters are treated in detail in Dr. Jordan's Fur Seal 
 Investigations, 1898.) 
 
 I do not consider that the sex-determining law as 
 evidenced in human beings could be either substan- 
 tiated or denied by any variation of it, or want of 
 similarity to it of a sex-determining law which may 
 be found to prevail among certain animals. But 
 according to the above interesting observation of Dr. 
 Jordan, it would seem almost necessarily true that 
 the mother seals of the eared seal group do also have 
 the two sex-producing ovaries, the one side maturing 
 and ovulating ova potentially male, and the other side 
 producing ova potentially female. But as to which 
 side may develop the male or the female ova I can 
 readily see may not be easily determined by the experi- 
 menter, especially if he depends upon deciding the 
 matter by the nature of the sex of the offspring as 
 found in either the right or left horn of the Y-shaped 
 uterus, because of the habits of the mother animal 
 and her environment, and because of this peculiar 
 necessity in the shape of the uterus. But it would 
 
 3 
 
34 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 seem that the matter could be definitely settled by 
 taking out one ovary or the other from a sufficient 
 number of seals to establish the law of their natures 
 regarding the determination of sex, 
 
 FROM DR. DAVID STARR JORDAN'S EXPERIENCE 
 AS A SHEEP BREEDER. 
 
 " Some forty or fifty years ago a writer named Sixt 
 developed the theory that the spermatozoa of the one 
 side in the male caused the embryo from the ovum 
 thus fertilized to become male, those from the other 
 side to become female. 
 
 "In 1863 a French Moreno ram named Rams- 
 bunder was brought in to serve a flock of Dorset ewes. 
 This Ramsbunder had but a single testis. This con- 
 dition was congenital, as one of his lambs inherited 
 the same trait. This lamb, castrated, grew up as a 
 wether. Ramsbunder, proving an indifferent sire, 
 his wool being too fine, was also castrated. He ran 
 with the ewes as a "teaser," but had no progeny. 
 This shows that the other testis, undeveloped, was 
 also invalided. Yet among his lambs were both 
 sexes, in about equal numbers." 
 
 Whatever conclusions as to the nature of fertilizing 
 spermatozoa may be arrived at from this history of 
 Ramsbunder, it must be remembered that he was an 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 35 
 
 abnormality; and any trait evidenced by his qualities 
 as a sire might not be at once accepted as representa- 
 tive of the law regarding fertilizing spermatozoa in 
 normal animals. It is my opinion that if Dr. Jordan 
 had dissected Ramsbunder he probably would have 
 found that his abnormality consisted in the two testes 
 being in one side, the side he castrated, and this would 
 have explained the fact that both sexes would appear 
 among the lambs in question. 
 
 As to the lamb that inherited the same trait, it is 
 known, we must remember, that sometimes in rare 
 cases deformities are transmitted to offspring; and 
 also it may have been, too, that this lamb's abnor- 
 mality would have been found to be the fact of the 
 two testes being found on the one side. 
 
 Dr. Jordan's citation of the experiments of Sixt, 
 and the conclusions arising from them, is important. 
 
 MATURATION AND OVULATION OF OVA. 
 
 Among cattle this phenomenon is clearly marked 
 and periodic, its beginning definitely marked by the 
 manifestation of "heat," and the finish definitely 
 marked by the menstrual flow of blood. 
 
 Among human beings the maturation and ovula- 
 tion of ova is not periodic, nor is this phenomenon 
 among them marked by any manifestation whatso- 
 
36 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 ever. Further than the manifestation of puberty 
 among both men and women, which marks the be- 
 ginning for the possibility of bringing forth offspring, 
 and although there is a general and usual age for this 
 manifestation in the life of human beings, it is not 
 absolutely fixed among all peoples, and has been 
 known to vary by a number of years. And once the 
 maturation and ovulation of ova begins in the ma- 
 ternal reproductive organs — in the ovaries — it con- 
 tinues, it is my belief, constantly until the climacteric 
 period in normal women. This even can be only a 
 general rule, as it may vary somewhat with individ- 
 uals. There is no time in the month when a normal, 
 healthy woman may not become pregnant. 
 
 The following quotation on the subject of matura- 
 tion and ovulation of ova is taken from The Amer- 
 ican Text-hook of Physiology, by William H. Howell, 
 Ph.D., M.D., vol. ii, pp. 455, 456: "In most animals 
 it is periodic, accompanying certain seasons, and is 
 marked by general sexual activity. In woman and 
 many domestic animals the relation to the seasons 
 no longer exists. A common belief originated in 
 the seventeenth century that ovulation in woman is 
 a periodic phenomenon occurring regularly every 
 month, and is contemporaneous with the menstrual 
 flow. By postmortem examinations there is evidence 
 of frequent coincidence of the two phenomena. But 
 
SEX-DETERMINING FACTORS 37 
 
 ovulation at the time of menstruation, though prob- 
 ably usual, is not exclusive of ovulation at other times, 
 for intermenstrual observations of fresh ovarian scars 
 are not rare, and prove without doubt that discharge 
 of an ovum may occur at any time between two suc- 
 cessive periods." (See Appendix, page 247.) 
 
 DETERMINING THE SEX OF FOWLS. 
 
 It has long been known by fowl raisers that the 
 shape of the egg indicates the sex of the expected 
 chick. The pointed, slender egg hatches the cock, 
 the fully round egg hatches the hen. Some have 
 thought that the small egg hatches the cock. This 
 is not the case. The small or large egg when pointed 
 hatches the cock. By carefully observing the shapes 
 of eggs the numbers of cocks or hens hatched may be 
 controlled. 
 
 SEX DETERMINATION IN THE LOWER ANIMALS. 
 
 It is not essential to this theory of sex determina- 
 tion among human beings that it can be shown to 
 apply to those of the lower animals whose processes 
 of ovulation are unspecialized, or specialized in a 
 different way. It is the opinion of the writer that no 
 data arising from the study of protozoa, sea urchins, 
 
38 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 insects, or fishes would have any bearing on this 
 theory. It may be admitted that the general laws of 
 heredity, the part taken by the chromosomes and the 
 ovule, are essentially homologous in all animals and 
 plants. But the specialization of the different parts 
 of the reproductive process varies widely in different 
 groups. 
 
 The fishes in general cast eggs and melt into the 
 water, where the germ cells become mature. This 
 process is not much more specialized than is that of 
 the pine tree, which casts its pollen to the winds. 
 
 The bird ovum is fertilized within the body, and is 
 cast off within a shell bound up with enough food 
 yolk to maintain the embryo until the period of 
 hatching. 
 
 The ovum of the mammal has very little food yolk, 
 and is nourished by the blood of the mother, drawn 
 from the uterus, through the intervention of a spongy 
 tissue called the placenta. 
 
 In certain of the very lowest mammals the eggs are 
 laid in a shell, as with reptiles. In others the pla- 
 centa is very small, but the researches of Professor 
 Wilson, of Sidney, seem to show that it is never wholly 
 absent. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 METHODS FOR DETERMINING THE SEX OF HUMAN 
 OFFSPRING— THE SEX-DETERMINING LAW CON- 
 SISTENT WITH AN APPARENT SCHEME 
 OF HUMAN ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 WHEN THE SEX OF HUMAN OFFSPRING IS DETER- 
 MINED, AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE PARENTS, 
 ACCORDING TO EXPERIENCE IN OPER- 
 ATING THE LAW. 
 
 Science requires that a law of sex determination 
 must establish two fundamental facts — ^when is sex 
 determined, and what is the influence of the parents, 
 the one or both. And to be of practical value, a 
 theory of action must stand all tests all the time, or 
 logically explain their failure to produce a required 
 sex in the offspring. Also, as I understand the law 
 of sex determination, there can be no question of 
 "superiority" or "inferiority" in regard to the ma- 
 ternal and paternal influence in the production of 
 offspring (Mendel). The parents' relation is always 
 truly consortial. Determining the sex of children 
 has to do with mechanics in the construction of 
 the normal human body, when its organs and their 
 functions have reached maturity. 
 
 (39) 
 
40 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 In normal mothers the right ovary always produces 
 ova that, when fertilized, develops as boys. The left 
 ovary always produces ova that, when fertilized, de- 
 velops as girls. And the mother determines the sex 
 of her child when she consciously or unconsciously 
 directs the fertilizing spermatozoa to her right or left 
 ovary. 
 
 If the offspring of a mother is an abnormality, 
 hermaphrodite or what not, then the offspring from 
 the right ovary will always have the secondary phys- 
 ical markings of a boy. And the abnormal offspring 
 developed from ova of the left ovary will have the 
 secondary physical markings of a girl. For in all 
 cases of offspring, normal or abnormal, whether sin- 
 gle or multiple at the same birth, the sex of the child 
 is predetermined in the ovum or ova from which the 
 embryo was developed — the right ovary always pro- 
 ducing paternal ova, from which boys are developed, 
 and the left ovary producing maternal ova, from 
 which girls are developed. 
 
 THEORY OF FERTILIZATION OF OVA. 
 
 It would seem that once it is established that the 
 two ovaries, right and left, respectively, produce cor- 
 responding right and left ova which are potentially 
 male and female, respectively, that the question of 
 
DETERMINING SEX OF HUMAN BEINGS 41 
 
 fertilization of ova were not relevant to the subject. 
 But, on the other hand, since there could not be off- 
 spring without the fertilizing influence of sperma- 
 tozoa, it seems as if a sex-determining theory almost 
 necessitates a theory of fertilization of ova. I have 
 such a theory, but have had no opportunity for test- 
 ing its validity. 
 
 It is my belief that there is a right- and left-natured 
 spermatozoa which correspond to the right- and left- 
 natured ova which they are to fertilize. Whether 
 the right-natured spermatozoon fertilizes the right 
 ovum or not I cannot say. But if it does fertilize the 
 right ovum, it is my belief that it does not and cannot 
 fertilize the left ovum as well. That is, that for right 
 and left ova there are particular fertilizing sperma- 
 tozoa which can fertilize only the ova which would 
 be its complement. Whether there are right and left 
 spermatozoa, as mentioned above, might be easily 
 determined by experimentation, especially with cattle, 
 horses, pigs, and dogs. 
 
 Before the fertilizing spermatozoa enter the uterus 
 they encounter a plasmic substance, probably a 
 secretion of the clitoris, which in appearance and con- 
 sistency resembles the white of an egg; and in this 
 matrix substance they become embedded, and are 
 thereby easily drawn, en masse, into the uterus or 
 away from it. The fertilizing spermatozoa carried 
 
42 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 by this media that thus contain them are drawn first 
 from the vagina into the uterus, pass through the 
 cervix uteri, and encounter the circular fibers in the 
 interior surface of the uterus that lead to the fibrous 
 rings around the opening of both the right and left 
 Fallopian tubes, as seen in Plate II. The rings 
 appear to be made for the purpose of directing fluid 
 to the opening of the Fallopian tubes; these openings 
 are found in the cornua of the uterus. 
 
 Embryologists seem to agree that spermatozoa 
 meet the ovum at or near the ovary, and that it is 
 not possible for the ovum to be fertilized either in the 
 Fallopian tubes or in the uterus. When the ovum 
 is within the Fallopian tubes, which it quickly 
 enters after being ovulated, whether fertilized or 
 not fertilized, it is quickly covered with an albu- 
 minous layer through which spermatozoa cannot 
 penetrate. 
 
 The above-mentioned animals would also afford 
 good subjects for experimentation in order to dis- 
 cover the influence upon fertilization of this matrix 
 substance which becomes the media by which the 
 spermatozoa are carried into the uterus. In regard 
 to this, it may be well to note that when a sow is 
 spayed — that is, when the clitoris ganglion is re- 
 moved and though the ovaries remain — she is made 
 barren. And also that with the bitch, though her 
 
DETERMINING SEX OF HUMAN BEINGS 43 
 
 ovaries are not removed when she is spayed, she is 
 made barren. 
 
 There is another matter that it might be of value 
 to investigate, although it need not affect either the 
 theory of fertilization of ova or the sex-determining 
 law of offspring. That is, to discover to what extent, 
 if at all, the right and left cerebellum, known as the 
 organs of " philoprogenitiveness," together with the 
 organ of "amativeness," in both men and women, 
 may affect the right and left spermatozoa and the 
 right and left ova, respectively; and if the paralysis, 
 either partial or entire, of these brain centres would 
 in any way incapacitate the functioning of the re- 
 productive organs in men and women. I have not 
 encountered a human being so afflicted, nor have 
 I had opportunity to experiment upon animals in 
 order to investigate this matter; but it is possible that 
 there may be found a very direct and important in- 
 fluence exerted upon the reproductive powers of both 
 men and women located in these cranial ganglia. 
 
 PROBABLE CAUSE OF UNISEXUALITY IN SOME 
 FAMILIES. 
 
 The appearance of unisexuality in families where 
 the children are all boys or else all girls is probably 
 due to the habits of the mother; that is, if the mother 
 
44 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION' 
 
 is normal and healthy. If her children are boys, she 
 probably had the habit of lying on her right side, in 
 which case the fertilizing spermatozoa, or parental 
 spermatozoa, were drawn to the right side of the 
 uterus and to the opening of the right Fallopian tube 
 connecting with the right ovary. In this way the 
 right ovary would have the chance of fertilization, so 
 that the product would always be a boy. If her 
 children are all girls, she probably had the habit of 
 lying on her left side, and in that case the fertilizing 
 spermatozoa were directed to the left ovary, and its 
 ova being fertilized, the product would always be a 
 girl. 
 
 THE SEX OF TWINS, TRIPLETS, ETC. 
 
 The law of sex determination does not pretend to 
 explain the phenomenon of the appearance of a num- 
 ber of children at a single birth, but it does pretend 
 to show how the two sexes may appear at a single 
 birth. According to The American Text-hook of Physi- 
 ology, by William H. Howell, Ph.D., M.D., vol. ii, 
 p. 483, as many as five children have been born at a 
 single birth, but what their sex he does not state. 
 
 According to my theory of sex determination, 
 when the fertilizing spermatozoa enter the uterus, if 
 the mother turns from side to side, with an apprecia- 
 ble length of time between the turns, according to the 
 
DETERMINING SEX OF HUMAN BEINGS 45 
 
 law of gravity, both her ovaries might receive fertil- 
 izing spermatozoa, and the ova matured, ovulated, 
 and fertilized in both ovaries would be shown by the 
 product, whether right or left, and how many. 
 
 The sex of "true twins," that is, two boys or two 
 girls at a single birth, indicates, according to this 
 theory of sex determination, that ova were matured, 
 ovulated, and fertilized, in the case of two boys from 
 the right ovary, in the case of two girls from the left 
 ovary. And as " true twins" are always enclosed in 
 the same chorion and have a single placenta for both 
 of them, this would seem to indicate that they were 
 developed from ova produced by the same ovary, 
 according to this theory of sex determination. This 
 is not inconsistent with Cuenot's explanation — that 
 because of the single chorion and single placenta for 
 the two, therefore, they were developed from a single 
 egg. (See page 195.) 
 
 As one Graafian follicle does sometimes contain 
 two matured and regularly ovulated ova, according 
 to this sex-determining law these two ova would de- 
 velop two children of the same sex, either two boys or 
 else two girls, "true twins," which are always encased 
 in a single chorion and with one placenta for both. 
 In the case of twins of the two sexes, the boy and the 
 girl each has an independent chorion and placenta 
 instead of one for both. 
 
46 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 THE DOUBLE EGG OF THE FOWL. 
 
 According to my experience with the double egg 
 of the fowl, they do not produce twins. I never lost 
 an opportunity to try incubating the double egg, but 
 they never hatched. 
 
 In the case of the human being, the ovum is fertil- 
 ized after it is discharged from the Graafian follicle. 
 And two ova from one follicle, once they are dis- 
 charged and fertilized, would both have the same 
 history in developing into a creature that one ovum 
 would have had. 
 
 With the fowl's egg the history is different. The 
 fowl's egg is fertilized before it receives any kind of 
 covering, probably in the oviduct, and then receives 
 its shell with a strong membranous lining. And 
 probably when incubation begins in the double egg, 
 and the two chicks require that their two vein sys- 
 tems be clamped into the same membranous lining, 
 they destroy each other. The result would be, 
 according to my experience — that is, after three 
 weeks' incubating — that the eggs inside are spoiled. 
 
 MALE AND FEMALE GERM CELLS. 
 
 It would appear that to speak of spermatozoa as 
 male germ cells and ova as female germ cells is mis- 
 leading, if spermatozoa of the father, in order to 
 fertilize the male and female ova, the product of the 
 
VALUE OF SPECIFIC LOCATION 47 
 
 right and left ovary, respectively, of the mother, must 
 be the male and female complement of these ova. 
 
 It seems to me that this theory of sex determina- 
 tion scarcely admits the possibility of the normal 
 father creature being unisexual or being sexless no 
 more than it does the possibility of the normal 
 mother creature being unisexual or being sexless, but 
 rather it seems to declare that both the father and the 
 mother are both male and female at the same time, 
 since the two sexes are to appear among their off- 
 spring. And, therefore, the custom of differentiating 
 them as male and female is not quite clear. But as 
 higher sexual animals they are differentiated as father 
 and mother beings, paternal and maternal. 
 
 The primary sexual characters of the paternal 
 creature centre in the production of male and female 
 spermatozoa and the process of impregnation, and 
 those of the maternal creature in the production of 
 male and female ova and the care of the developing 
 embryo. 
 
 SPECIFIC LOCATION OF VARIOUS ORGANS OF THE 
 
 BODY MAY BECOME OF SCIENTIFIC VALUE 
 
 AS DETERMINING FACTORS. 
 
 It is an almost universal fact — the dextral pre- 
 eminence of the right-side organs of living creatures, 
 and this is conspicuously true of the right hand of 
 human beings. 
 
48 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 Is it too much to say that from head to foot the 
 human body consists of two halves, the right and the 
 left, which complete the whole organism ? And that for 
 the most part, especially, in organs with creative func- 
 tions, these pairs of organs are of right and left loca- 
 tion, and are differentiated by characteristic qualities. 
 
 The characterisitcs of the right and left sides in a 
 mother's body, as I have had opportunity to observe, 
 are identical with the temperamental requirements in 
 the consortial union of the father and mother in the 
 home. The hand on the right side does the Impor- 
 tant part of the work, assisted by the left hand. The 
 right hand of a working woman almost always shows 
 signs of having taken the burden of the work done, 
 being larger and rougher than the left hand. Also, 
 the right shoe of the right foot shows harder wear, 
 and is the first worn out. Does not this show dex- 
 tral preeminence of the right foot ? 
 
 It would not be difficult to collect a vast amount of 
 data both from human beings and animals which 
 would show the right dextral preeminence in various 
 organs of their structures. On the other hand, the 
 left side is the conserver of the body's life forces. 
 
 The left hand and foot, not having dextral pre- 
 eminence, are used as balance to the right hand and 
 foot, which go forward first. Is it not demonstrable 
 that the natural strenuousness of the body is in the 
 
VALUE OF SPECIFIC LOCATION 49 
 
 right side, and that because of this the right side of the 
 body becomes the natural protector, as it were, of 
 the left side, in which is located the heart ? 
 
 A woman in danger of falling while walking will 
 naturally relegate to her left hand whatever she may 
 be carrying, because of the natural instinct of the 
 right hand's protection; and for the same reason a 
 man takes a woman on his left arm, leaving the right 
 hand free for defence. 
 
 It has been my observation that an overworked 
 mother will suffer depletion of strength in her right 
 side first, which is perhaps due to this conspicuous 
 and natural dextral preeminence of the right side of 
 the body. 
 
 It is a traditional fact that masculinity is connected 
 with the idea of right-handedness, and that feminin- 
 ity is connected with the idea of left-handedness. 
 
 It may be observed that the right and left cere- 
 bellum have a direct influence upon the right and left 
 reproductive organs in both men and women. In 
 this case in a left-handed woman the sex-producing 
 ovaries may reverse the nature of product, and a boy 
 might be developed from the ova of the left ovary 
 instead of from the right. But this would not be 
 necessarily true in left-handed women. But it is an 
 interesting phase of the sex-determining law to in- 
 vestigate. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 TELEGYNY. 
 
 A NEW THEORY OF HUMAN HYBRIDIZATION INDI- 
 CATING THE INFLUENCE OF A DISTANT FEMALE 
 — THIS MUST NOT BE CONFOUNDED WITH 
 WEISMANn's TELEGONY, the INFLU- 
 ENCE OF A DISTANT MALE. 
 
 Dr. J. Arthur Thomson, in his work on Heredity, 
 page 143, says, under the head "Telegony and Other 
 Disputed Questions:" "The term telegony is applied 
 to doubtful, certainly rare, but, if true, very remark- 
 able cases where an offspring resembles a sire which, 
 though not its father, had previously paired with its 
 mother. More theoret cally expressed, telegony is 
 the supposed influence by a previous sire on offspring 
 subsequently borne by the same female to a different 
 sire. The ovum or embryo is supposed to be in- 
 fluenced by the mother's previous impregnation or by 
 the consequence thereof. 
 
 "To take a simple instance, the racehorse Blair- 
 Athol had a very characteristic blaze or white bald 
 face, and it is said that mares which had once borne 
 (5°) 
 
TELEGONY AND OTHER DISPUTED QUESTIONS 51 
 
 foals to Blair-Athol subsequently produced to quite 
 different stallions foals which exhibited the Blair- 
 Athol blaze. Now it is very generally asserted by 
 dog breeders that if a thoroughbred bitch has had 
 pups to a mongrel her value is greatly decreased, for 
 she will not afterward breed true. 
 
 " The alleged phenomena are of much interest, but 
 the evidence of their actual occurrence is far from 
 satisfactory, and their theoretical interpretation in 
 terms of telegony is beset with physiological diflScul- 
 ties. But as a belief in telegony is still widespread, it 
 will not be unprofitable to consider (a) the alleged 
 facts, and (i) the interpretations suggested." 
 
 The following are some of the data and conclu- 
 sions included under Dr. Thomson's (a) and (V), as 
 mentioned above. On page 149 he says: "The 
 position of affairs being that as a number of great 
 authorities, e. g., Darwin and Spencer, had expressed 
 their belief in the occurrence of telegony, and that 
 an equal number of competent authorities had ex- 
 pressed themselves extremely skeptical on the subject. 
 Professor Ewart resolved on definite experiment — 
 the only secure path." 
 
 And as a result his verdict was: 
 
 "That the evidence of any undoubted telegony is 
 very unsatisfactory. 
 
 "That telegony does not generally occur, even 
 
52 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 when what were considered to be favorable conditions 
 were secured; indeed, anything suggestive of telegony 
 occurred in only a very small percentage of cases. 
 Moreover, where peculiar phenomena of inheritance 
 were observed, they seemed to be readily explicable 
 on the reversion hypothesis." 
 
 On page 155 he says: 
 
 "Somewhat subtler is the suggestion — often also 
 called the 'infection hypothesis' — that although the 
 sperms of the first sire cannot be supposed to persist 
 and fertilize ova discharged long afterward, yet it is 
 conceivable that the disintegrated substance of the 
 sperms may persist and influence the ovaries and the 
 ova, or that the sperms may exert an influence which 
 does not amount to fertilization. So great a physi- 
 ologist as Claude Bernard seems to have believed 
 in the possibility of such an influence. 
 
 "Another slightly difi'erent suggestion is that the 
 surplus sperms derived from the first sire exert a 
 physiological influence on the constitution of the 
 mother, such that subsequent gestations are afi^ected. 
 
 "Perhaps the most plausible theory is that the 
 mother is influenced through the fetus during preg- 
 nancy, and that the influence reacts on subsequent 
 offspring. On this so-called saturation hypothesis the 
 suggestion is that the characters of the sire while ex- 
 pressing themselves in the unborn embryo, also satu- 
 
TELEGONY AND OTHER DISPUTED QUESTIONS 53 
 
 rate into the dam and affect her constitution in such 
 a precise way that her offspring by subsequent sires 
 may, through maternal influence, acquire (or in- 
 herit) some of the characteristics of the first. Thus, 
 Sir William Turner, in 1889, in discussing Lord 
 Morton's classical case of the mare, says: 'I believe 
 that the mother had acquired during her prolonged 
 gestation with the hybrid the power of transmitting 
 quagga-like characters from it, owing to the inter- 
 change of material which had taken place between 
 them in connection with the nutrition of the young 
 one. In this way the germ plasm of the mother, 
 belonging to ova which had not yet matured, had 
 become modified while still lodged in the ovary. This 
 acquired modification had influenced her future off- 
 spring, derived from the germ plasm, so that they in 
 turn, though in a more diluted form, exhibited zebra- 
 like markings.' 
 
 " It is conceivable that something like the 'satura- 
 tion' above indicated may occur in a case of a poison 
 or protective antitoxin which might diffuse in and 
 out. We can imagine that a sire infected with some 
 virulent disease, and showing certain structural dis- 
 turbances associated therewith, may have offspring 
 which are similarly affected, and that the influence 
 from them may pass before their birth into the con- 
 stitution of the mother, and so affect her that subse- 
 
54 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 quent offspring by a healthy sire are diseased after 
 the manner of the first. 
 
 "But while we have some facts to go upon in 
 regard to the diffusion of toxins and antitoxins, we 
 have none as yet which justify us in supposing the 
 diffusion of structural characteristics or of repre- 
 sentatives of these. 
 
 "Apart from stock, the belief is often expressed 
 in regard to man himself: *We certainly know that 
 what used to be spoken of as the "infection germ," 
 but which, following Weismann, we nowadays call 
 " telegony," was considered possible by physiologists 
 at the end of the seventeenth century; we know the 
 infection tradition has long influenced Arab breeders, 
 and that believers in the hypothesis may now be 
 found in every part of the world, more especially 
 where an overlapping of distinct races occurs.' " 
 
 On page 163 he says, under Maternal Impressions: 
 
 " It is a time-honored belief that the mental states 
 — especially vivid sense impressions and strong emo- 
 tions — of a pregnant mother may so affect the unborn 
 offspring that structural changes result which have 
 some correspondence with the maternal experience. 
 The belief was hardly doubted until Blondel began 
 to criticise it early in the eighteenth century. 
 
 "Everyone allows that the mother's health in the 
 widest sense may react on the offspring, within what 
 
TELEGONY AND OTHER DISPUTED QUESTIONS 55 
 
 limits we hardly know; but it is a very different 
 matter to believe in definite and specific structural 
 effects. There can be no doubt that the firmly rooted 
 theory is in the main quite unscientific, except in the 
 sense that it expresses the instinct to discover some 
 cause for peculiar phenomena. A child has hyper- 
 trichosis: did not the mother look too long at a picture 
 of John the Baptist in a hairy robe.? A white 
 mother has a dark child : what can she say but that 
 she was frightened by a Moor? The abundant lit- 
 erature has been carefully studied by J. W. Ballan- 
 tyne, and it need hardly be said that his general 
 verdict is wholly against the tenability of the theory, ' 
 except in a very refined form. 
 
 "The mental experiences of the mother have been 
 held to explain peculiarities of color, abnormal 
 hairiness, birthmarks, malformations, and even con- 
 ception itself. It is admitted that shock and distress 
 and the like may have prejudicial effects on the un- 
 born child. But to associate a particular structural 
 defect with a particular mental impression seems an 
 untenable position. Sometimes, indeed, the mental 
 impression theory is demonstrably untenable when 
 the impression occurs la e in pregnancy, for most of 
 the great events in development occur very early. 
 At the same time, it is always unwise to speak of 
 impossibilities in regard to matters which are inade- 
 
56 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 quately known and imperfectly understood. That 
 we cannot imagine the nature of a physiological nexus 
 does not prove its non-existence. Thus, as in regard 
 to the transmission of acquired characters and 'tele- 
 gony,' we may be scientifically skeptical and give a 
 verdict of 'non-proven' without dogmatically saying 
 'impossible.' We must remember that for a pro- 
 longed period the unborn child is part and parcel of 
 the mother — almost an integral part of herself — and 
 we are beginning to know enough of the influence of 
 mind upon body to make us cautious in dogmatizing 
 as to the possibilities of what Ballantyne finely calls 
 'the mysterious wireless telegraphy of antenatal 
 life.' " 
 
 TELEGYNY AND MATRIX PLASM. 
 
 At the first writing of the subject matter of this 
 book, the law of sex determination, during the year 
 of 1907, I expressed in no uncertain terms my belief 
 that the maternal parent also contributes a particular 
 substance to the fertilization of her ova. But as the 
 presence and influence of this substance was a by- 
 product finding through investigations and observa- 
 tions by which I hoped to establish, at least, the 
 plausibility and probability of the sex-determining 
 law as I understood it, I submit my theory regarding 
 
TELEGYNY AND MATRIX PLASM 57 
 
 it for experimental investigation and also suggest the 
 word matrix plasm as a suitable name for that 
 particular substance. 
 
 I choose telegyny as a word form corresponding 
 to telegony to express a similar idea, telegony mean- 
 ing the influence of the first male on the succeeding 
 births of the female; telegyny in the same way I 
 suggest as a word to signify the influence of a 
 previous female upon the male transferred through 
 the influence of matrix plasm.' 
 
 However, as tele in Greek means distance, and 
 gyny means woman. If telegony means the influ- 
 ence of a distant male, telegyny may be taken to 
 mean the influence of a distant female. Therefore, 
 I suggest telegyny to indicate this particular phase 
 of human hybridization resulting from the influence 
 of the matrix plasm of another woman besides that 
 of the mother's upon the paternal spermatozoon 
 before it fertilizes the mother's ova. 
 
 ' Dr. A. Rose, the authority in this country on modern Greek 
 and on English words derived from the Greek, says: "The mean- 
 ing which we attach to telegony is arbitrary, like the meaning 
 which we give to psychosis, atony, dilatation; and telegyny reminds 
 me of the small boy who translated, Alexander magnus natus est 
 in absentia parentis sui, with, Alexander the Great was born in 
 the absence of his parents. If we wish to infer by telegony influ- 
 ence by a previous male we have to say so." 
 
58 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 PRODUCTION OF MATRIX PLASM AND FERTILIZATION 
 OF OVA. 
 
 It would be well to read the following in connec- 
 tion with an illustration showing the cord, fiber, and 
 filament connection between the cerebellum and 
 genital organs in both men and women. After the 
 generation of the male and female stimuli in the 
 cranial ganglia at the base of the brain In the back 
 of the head, known as the organs of Philoprogeni- 
 tiveness and the organs of Amativeness, of both 
 maternal and paternal parents, then analogous to 
 the law of crystals, the paternal male and female 
 spermatozoa (germinal matter) may unite with the 
 maternal male and female matrix plasm, thus form- 
 ing new spermatozoa, the parental spermatozoa, and 
 which go in rapid, eager search for the fulfilment of 
 their destiny, which is to fertilize the ovum. 
 
 This is one of the respects in which my theory of 
 fertilization of ova differs from all others. That is, 
 that the maternal parent's cranial ganglia, located in 
 the back of the head, also produces stimuli whose 
 destiny is the generation of male and female matrix 
 plasm and which is necessary to the process of 
 fertilization of her ova. Also, as I have undertaken 
 to show above, it appears to me probable that this 
 matrix plasm is the vehicle for the transmission of 
 
TELEGYNY AND MATRIX PLASM 59 
 
 the maternal hereditable characteristics. As I have 
 said before in this book, if the gland which secretes 
 this matrix plasm is removed, fertilization cannot 
 take place, and the maternal creature is thus 
 rendered barren, though she may have healthy, 
 normal ovaries and uterus. Hence my belief 
 regarding the maternal contribution to the fertiliza- 
 tion of ova. 
 
 A FEW EXAMPLES IN EVIDENCE OF TELEGYNY 
 AMONG HUMAN BEINGS. 
 
 Telegyny, or the new phase of human hybridiza- 
 tion which came under my observation in connection 
 with investigations concerning the sex-determining 
 law, is the inoculation of spermatozoa by matrix 
 plasm and the probability of this spermatozoa so in- 
 fected fertilizing ova, and which is consistent with the 
 length of time spermatozoa may retain their vitality 
 according to the discovery of Bossi, which was about 
 fourteen days. It may be that the mingling of 
 matrix plasm with spermatozoa, which is the union 
 of the maternal and paternal male and female 
 principles of life, makes Bossi's supposition possible. 
 However, this need not be the reason for the con- 
 tinued vitality of spermatozoa. Nor does telegyny 
 depend upon Bossi's belief entirely. For as plants 
 
60 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 are hybridized by the pollen dust from various other 
 plants carried by the legs and wings of insects, 
 matrix plasm of another woman may also be carried 
 to the parental spermatozoa destined to fertilize the 
 mother's ova, and thus hybridize the offspring of 
 such parents. 
 
 This quality of the matrix plasm need not interfere 
 with the matrix plasm's influence upon the fertiliza- 
 tion of ova. I maintain that fertilization of ova can- 
 not take place without the influence of this sub- 
 stance secreted by the maternal clitoris gland upon 
 the paternal spermatozoa, after which ova may be 
 fertilized. For if the gland which secretes this plasm 
 is removed, fertilization cannot take place. 
 
 The first time I had my attention attracted to the 
 possibility of this phase of human hybridization was 
 when noticing that a pumpkin vine growing near a 
 watermelon vine spoiled the watermelons. This was 
 evidently due to the fact that the minutest particle 
 of pumpkin pollen dust would affect in its fertil- 
 izing quality the watermelon egg cell. Indeed, it 
 is a well-known fact that fruits and vegetables are 
 affected, especially as regards taste and color, by the 
 presence among them of other fruits and vegetables 
 and flowers; and that these qualities in taste and color, 
 foreign to the original fruit and flower, evidently are 
 the result of nature's various ways of fertilizing them 
 
TELEGYNY AND MATRIX PLASM 61 
 
 by winds, by the legs and wings of roving insects, 
 and so on. Then if hybridization among plants is 
 affected by the faintest particle of their fertilizing 
 dust, must not also the transmission of the faintest 
 particle of hereditary bearing substance among hu- 
 man beings affect also human hybridization ? With 
 this notion I began observations of human beings, 
 and, as far as it was possible, got the story of the 
 birthplace of children, the habits of their parents, and 
 the people among whom they found themselves, 
 which might have an effect upon these children. 
 Facts that appalled me began to manifest themselves 
 in these records, which had explanation, apparently, 
 only in the laws of hybridization implicated or in- 
 volved in the processes of fertilization of the human 
 ovum or egg cell. 
 
 But this human hybridization depended upon the 
 possibility of grafting into the offspring of a given 
 father and mother the qualities belonging to another 
 woman whose race, being entirely different from that 
 of the child's parents, was more or less easily dis- 
 cernible and traceable. This form of hybridization 
 could only take place by the inoculation of the 
 father's spermatozoa by the matrix plasm of this 
 other woman before the fertilization of the ovum of 
 the child's mother. 
 
 This transmission of maternal hereditable qualities 
 
62 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 would explain the mystery which cannot intelligently 
 or scientifically "associate particular structural de- 
 fect (or effect) with a particular mental impression," 
 as set forth both in the case of the lady whose child 
 was born with the qualities of the Moor, as cited 
 above, and who could say nothing as to the phe- 
 nomenon, and also in the mysterious case quoted 
 in Zoonomia, by Dr. Erasmus Darwin, on page 412, 
 of the striking resemblance of the child of a certain 
 man's wife to the woman upon whom that man had 
 thought so much, and who was not his wife. 
 
 And it is a conspicuous fact that it is to the virtuous 
 mother such a hybrid may be born. Very naturally, 
 if a mother were also promiscuous in living with dif- 
 ferent men, as well as the husband with different 
 women, their offspring, in case there were any, would 
 become a sort of composite of the people of their 
 environment, and not be the offspring, pure breed, 
 of the husband's and wife's father and mother and 
 their ancestors. 
 
 There is no mystery whatever connected with this 
 hard-and-fast law operating in the properties of the 
 matrix plasm, and it is easy of demonstration. 
 
 This supposition will illustrate what I mean. 
 Suppose a Mormon, a white man, had two wives, one 
 white and the other black. The white wife would in 
 all probability give birth to children some of whom 
 
TELEGYNY AND MATRIX PLASM 63 
 
 would be strongly marked with the type of the black 
 wife. These children so marked with the type of the 
 black wife would be the result of human hybridiza- 
 tion attained by the transference of matrix plasm 
 from the black wife to the father's fertilizing sper- 
 matozoa, and which fertilized the ovum of the white 
 wife, and these markings of the black wife in the chil- 
 dren of the white wife are a simple case of inheritance, 
 attained by the influence of the matrix plasm of the 
 black wife. If a fair, flaxen, Saxon woman were the 
 wife of a man who also had a harem of African wives, 
 Japanese wives, Chinese wives, Moorish wives, 
 Hindoostan Indian wives, American Indian wives, 
 Arabian wives, or any other distinct race and type 
 among his collection, or women among them that 
 were in any way degenerate, especially morally, the 
 children of his Saxon wife would very likely present 
 from time to time, at least, striking resemblances to 
 these various types. Their children would not be 
 and could not be a "true breed." 
 
 I have seen such children of parents that had the 
 markings of the foreign race to the extent of almost 
 "half breed." This would account for the degen- 
 eracy of children of parents when this could not 
 otherwise be explained. 
 
 It also affords a scientific basis for the explanation 
 of marked resemblances which are sometimes seen 
 
64 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 in the children of parents of a given nationality when 
 their children are born in foreign countries, and whose 
 race their children resemble. 
 
 According to this theory of human hybridization, 
 it would appear that the striking resemblance which 
 occurs, not infrequently, of children foreign born to 
 the natives of the country where they are born is not 
 due to the peculiar atmospheric conditions of the 
 country, nor to its food, nor its topography, nor to 
 any scenes whatever that the mother may have looked 
 upon or thought upon, nor because of any fright 
 the virtuous mother may have suffered during preg- 
 nancy by the imposition of the unexpected presence 
 of one of the natives of that country. But the re- 
 semblance in color, even feature and temperament, 
 of such children is due to the law of the transmission 
 of hereditable maternal qualities through the matrix 
 plasm, and in this case, of another woman than their 
 mother, transmitted by the paternal spermatozoa in 
 the process of fertilization of that mother's ovum. 
 
 According to this law of human hybridization, 
 parents, especially fathers, will be able to definitely 
 locate unexpected and otherwise unexplainable quali- 
 ties, even structural, that appear among their off- 
 springo 
 
 Some of the more striking examples that have 
 come under my personal observation are the chil- 
 
TELEGYNY AND MATRIX PLASM 65 
 
 dren of American and English parents, fair-haired, 
 fair-skinned, whose children resembled, to the point of 
 half-breeds in some cases, the native Hawaiians where 
 their children were born. The resemblances were 
 manifested in physique, in complexion, in texture of 
 skin, and in temperamental qualities. In one case 
 the father of the English children had the habit of 
 long tramps among the habitations of the natives, 
 remaining among them weeks and even months at a 
 time, during the years that the children of his family 
 were being born. At last he gave himself up to 
 living among the natives to such an extent that he 
 contracted leprosy, and finally vanished from the 
 presence of his family entirely. The wife of this 
 man was a high-minded Christian woman of noble 
 soul and pure life. 
 
 There was another remarkable case of the child 
 of an American family. The father was a high 
 official. Native Hawaiian women were numerous as 
 domestics on his place, and a daughter born into that 
 family during that time was strikingly Hawaiian, 
 and might have been taken for a half-breed. 
 
 And there is the classical example of the fair Eng- 
 lish parents whose child, being born in India, was a 
 striking example of Hindoostan Indian in appearance. 
 There were many cruel and pitiful tales told with 
 regard to the surprised mother, who knew her heart 
 S 
 
66 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 and life were virtuous and loyal to her husband. If 
 that husband had known this law of human hybridi- 
 zation he would also have known in his heart that the 
 child was so marked not because of any mental im- 
 pression of the mother, and that she need not at all 
 have been chased by the Indian in order for their 
 child to be grafted with the foreign type, but that he 
 himself had, according to the subtle laws of inheri- 
 tance, inoculated their child with the Hindoostan 
 woman's blood and race. 
 
 True records and observation added to actual 
 demonstration are possible means of verifying this 
 law of human hybridization by means of the matrix 
 plasm, transmitted by spermatozoa in the process 
 of fertilization from a woman of one race to the 
 fertilized ovum of the wife, who may be of another 
 race. 
 
 And so matrix plasm appears to be the vehicle of 
 legitimate and not illegitimate maternal ancestral 
 inheritance in offspring, while the fertilized ovum is 
 the means of preservation of species in the broadest 
 sense by heredity, by which it might be said is main- 
 tained the immortality of the paternal and maternal 
 germ cell. 
 
 In Abbot Mendel's observations regarding plant 
 hybridization may be found a basis for this theory 
 of human hybridization. This theory necessitates 
 
TELEGYNY AND MATRIX PLASM 67 
 
 the manifestation of other influences brought to 
 bear upon the ovum, or seed cell, besides that of the 
 paternal, or father's, spermatozoa. 
 
 Mendel says, as will be remembered from the 
 quotation made from his work on page 115: "It is 
 immaterial, as regards the form of the hybrid, which 
 of the original species is the seed cell and which the 
 pollen parent. If the influence of the egg cell upon 
 the pollen cell were only external, if it fulfilled the role 
 of 'nurse' only, then the result of each artificial 
 fertilization could be no other than that the developed 
 hybrid should exactly resemble the pollen parent, or 
 at any rate do so very closely. Among the offspring 
 of the hybrids both the original types reappear in 
 equal numbers, and with all their peculiarities." 
 
 This observation of Abbot Mendel's appears to 
 substantiate the law of sex determination, as I under- 
 stand it, in that the maternal and paternal parents 
 do not reproduce themselves in the determining of 
 the sex of their offspring as individuals, but only as 
 species. Also, that the maternal parent has a part 
 in the fertilization of the egg cell which is produced 
 in her ovaries aside from the fact of the reception of 
 the fertilizing spermatozoa produced by the paternal 
 parent. Otherwise, her part in the production of 
 offspring might be considered as a passive one, or 
 as that of "nurse's" for the life-giving, creature- 
 
68 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 creating, paternal spermatozoa. But observation 
 does not substantiate this, nor does Abbot Mendel's 
 experiment on peas bring him to that conclusion. 
 
 If it is true that the egg cell, or ovum, is passive 
 in its nature, that it does perform the nature of nurse 
 only to the developing fertilized ovum; and also, if 
 it is true, as is generally supposed, that paternal 
 hereditary qualities are transmitted by the sperm 
 cell or paternal spermatozoa, then, in order for the 
 offspring to resemble the mother and also her gener- 
 ations, the contribution of hereditable qualities must 
 also be transmitted by her in a similar process to 
 those of the father parent. And so it would appear 
 that maternal hereditable qualities are transmitted 
 by the matrix plasm, as patrix plasm (spermatozoa) 
 transmits hereditable qualities of the paternal crea- 
 ture. And, also, that among vegetables, fruits, 
 flowers, there is, no doubt, the matrix dust which 
 mingles with the pollen cell, or patrix dust, at 
 once accomplishing fertilization and hybridization for 
 those forms of life. And so it would appear that by 
 the mingling of the matrix plasm and patrix plasm, 
 of matrix dust and patrix dust, the offspring of ani- 
 mals and plants resemble their ancestors, immediate 
 and remote. And that, also, it is through these 
 media that the processes of perfection in the develop- 
 ment of pure breeds in animals and plants are attain- 
 
BIRTHMARKS AND MENTAL IMPRESSIONS 69 
 
 able as well as through these media their degenera- 
 tion is accomplished. And that by the processes of 
 fertilization of the ovum and seed cell by the parental 
 spermatozoa and fertilizing dust the preservation of 
 that species is accomplished in the possibility of the 
 reproduction of both paternal and maternal animals 
 and plants from the mother creature and mother 
 plant. 
 
 BIRTHMARKS AND THE MOTHER'S MENTAL 
 IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 There is mystery enough connected with the "long- 
 ings" of a pregnant woman, and the traditional " she 
 is not herself," to suggest the presence of miracles — 
 which we call happenings whose beginnings and end 
 we may not preceive — rather than the manifestation 
 of laws natural to our physical beings. And who can 
 account for striking resemblances between people 
 who are not blood relatives? Or that there are 
 countries whose men inhabitants, especially, and often 
 the women, are as much alike in looks as the peas in 
 one pod. Or that there are eras of time when the 
 spiritual and mental qualities of the peoples of that 
 time of all countries resemble, often the physiques 
 of the men and women showing striking likenesses, 
 though such people are separated by seas and conti- 
 
70 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 nents. Sometimes this has appeared as highly de- 
 veloped mentalities and a superior spirituality; but, 
 again, this phenomenon has appeared among people 
 who exhibit a curious likeness in degeneracy. 
 
 The habit of speaking of certain periods in the 
 history of the earth's inhabitants as an age of poetry, 
 an age of unusual religious awakening, an age of ex- 
 ploration, of invention, of art production, and so on, 
 is well known. And yet these all may be the result 
 of a natural law by which the human organism 
 naturally seeks expression. 
 
 Who has not met strangers in strange countries 
 who bore striking resemblance to acquaintances at 
 home? Indeed, if the same individuals had been 
 met at home, though they were strangers, they would 
 have been addressed as acquaintances, so great was 
 the resemblance. On the other hand, twins are some- 
 times born as unlike as an apple and an oak ball. 
 
 Can this be explained at all ? Or by what physi- 
 cal law do we grow to resemble, to actually resemble, 
 those we think upon in love and admiration ? It is 
 not at all uncommon for devoted, loving, loyal 
 husbands and wives, after years of life together, to 
 resemble each other in feature and expression as 
 much as though they were born sister and brother. 
 Is there any matter in this fact for telegony? 
 
 Is there some subtle, actual physical law at work, 
 
BIRTHMARKS AND MENTAL IMPRESSIONS 71 
 
 playing out into the infinity of our beings and of which 
 these conditions are the natural result, or are they 
 due to the workings of "the mysterious wireless teleg- 
 raphy" spoken of by Ballantyne? But who has 
 sight so keen and true that it can follow the imprint- 
 ing of such material facts by the processes of immortal 
 flashes and vibrations ? And there I must cease. 
 
 And birthmarks, "in which there is a widespread 
 belief" — Would cameraless photography occurring 
 during the pregnancy of the mother be responsible 
 for these unexpected occurrences ? And if it did, who 
 could analyze it? 
 
 Verily, "the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the 
 children's teeth are set on edge." And sometimes it 
 would appear that the mothers especially had so 
 eaten. 
 
 If reports be true, birthmarks may be skin spots, 
 deficiencies in powers of digestion and assimilation, 
 as abnormal desires supported by extra digestive and 
 assimilation powers; also, sometimes, as habits of 
 gesture, and sometimes little mannerisms of speech 
 and actions!, sometimes as unusual states of mind, 
 such as supersensitiveness regarding odd things, and 
 so on. I knew a mother who, during pregnancy, was 
 obliged for a certain continuous time to eat sheep's 
 flesh. She took such a sudden abhorrence and dis- 
 taste of the meat that she only ate it rather than go 
 
72 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 meat hungry. After the birth of her baby she recovered 
 from this spasmodic distaste of this particular meat. 
 But the child from its first meat-eating days could 
 not endure the smell or the taste of the sheep's flesh. 
 Whenever the child attempted to eat that meat, the 
 result vfzs always the same — ^indigestion and v^ant of 
 assimilation, and usually attended with acute indi- 
 gestion cramps. Was this a birthmark ? 
 
 Another pregnant mother's particular "longing" 
 was for mackerel. Her baby was born with what 
 seemed to be the oudines, in a brownish color, of a 
 mackerel on its side, and which design never faded 
 in after years, and the child's ability to eat and digest 
 mackerel was more than normal. Was this a birth- 
 mark ? 
 
 The "longing" of another pregnant mother was 
 for brains to eat. This was provided for her. But 
 as she was slowly approaching the dish of deliciously 
 prepared food, quivering with delight and with the 
 eagerness of a child to be eating it, a cat sprang to 
 the plate and before she could prevent it ate the brains 
 and licked the plate clean. She wept as a child might 
 have done, and was as unhappy and brokenhearted 
 over this fate of the brains food for which she had 
 waited with such keen anticipation of satisfaction 
 as a little child might have been. Shortly after that 
 the little baby was born, and upon one of its shoulder- 
 
BIRTHMARKS AND MENTAL IMPRESSIONS 73 
 
 blades was a representation of the mess of brains, 
 designed in brownish outlines, and which did not 
 fade as the child grew up. Was this a birthmark ? 
 
 Numberless such cases might be recorded, as also 
 those where a parent may possess a talent which it 
 has become the inmost desire of that parent's soul 
 to put into expression, but in vain. But on the birth 
 of a child the talent appears as brilliant genius, 
 which may even manifest itself in miraculous perfec- 
 tion in the offspring while yet an infant in years. 
 
 There lived in a little house in the midst of a flower 
 garden, that in its turn gave into a wide-spreading 
 orchard, a loving and loyal husband and wife with 
 their first born child. The wife was now in the first 
 months of pregnancy with her second child. Their 
 nearest neighbor was a Mexican family, among the 
 members of which was a dashing young man of about 
 twenty-two. He and his sister and mother were fre- 
 quent visitors to this little household of three. But 
 the young Mexican was the most frequent, and the 
 husband's being home or not did not disconcert him. 
 Men of affairs must need spend morning hours, and 
 sometimes afternoon hours too, inside of offices, but 
 wealthy and aristocratic young Mexicans rode horses 
 all day, decked out with silver, leather, and velvet 
 trappings, both horse and rider. It was this lady's 
 custom to walk much among her flowers and fruit 
 
74 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 trees. And it became the custom of this young cabal- 
 lero to suddenly appear before her during these prom- 
 enades. Her startled eyes would no sooner perceive 
 the vision of his blazing, dark eyes fastened upon her, 
 than by one pretext and another she made him under- 
 stand that he was dismissed, and would herself retire 
 into the house. When she would be about to open a 
 gate, suddenly and unexpectedly the young Mexican 
 would appear on the other side and with gracious 
 suavity open the gate, always his passionate, dark 
 eyes upon her, though his words were reserved and 
 polite. If the husband were present, it was still the 
 same. By every means possible he would prolong 
 his stay. 
 
 One summer day this lady was lying on her couch 
 on the veranda, sleeping, her eyes covered over. At 
 that time she was having an eye malady that was epi- 
 demic in that part of the country. She heard foot- 
 steps approaching, but did not disturb herself, as 
 she supposed it was her husband. After some time 
 she suddenly threw off the covering from her face, 
 and there to her astonished eyes stood the young 
 Mexican, intensely looking down upon her with deep 
 concern. At that moment the husband arrived, and 
 the young man told him of a weed growing in that 
 locality that he said would cure the eye malady. It 
 grew in a cluster of stalks, some two feet high, shoot- 
 
BIRTHMARKS AND MENTAL IMPRESSIONS 75 
 
 ing up from one root. It had large, soft leaves, that 
 somewhat resembled the leaf of the milk-weed, and 
 a star-like flower, white petaled, with a yellow centre. 
 Its corolla and heart were disposed somewhat after 
 the manner of the sun flower. When the leaves of 
 this plant were crushed there oozed a yellowish milkj 
 with about a half-dozen applications of this milk to 
 the sore eyes they were healed. 
 
 After that the young caballero would ride up and 
 down, Mexican fashion, in front of the house, draw- 
 ing rein whenever he could get a glimpse of the lady 
 or a word with her. This never failed to annoy her, 
 and also to strike a sudden, sharp terror into her 
 heart. Always his appearance was most unexpected, 
 and always accompanied by the wrapt, passionate, 
 dark gaze. Though he was a most clean-souled young 
 man. 
 
 Afterward, when the baby was born, one of the 
 child's eyes was marked by the color and fire of the 
 dashing Spaniard's eyes, while its other eye was a 
 calmish blue-gray eye. This was all the more remark- 
 able as neither of the parents of the child had such 
 eyes. Was it a case of maternal impression ? 
 
 Upon investigation I found that the grandparents 
 of the baby's mother had just such eyes as the baby. 
 The grandfather's were big, dark, flashing eyes, and 
 the grandmother's the mild, blue-gray eyes. So 
 
76 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 "bang!" went the theory of mental impression, and 
 in its place came the physical law of reversion. 
 
 Dr. J. Arthur Thomson says: "For a prolonged 
 period the unborn child is part and parcel of the 
 mother, almost an integral part of herself." 
 
 Mothers know that during pregnancy they are 
 swayed by another personality than their own, and 
 probably by the child's, which manifests its nature 
 early. Because of this during that important period 
 she may become childish, especially regarding food. 
 Indeed, any kind of uterine illness or pregnancy 
 immediately affects the maternal creature's entire 
 organism, and is especially conspicuous in the face. 
 This indicates the sensitiveness of the maternal organs 
 and their immediate, sympathetic connection with 
 the brain and the rest of the body. As a matter 
 of fact, the uterus and ovaries receive from a mass of 
 veins, filaments, and fibers tribute from all the rest 
 of the body, the supply media being especially located 
 at the hilum, where the large convoluted veins form 
 a sort of vascular bulb. 
 
 A pregnant woman knows she must endeavor to 
 control the childish whims and impulses that possess 
 her, especially not giving way to indignations, or 
 violence in act or thought. And this, if not for her 
 own sake, at least for the sake of her unborn child, 
 who will surely be marked by the overdevelopment 
 
BIRTHMARKS AND MENTAL IMPRESSIONS 77 
 
 in the qualities of her uncontrolled passions. And, 
 I take it, it is really the child's personality swaying 
 her. Thus, it is in the womb that the mother begins 
 to discipline her child for love of it yet unborn, and 
 by a sure self-control. 
 
 Those who make up the household of a pregnant 
 woman owe it to her to more especially love and 
 cherish and nourish her at that time; to grant, and 
 with despatch, all of her healthy, normal, harmless 
 "longing," and to surround her with every comfort 
 and happiness possible. For it is during those days 
 that the future generations are being moulded for 
 the possibility of being instruments of good or evil. 
 Those terrible, mysterious days of pregnancy. If a 
 mother is overworked at that time — if, indeed, she 
 works at all, and her vitality is impoverished, she 
 may not be able to supply the normal amount of 
 "liquor amnii" for the developing embryo, and be- 
 cause of this the child might become crippled 
 structurally. 
 
 Children born to a normal, healthy, beloved, and 
 loving wife and mother have the very greatest chance 
 to become valuable and happy additions to the great 
 human family. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SOME MATTERS ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO 
 WOMEN. 
 
 If a mother wishes for a girl, and continues per- 
 sistently to remain on her left side for a few hours 
 after the presence of the fertilizing spermatozoa in the 
 uterus, but especially refraining from lying on her 
 right side for at least twelve hours, then if she has 
 no child her left ovary needs treatment. Sometimes 
 an electric bath will restore the natural health to a 
 dormant ovary. After the electric treatment, and if 
 she carefully follows the above directions, if she is 
 normal she will surely give birth to a girl baby. 
 
 If she wishes for a boy, and does not have a child 
 after remaining on her right side for a few hours, 
 but especially not lying on her left side for at least 
 twelve hours after the presence of the fertilizing sper- 
 matozoa in the uterus, then her right ovary needs 
 treatment. After that a normal mother, if she follows 
 carefully the directions given above, will surely give 
 birth to a boy baby. 
 
 If a mother after following the above directions 
 for having a boy or a girl baby, as the case may 
 be, for, say, any reasonable length of time, has no 
 (78) 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 79 
 
 child at all, she should at once have medical treat- 
 ment. 
 
 In the case of ovaries that are supposed to have 
 been removed, mothers must remember that it is a 
 well-established physiological fact that the slightest 
 part of an ovary not removed in such a surgical opera- 
 tion may mature and ovulate its ova, and that there- 
 fore with fertilization a child might be born of the sex 
 corresponding to the supposedly removed ovary. 
 
 When an ovary has been removed, so far as I have 
 had opportunity to observe, no child has ever been 
 born with the sex corresponding to the removed ovary. 
 
 Because of the dextral preeminence of the right 
 side of mothers, an overworked mother will suffer first 
 in her right ovary. From too hard work her right 
 ovary might be incapacitated to such an extent that 
 she could not give birth to a boy at all. And if she 
 is able to give birth to a son, there are many chances 
 that he will be a degenerate physically, and small 
 chance for him to be normal in strength. 
 
 On the other hand, an overworked mother, because 
 of the natural protection afforded the organs on the 
 left side of her body, may give birth to girls prin- 
 cipally. And these girls may be normal and superior 
 in strength to the sons of the same mother. 
 
 And because of the greater strenuousness of the 
 organs in a mother on the right side, as compared to 
 
80 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 those on the left, an overenergetic woman, for any 
 reason, during childbearing is likely to give birth 
 to children degenerate in physical strength, and in 
 normal mothers the boy babies will be the first to 
 be so affected; the children of such mothers are 
 sometimes even deformed when there is no other 
 reason apparent for such a calamity. 
 
 During pregnancy, the rule for mothers is not to 
 overexert themselves, and at the same time some 
 exercise is healthy; they should in this regard observe 
 the "golden mean." 
 
 It may happen that a physically weak mother, 
 especially if her environment is favorable, brings 
 forth strong, healthy, normal children, both boys and 
 girls, while in a like environment large, fat women 
 sometimes give birth to weaklings, both boys and 
 girls. Many interesting and striking examples of 
 these cases have come under my observation, but 
 their history could not be included here. 
 
 During pregnancy a woman should avoid certain 
 activities altogether, such as sewing by hand, or run- 
 ning a machine by the feet or hands, beating or 
 threshing movements with the arms, and any work 
 that requires the lifting of the arms up and down in 
 reaching above the height of the body; also, she 
 should avoid pushing any object with the foot. 
 These various activities at such times are supposed 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 81 
 
 to be the cause of babies being born with the umbil- 
 ical cord around the neck, which is often the case, 
 especially when mothers have used the hands and 
 arms a great deal, as has just been described. Such 
 children are usually afflicted, from this fact of the 
 umbilical cord, with stammering and stuttering, and 
 with girl babies it not infrequently results in chronic 
 hysteria, when otherwise there would be no explana- 
 tion for these calamities appearing in the children. 
 I do not mean to infer that the appearance of the 
 umbilical cord wrapped around the neck of a baby is 
 the only cause for those nervous difficulties, but that 
 they do almost invariably accompany this displace- 
 ment of the umbilical cord. 
 
 HORSEBACK RIDING, 
 
 Too frequent horseback riding, and especially 
 sideways, might make it impossible for a woman to 
 give birth to a child. This would be the result if the 
 neck of the uterus became so displaced that fertilizing 
 spermatozoa could not enter it. However, this diffi- 
 culty might be corrected by a physician, yet the 
 mother in question might not be able to have a son. 
 Riding sideways, either upon a woman's or a man's 
 saddle, necessitates a cramped position of the right 
 ovary, and might render it incapable of healthy, 
 
 6 
 
82 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 normal maturation and ovulation. Riding astride is 
 the healthiest position for women. 
 
 There was a young woman who from childhood 
 had ridden sideways. She was obliged to go on horse- 
 back to her school, and after her marriage she did 
 not have a child. Some few years afterward, upon 
 medical examination, it was found that the neck of 
 the uterus was so badly displaced that fertilization 
 could not take place. Her physician accomplished 
 successfully the delicate and difficult operation of 
 straightening this organ. She soon became pregnant, 
 and in due time gave birth to twin girls. 
 1 There were two daughters of a ranchman, the two 
 eldest of a large family of boys and girls, who were 
 accustomed to "run cattle," riding their mustangs 
 with a man's Mexican saddle — that is, a saddle with 
 a high tree. They rode these sideways. Though 
 they were otherwise strong, healthy women, when 
 married they neither one had children. And though 
 they were married the second time, still they had no 
 children. 
 
 There were two other young women who had ridden 
 horses, and also sideways, all their lives. After their 
 marriage they asked me for my directions for having 
 a son. And though they followed these directions 
 carefully for a length of time they had no son. But 
 upon following the directions for having a girl, they 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 83 
 
 both gave birth to girl babies. This made me think 
 that their horseback riding had made it impossible 
 for them to have a boy. 
 
 ATHLETIC WOMEN. 
 
 When athletics are too continuous and too violent 
 the woman's maternal organs may be displaced and 
 injured. When athletic women, who may be appar- 
 ently healthy and normal, do not have children, this 
 seems to be the only explanation of their difl&culty. 
 
 The most striking case of this kind I ever encoun- 
 tered was that of a young girl whom I knew from her 
 infancy. She would outdo her brother in all athletic 
 . feats — running, leaping, climbing, high kicking, turn- 
 ing double somersaults, etc. After being married 
 for a number of years she had no children. Upon 
 examination her physician found that the neck of 
 the uterus was completely turned away from its nor- 
 mal position. In his attempt to straighten this the 
 young woman lost her life, though the same phy- 
 sician had performed the same operation successfully 
 upon other patients. 
 
 FACTS REGARDING THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE 
 MATERNAL REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. 
 
 The accompanying plates and facts are given for 
 the benefit of women who may not be familiar with 
 the physiology of these organs. 
 
84 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 The following facts concerning the physiology of 
 the maternal organs of reproduction are taken from 
 An American Text-hook of Physiology, vol. ii, edited 
 by William H. Howell, Ph.D., M.D., and selected 
 especially from the paragraphs on reproduction in 
 that volume written by Frederick F. Lee, Ph.D.: 
 
 "Sexual organs are classified into essential and 
 accessory. The essential organs are the two testes of 
 the male and the two ovaries of the female. 
 
 " The accessory organs of the female comprise the 
 oviducts, or Fallopian tubes, the uterus, the vagina, 
 the various external parts included in the vulva, and 
 the mammary glands." 
 
 THE FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. 
 
 "The 'female reproductive organs have as their 
 specific function the production of the essential female 
 germ cell, the ova, and their transference to the uterus, 
 and to the outside world if the ova are unfertilized. 
 Other specific functions are the protection and nutri- 
 tion of the developing embyro, its ultimate transfer- 
 ence to the outside world, and the nutrition of the 
 child during early infancy." 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 85 
 THE OVARIES. 
 
 " Ovaries are often spoken of as glands, but they 
 are not glands according to the ordinary histological 
 and physiological use of the term. They are solid 
 organs, with a structure peculiar to themselves, and 
 their function is the production of ova. 
 
 "The ovaries are the true distinctive female organs 
 in which alone the female elements, the ova, can be 
 produced. 
 
 " The Fallopian tubes and the uterus are accessory 
 in their use, the ovum, or the female element passing 
 through the tube to the uterus, where it forms the 
 attachments to the mother that are necessary to its 
 nourishment and full development. 
 
 "The ovaries lie nearly horizontal in the pelvic 
 cavity, on either side of the uterus. 
 
 "They are whitish in color and their form ovoid 
 and flattened, with the anterior border, sometimes 
 called the base, attached to the broad ligament. 
 
 "The ovary is about an^inch and a half in length, 
 half an inch in thickness, and three-quarters of an 
 inch in width at the widest portion. 
 
 "The outer extremity is somewhat rounded, and 
 is attached to one of the fimbrise of the Fallopian 
 tubes. The inner extremity is more pointed, and 
 is attached to the uterus by means of the ligament 
 
86 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 of the ovary, which is marked, 7 7 the hilum. (See 
 Plate I.) 
 
 "The ovary receives bloodvessels which penetrate 
 at the hilum. They are large and convoluted, espe- 
 cially at the hilum itself, where there is a mass 
 of convoluted veins forming a sort of vascular 
 bulb. 
 
 "On making a section of the ovary, it is readily 
 seen w^ith the naked eye that it is composed of two 
 distinct structures — a cortical substance, sometimes 
 called the tunica albuginea, and a medullary sub- 
 stance, containing a large number of bloodvessels. 
 
 "The cortical substance alone contains the Graafian 
 follicles, and consists of connective tissue in several 
 layers, the fibers of which are continuous with the 
 looser fibers of the medullary portion. In these 
 layers of cortical substance are embedded the ova 
 enclosed in the Graafian follicle sacs." 
 
 THE OVUM. 
 
 "The human ovum was discovered in 1827 by von 
 Baer, and it was he who first completely traced the 
 connection between ova in the generative passages 
 and ova in the Graafian follicles of the ovary. 
 
 "The conception of ova as the essential female 
 element had, however, long been held, and Harvey's 
 
PLATE I 
 
 Uterus, Fallopian Tubes, and Ovaries. 
 Posterior View (Sappey). 
 
 The Female Organs of Reproduction: l l, ovaries; 2 2, Fallo- 
 pian tubes; 3 3, fimbriated extremity of the left Fallopian tube, 
 seen from its cavity; 4, opening of the left tube; 5, fimbriated 
 extremity of the right tube, posterior view; 6 6, fimbriae which 
 attach the extremity of each tube to the ovary; 7 7, ligaments 
 of the ovary at the hilum; 8 8 and g 9, broad ligaments; 10, 
 uterus; II, cervix uteri; 12,0s uteri; 13 and 14, vagina. 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 87 
 
 dictum of the seventeenth century that everything 
 living is derived from an egg {omne vivum ex ovo) is 
 v^ell known. 
 
 "The human ovum as it comes from the ovary 
 is a spherical, protoplasmic cell, averaging, with 
 the zona radiata, approximately, ^kr °f ^" i'^'^^ ^^ 
 diameter. 
 
 "As in other cells, the cell body may be distin- 
 guished from the nucleus, the protoplasm of the 
 former being called cytoplasm. In its finer struc- 
 ture the cytoplasm consists of an excessively delicate 
 network of protoplasmic substance. Like other 
 mammalian eggs, it probably contains, adjoining the 
 nucleus, a minute, specially differentiated portion, 
 consisting of a single or double centrosome sur- 
 rounded by an attraction sphere. 
 
 "For some distance inward from the border the 
 cytoplasm is pure and transparent, and this portion 
 is often called the protoplasmic zone. 
 
 "Throughout the centre of the cell, however, it 
 is obscured by the presence of an abundance of yolk 
 substance, or deutoplasm, from which the corre- 
 sponding part of the ovum is sometimes called the 
 deutoplasmic zone. 
 
 "Deutoplasm is a non-living substance; it consists 
 of granules of yolk embedded in the meshes of the 
 cytoplasm network, and, like its analogue, the yolk 
 
88 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 of the hen's egg, it serves as food for the future cells 
 of the embryo. 
 
 "A comparison of the respective amounts of food 
 in the human and the fowl's egg with the manner of 
 embryonic development is suggestive. 
 
 "The chick develops outside the body of the hen, 
 and therefore requires a large supply of nutriment, 
 which it finds in the yolk and white of the egg. 
 
 " The child develops within the mother's body and 
 receives its nourishment from the maternal blood; 
 hence the supply of food within the egg is only 
 enough to insure the beginning of growth, special 
 bloodvessels being formed to facilitate its con- 
 tinuance. 
 
 " The nucleus, frequently called by its earlier name 
 the germinal vesical, is spherical, and usually occu- 
 pies a slightly eccentric position. 
 
 "Its protoplasm consists of a network composed 
 of two kinds of material: the more delicate, slightly 
 stained threads are the achromatic substance; the 
 coarser, deeply staining portion the chromatic sub- 
 stance, or chromatin. 
 
 "The former is continuous with and probably of 
 the same nature as the cytoplasm. 
 
 "The chromatin is peculiar to the nucleus, and at 
 certain stages in the nuclear history Is resolved into 
 distinct granules or filaments, the chromosomes. 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 89 
 
 "The number of chromosomes in the human ovum 
 before maturation is thought to be sixteen. 
 
 " There is every reason for believing that the chro- 
 matin is the bearer of whatever is inherited from the 
 mother. 
 
 "The nucleus is limited by a nuclear membrane, 
 and contains a strongly marked nucleolus, which has 
 likewise retained its original name of germinal spot. 
 There is probably no proper cell wall or vitelline 
 membrane, such as is said to exist in many mam- 
 malian and other eggs. 
 
 " The ovum is surrounded by a thick, tough, trans- 
 parent membrane of ovarian origin, and called zona 
 radiata, or zona pellucida. It is pierced by a multi- 
 tude of fine lines radiating from the surface of the zona 
 to the ovum; these are thought to represent pores, to 
 contain fine protoplasmic processes of the surround- 
 ing ovarian cells, and thus to serve as channels for 
 the passage of nutriment to the egg. 
 
 "Between the zona radiata and the ovum are 
 narrow spaces, where the perivitelline space exists. 
 Attached to the outside of the zona radiata are usually 
 patches of cells derived from the discus proligerus of 
 the Graafian follicle of the ovary, which may form a 
 complete covering and constitute the corona radiata. 
 They disappear soon after the egg is discharged from 
 the ovary." 
 
90 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 THE GRAAFIAN FOLLICLE. 
 
 "The ova are enclosed in sacs called the Graafian 
 follicles. The Graafian follicle presents several coats 
 and is filled with an albuminous liquid. 
 
 "The entire number of follicles of all sizes in either 
 ovary is about 35,000, or about 70,000 in both ovaries 
 together. The sizes vary from the smallest primor- 
 dial follicles, which are -g-rir inch, to the largest, 
 which are nearly half an inch in diameter. 
 
 "In the follicles which have attained any particu- 
 lar size there are the fully developed ova, one in each 
 follicle, except in rare instances, when there are two 
 ova in one follicle sac. 
 
 "The process which culminates in the discharge of 
 the ovum from the ovary into the fimbriated extremity 
 of the Fallopian tubes is as follows: The Graafian 
 follicle gradually enlarges, becomes distended with 
 liquid, which finally breaks through, and the follicle 
 ruptures on the surface of the ovary, thus dis- 
 charging the ovum. This is called ovulation." 
 
 CORPUS LUTEUM. 
 
 "After ovulation the empty follicle undergoes 
 changes and becomes the corpus luteum. Usually 
 the corpus luteum degenerates within a few days and 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 91 
 
 ultimately disappears. The ovarian scars left by the 
 passing away of the corpus luteum also disappear 
 in a short time." 
 
 THE FALLOPIAN TUBES. 
 
 "The primary function of the Fallopian tubes is 
 to convery ova from the ovaries to the uterus; they 
 also convey spermatozoa in the reverse direction. 
 In some mammals the passage of the ovum down the 
 Fallopian tube to the uterus occupies from three to 
 five days; the time in woman is not definitely known, 
 but is thought to be from four to eight days. 
 
 "The Fallopian tubes lead from the ovaries to the 
 uterus. They are from three to four inches long, but 
 their length is not always equal on the two sides. They 
 lie between the folds of the broad ligament at its upper 
 border opening into the uterus on either side of the 
 cornua, where they present each a small orifice. From 
 the cornua they take a somewhat undulatory course 
 outward, gradually increasing in size, so that they 
 are rather trumpet-shaped. Near the ovary they turn 
 downward and backward. 
 
 "The extremity near the ovary is marked by fim- 
 brize. These fringe-like processes are free, all except 
 one, and this one, which is longer than the others, is 
 attached to the outer angle of the ovary, and presents 
 
92 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 a little gutter or furrow extending from the ovary to 
 the opening of the tube. This is two or three times 
 larger than the uterus opening. 
 
 "Beneath the peritoneal coat, which is formed by 
 layers of the broad ligament, is a layer of connective 
 tissue containing a rich plexus of bloodvessels. This 
 constitutes the proper fibrous coat of the Fallopian 
 tubes. The mucous membrane is covered with 
 ciliated epithelium, the movement of the cilia being 
 from the ovary toward the uterus." 
 
 FERTILIZATION OF THE OVUM. 
 
 "Spermatozoa pass through the uterus into the 
 Fallopian tubes, and even to the surface of the ova- 
 ries. It is known that spermatozoa reach the ovaries, 
 as they have been seen in motion on their surface. 
 The ordinary situation at which the ovum is fertilized 
 is the dilated or external portion of the Fallopian tube. 
 All authorities are agreed that fecundation does not 
 take place in the cavity of the uterus. 
 
 "The main agency of the locomotion of the sperma- 
 tozoa through the body of the uterus and the Fallo- 
 pian tubes, and probably also from the vagina into 
 the uterus, is the spontaneous movement of the sper- 
 matozoa themselves. By the lashing of their tails 
 they wriggle their way over the moist surface, being 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 93 
 
 stimulated to lively activity probably by the oppos- 
 ing ciliary movements in the epithelium lining the 
 passages. 
 
 " Kraft has shown in rabbits that when spermato- 
 zoa in feeble motion are placed upon the inner sur- 
 face of the oviduct (Fallopian tubes) not only are 
 they thrown into active contractions, but they move 
 against the ciliary movements, that is, up the ovi- 
 duct. The capacity of the male cell thus to respond 
 by locomotion in the opposite direction to the stimu- 
 lating influence of the ciliary cells over which they 
 have to pass is an interesting adaptation. Probably 
 this is the directive agency that enables the spermato- 
 zoa to follow the right path to the ovum. As has been 
 seen, spermatozoa are probably capable of living 
 within the genital passages for several days, when, if 
 ovulation has not taken place, they perish. If, how- 
 ever, an ovum appears, they at once approach and 
 surround it in great numbers, being apparently 
 attracted to it in some mysterious manner. It may 
 be, as has been strongly suggested, that also among 
 animals the attraction may be a chemical one, the 
 ovum containing or producing something for which 
 the spermatozoa has an affinity. But experimental 
 evidence upon this subject in animals is wanting. 
 
 " The spermatozoa appear to perforate the vitelline 
 membrane of the ovum by the impulsive movement 
 
94 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 of their filamentous extremity. And according to 
 some observations, fertilization by a single sperma- 
 tozoon takes place by a small orifice, or micropile, 
 in the vitelline membrane, as first indicated by 
 Barry. 
 
 "After the spermatozoon's arrival in the vitelline 
 cavity of the ovum the spermatozoon disappears as 
 a distinct organic element. 
 
 "The fertilized ovum enters the Fallopian tube, 
 passes down the tube, and is covered by an albumin- 
 ous layer. This layer forms around the fertilized 
 and the non-fertilized ova alike in the tube, and it 
 probably serves to protect the fertilized ovum. When 
 the spermatozoids do not penetrate the vitelline mem- 
 brane near the ovary it presents an obstacle to their 
 passage into it, while the ovum is in the tube. 
 
 "We have seen that the essence of the whole 
 process of fertilization is a fusion of the male and 
 female nuclei, or, more exactly, a mingling of male 
 and female chromosomes. 
 
 "As regards the mechanism of the passage of ova 
 into the tubes, there are two theories in regard to 
 the process: One, in which it is supposed that the 
 fimbriated extremities of the Fallopian tubes at the 
 time of the rupture of the Graafian follicle become 
 adapted to the surface of the ovaries, and the other, 
 that ova, being in themselves passive, are carried to 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 95 
 
 the opening of the tubes by ciliary currents. Neither 
 of these theories, however, is susceptible of actual 
 demonstration." 
 
 THE UTERUS. 
 
 "The uterus is a pear-shaped body, somewhat 
 flattened anteriorly and posteriorly, presenting a 
 fundus, a body, and a neck. 
 
 "At its lowest extremity is an opening into the 
 vagina called the os externum. At the upper portion 
 of the neck is a constriction which indicates the 
 situation of the os internum, which is also called the 
 cervix uteri. 
 
 "The uterus is usually about three inches long, 
 two inches in breadth at its widest portion, and one 
 inch in thickness. It is somewhat loosely held in 
 place by the broad and round ligaments and by the 
 folds of the peritoneum in front and behind. The 
 delicate layers of peritoneum that form its exterior 
 covering extend behind as far as the vagina, where it 
 is reflected back on the rectum, and anteriorly a little 
 below the upper extremity of the neck, where it is 
 reflected upon the urinary bladder. 
 
 "At the uterus the peritoneal covering, a little below 
 the entrance of the Fallopian tubes, becomes loosely 
 attached and leaves a line for the penetration of the 
 vessels and nerves. 
 
96 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 "The interior of the uterus shows a triangular 
 cavity, with two cornua corresponding to the open- 
 ings of the Fallopian tubes, and have very thick 
 walls. 
 
 " The inner muscular layer of the uterus is arranged 
 in the form of broad rings which surround the Fallo- 
 pian tubes, become large as they extend over the body 
 of the uterus, and meet at the centre of the organ near 
 the neck. ' 
 
 "The mucous membrane of the uterus is of a pale, 
 reddish color, and that portion lining the body is 
 smooth and so closely attached to the adjacent struc- 
 tures that it cannot be separated to any great extent 
 by dissection. 
 
 "There is, indeed, no proper submucous areolar 
 tissue, the membranes being applied directly to the 
 uterine walls. It is covered by a single layer of cylin- 
 drical, epithelial cells, with delicate cilia, the move- 
 ments of which are from without inward, toward the 
 opening of the Fallopian tubes." 
 
 SOME OF nature's MECHANICS FOR PREVENTING A 
 
 LITTER OF OFFSPRING AT A SINGLE BIRTH 
 
 AMONG HUMAN BEINGS. 
 
 The appearance among human beings of more 
 than one child at a single birth, and sometimes of the 
 two sexes, is evidence that both male and female ova 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 97 
 
 may and do mature and ovulate near enough at the 
 same time to be fertilized at the same time and develop 
 as boys and girls. 
 
 There are two facts connected with the fertilization 
 of ova which act as preventives to a number of chil- 
 dren at a single birth. One is that soon after the 
 ovulation of ova they enter the Fallopian tubes and 
 there receive an albuminous covering that sperma- 
 tozoa cannot penetrate. This is supposed to protect 
 ova that may have been fertilized before entering the 
 oviduct, and also, if they have not been fertilized before 
 entering it, to prevent fertilization in the Fallopian 
 tubes. And, as the ovum takes on a preventive of 
 fertilization, except at a given time and in a certain 
 place, so there is also a prohibitive condition to fer- 
 tilization of ova from both ovaries at the same time 
 that appears in the progress of fertilizing spermatozoa 
 when on their way into the uterus. That is, before 
 entering the uterus the spermatozoa are embedded 
 in the plasmic matrix substance, which draws them 
 all together in one direction or another, and this direc- 
 tion is not only decided by the laws of gravity, but 
 the plasmic fluid that contains them is helped to con- 
 tinue in the given direction by the fibrous rings it 
 encounters in the interior of the uterus. And once 
 it has reached the cornua of the uterus, the possibility 
 of its flowing in another direction is greatly impeded, 
 
98 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 if not prevented, by these fibrous rings and by the 
 ciliary movements of the epithelium lining the uterine 
 walls, the direction of which is from the neck of the 
 uterus toward the Fallopian tubes. 
 
 As shown in Plate II, these fibrous rings occupy 
 the right and left sides of the body of the uterus, each 
 side having its own independent set of rings that do 
 not overlap, but meet as a line in the middle of the 
 body of the uterus. Also, it may be seen by this plate 
 that both the right and left set of fibrous rings circle 
 toward the opening of the right and left Fallopian 
 tubes, respectively, as a centre. 
 
 Once the fertilization of an ovum takes place the 
 cervix uteri of the normal uterus closes, and it would 
 seem to prevent anything passing either into or out 
 of the uterus. 
 
 During pregnancy the ovaries cease to mature and 
 ovulate ova, as all the vitality of the maternal organ- 
 ism is needed for the developing of the new life. 
 
 As a result of these mechanics, among others, no 
 doubt the almost universal rule among human beings 
 is that there is but one offspring at each birth. 
 
 CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 I maintain, from a practical experience of over 
 thirty years, that in human beings the ova from the 
 
PLATE II 
 
 iA 
 
 Inner Layers of Muscular Fibers of the Uterus (Liegois). 
 
 The Inner Layer of the Muscular Fibers of the Uterus which 
 are Accessory in the Determining of Sex: a a, rings around the 
 openings of the Fallopian tubes; bb, circular fibers of the cervix. 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 99 
 
 right ovary fertilized develop as boys, and that ova 
 of the left ovary fertilized develop as girls, in normal 
 mothers. 
 
 I am also of the opinion that the right and left ova 
 may be fertilized only by their complemental sperma- 
 tozoa. In other words, that in human beings, and 
 also in the higher animals, spermatozoa capabk of 
 fertilizing a given ovum, must be the complement 
 of that ovum, and that, therefore, there are the two 
 testes in the paternal animal as well as the two ova 
 producing ovaries in the maternal creature. 
 
 Sixt's theory regarding the fertilization of ova, and 
 that one side in the male caused the embryo from ova 
 thus fertilized to become male, and from the other 
 side to become female, was an evident and logical 
 conclusion from his experiments, no doubt, only he 
 failed to consider the other half of the whole story 
 in the production of offspring. 
 
 In the light of the theory of sex determination as 
 presented in this book, such experiments as Sixt 
 made would be of practical value to all interested 
 in this subject, either as parents of children or as 
 breeders of animals. 
 
 It is my opinion that he was right as far as he went, 
 but that he went but half way. For, according to the 
 sex-determining theory as I have observed it, there 
 can be no question of "inferiority" or "superiority" 
 
100 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 of father or mother in the production of offspring or 
 in the determination of sex. However, the directions 
 given in this work for directing the fertilizing sperma- 
 tozoa to the right or to the left side of the uterus, and 
 consequently on to the right or left ovary, must be 
 executed by the mother. 
 
 I hope this work will be accepted by physiologists 
 and embryologists for whatever it may be worth to 
 them after testing it by experiment; and that not only 
 may they test the sex-determining theory with which 
 I have had practical experience for some thirty years, 
 but also that they, having access to embryological 
 laboratories, may be inclined to assist in the possible 
 verification of the other theo^ries it contains, and 
 which seem to be more or less relevant to the sex- 
 determining law as I understand it. 
 
 For all women, especially mothers, who read it, 
 I hope it may not only prove to be valuable and 
 practical in what it contains, as well as whatever 
 further knowledge it may help them to discover for 
 themselves, but also that it may be a comfort to them 
 in their hearts when they look upon their sons and 
 daughters in the home according to their desire, and 
 as a result of having the instructions that this little 
 work contains, which is meant to put into their hands 
 one of the longest sought-for keys to one of the most 
 important secrets in Mother Nature's possession. 
 
ADDRESSED ESPECIALLY TO WOMEN 101 
 
 To the breeder of animals, I hope the suggested 
 experiments in this work which I have made to them 
 may prove to be valuable and practical assistance 
 in some of the problems and difficulties they en- 
 counter, among whichever species their experience 
 is cast. 
 
PART II. 
 
 SEX-DETERMINING THEORIES AND BASIC 
 PRINCIPLES INVOLVED. 
 
 (103) 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 BASIC PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN OTHER 
 THEORIES. 
 
 At the beginning of the nineteenth century there 
 were supposedly five hundred theories of sex deter- 
 mination. Besides this, a threatened increase was 
 apparent, which would raise this number to much 
 higher figures. And now, at the beginning of the 
 twentieth century, some have gone so far as to say 
 that the numbers of sex-determining theories have 
 reached into the thousands. 
 
 For some the sex problem simply resolves itself 
 into: "In the image of God created He him; male 
 and female created He them. Be fruitful, and mul- 
 tiply, and replenish the earth. In the likeness ot 
 God made He him. Male and female created He 
 them, and called their name Adam." 
 
 And, as was set forth by Geddes and Thomson in 
 1889, the academic metaphysicist looked for the "in- 
 herent properties of maleness and femaleness," and 
 some scientists still refer to the "natural tendencies" 
 as a cause of sex determination. 
 
 (los) 
 
106 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 The analytical and synthetical scientist considers 
 nutrition and environment of the parents especially 
 important factors. It would appear that one rea- 
 son why sex-determining theories regarding human 
 offspring have varied but little since the remotest 
 antiquity, and have proved inadequate, is because 
 they have been deductions from facts derived from 
 experimental investigations that have given specific 
 results, but not connected with sex determination, 
 though they have added generpusly to important 
 knowledge regarding other phases of the living human 
 being. 
 
 For instance, the profoundly valuable results ob- 
 tained in the study and investigation of cellular life, 
 beginning in 1838, with the history and facts estab- 
 lished by those fathers and founders of the classical 
 cell theory, Schlieden and Schwann. Yet these cell 
 theories cannot locate in the cell the demarcation that 
 would signify that from one egg a creature of four legs 
 will be produced, from another one of two legs, and 
 from another a creature of two legs and two wings. 
 Nor the fact that a negress mother gave birth to two 
 children at the same time — twins — one white and 
 the other black. Yet these must be established facts 
 in the germ cell of different species, and could not at 
 all have occurred as " accidents in nature." 
 
 But to explain all the mysteries of our fearfully 
 
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF OTHER THEORIES 107 
 
 and wonderfully made bodies, we shall have to 
 wait perhaps until a spectroscope shall be invented 
 that can trace all the story of creation in the history 
 of the stars, and there read the facts of the " begin- 
 nings" of earth's vast, complex life — organic and 
 inorganic. For, as Darwin concluded, "An organic 
 being is a microcosm — a little universe — formed of a 
 host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably 
 minute, and numerous as the stars of heaven." 
 And, indeed, as imagined also by Democritus, Leu- 
 cippus, Aristotle, Sir Oliver Lodge, and the rest, the 
 units of organic and inorganic life combine in them- 
 selves a whole system of life, a centre positive body 
 with negative bodies revolving around it, very much 
 in the same way and seemingly in about the same 
 proportionate distances as are manifest in our solar 
 system, with its suns, planets, moons, and stars. 
 And still on the threshold of this vast world, invis- 
 ible to the naked eye, and which is avowedly capable 
 of separation into simpler forms, a whole swarming 
 life as multitudinous as the visible world around us, 
 yet in this ultramicroscopic life we are eons of time 
 away from the real "beginning" of all things from 
 the Great One something — destined and bidden, 
 after being sufficiently "fired up" and "cooled 
 down," to produce the supreme creation — the human 
 structure. 
 
108 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 Pliny said, according to his English translator, 
 Philoemon Holland, in 1601: 
 
 "Moreover, all learned men who are deeply 
 studied in the secrets of nature, be of the opinion 
 and do teach us, that in all trees and plants — 
 nay, rather in all things that do proceed out of 
 the earth, even in the very herbs — there are both 
 sexes. 
 
 "Moreover, it is constantly affirmed of the palm 
 trees that the female be naturally barren, and will 
 not bear fruit without the company of the males 
 among them to make them conceive. Yet grow 
 they will, nevertheless, and come up themselves; 
 yea, and become tall woods. And, verily, a man 
 shall see many of the females stand about one male, 
 bending and beaming in the head full kindly toward 
 him, yielding their branches that way, as if they 
 courted him for to win his love. But, contrariwise, 
 he, a grim sir, and coy, carrieth his head aloft and 
 beareth his bristled and rough arms aloft on high, 
 and yet, what with his very looks, what with his 
 breathing and exhalations upon them, or else from 
 a certain dust that passeth from him, he doth 
 the part of a husband, inasmuch that all females 
 about him conceive and are fruitful with his only 
 presence." 
 
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF OTHER THEORIES 109 
 
 BASIC PRINCIPLE OF THIS SEX-DETERMINING LAW 
 
 DIFFERS FROM ALL OTHER THEORIES 
 
 ADVANCED UP TO NOW. 
 
 So far as I have been able to discover, no theory 
 involving the principles of the sex-determining law 
 have been set forth, such as I have discovered and 
 presented in this work. 
 
 Professor T. H. Morgan, in his article on " Recent 
 Theories in the Determining of Sex," in the Popular 
 Science Monthly for December, 1903, mentions no 
 theory involving the principles of the theory as I 
 understand it; and Professor Edmund B. Wilson, 
 of Columbia University, in his treatise, in 1909, on 
 Recent Researches on the Determination and Heredity 
 of Sex, mentioned no such theory. 
 
 No theory of all those reviewed by eminent men of 
 science that I have been able to procure have either 
 assumed or supposed a theory with the basic prin- 
 ciple such as I maintain — that is, that the maternal 
 creature's structure, provided with two ovaries, pro- 
 duces, matures, and ovulates from these two ovaries 
 ova potentially male and female, the right ova poten- 
 tially male and the left ova potentially female, in 
 normal mothers. 
 
 The late Professor Cuenot, in his work on The 
 Determination of the Sex of Animals, reviewed all the 
 
110 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 leading theories of the world up to his time, classi- 
 fying them, and finally concluded that as they had 
 all failed of verification in more instances than they 
 had succeeded, and as the basic principles of these 
 theories varied but slightly from the remotest an- 
 tiquity, therefore, they must have approached the 
 subject from the wrong viewpoint. 
 
 Almost all of these theories involve the following 
 principles, and, indeed, all with the exception of one, 
 so far as I have been able to discover, involve some 
 variation of the following idea : 
 
 The theory of cross-heredity involved in and 
 necessary to the theory of nutrition, and also to the 
 theory of dominance and segregation in sex deter- 
 mination, appears to be a dangerous and pernicious 
 notion, as it requires the depletion of strength and 
 vitality of one of the parents. There is probably but 
 one way to meet this requirement, and at the same 
 time the natural health and vitality of the parents 
 be maintained, and that is by a great difference 
 between the ages of the mother and father. But, so 
 far as these cases have been investigated, the results 
 have not proved anything satisfactorily in regard to 
 sex determination. Indeed, these were often at 
 variance with the supposed law rather than in accord 
 with it. 
 
 As for nutrition, it cannot be denied that it has a 
 
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF OTHER THEORIES 111 
 
 most vital and important part in the growth and 
 development of the human parent body and of the 
 offspring. 
 
 Probably no scientist could be found who would 
 deny the value of nutrition as an important factor 
 in the production of offspring, both boys and girls. 
 Be it understood that this nutrition must be admin- 
 istered during the life of both parents, and with judi- 
 cious regularity. As to the quality, let it be pure 
 food and truly nutritious. If this is carefully fol- 
 lowed, all that nutrition can do for the determination 
 of sex in the human being will be done, and the result 
 will " probably" be a fine child — either boy or girl — 
 "as shown by the product." 
 
 As for the recent attempt to establish a theory 
 based upon exclusive, alternating, periodic ovulation, 
 which is supposed to be manifested only by menstrua- 
 tion, besides the want of physiological truth of this 
 thesis, there does not seem to be practical value of 
 any consequence arising from it. Its chief claim 
 seems to be the possibility of predicting with a cer- 
 tain amount of accuracy, as claimed by its author, 
 the sex of a coming child. As absolute knowledge 
 on this point is manifest at the birth of the baby, the 
 prediction of it, even though correct, could be of little 
 if any value to the parents. But as a determining 
 factor, its physiological unsoundness makes it value- 
 
112 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 less, as the physiological fact concerning the matura- 
 tion and ovulation of ova must contradict any 
 conclusion arrived at from so fallacious a sup- 
 position. 
 
 HYPOTHESES BASED ON THE SEX-DETERMINING 
 AW. 
 
 These few cases from my actual experience in 
 observing the law of sex determination, as I under- 
 stand it, so far as numbers are concerned, could be 
 of small consequence in the great field of experimental 
 evidence required by science in the ultimate estab- 
 lishing of a law or a principle, though they are part 
 of the evidence that convinced me of the infallibility 
 of this law during a period of thirty years. Their 
 importance is their tests of the different phases of the 
 law, and also that, once granted that they are ex- 
 amples of the sex-determining law among human 
 beings, they necessitate hypotheses that extend far- 
 ther than the simple fact of determining the sex of 
 offspring. 
 
 " In the image of God created He him — male and 
 female." 
 
 One of the first principles presented for observa- 
 tion and experimentation, it seems to me, is the 
 fundamental part played by the male and female 
 
MALE AND FEMALE ELEMENTS 113 
 
 elements oi life in each individual organism. It 
 seems almost necessary to the supposition of this 
 theory of sex determination, as I understand it, that 
 the male and female principles of living matter are 
 primarily and fundamentally for the production 
 of life — that is, to make alive — in whatever state, 
 form, and species the given egg cell or sperm 
 cell occurs. And other qualities and effects result- 
 ing from the necessary presence of the male and 
 female elements of living matter are due mainly 
 to their law, as set forth by Weissmann, of con- 
 tinuity. And that, therefore, the paternal influ- 
 ence does not reproduce itself, nor the maternal 
 influence reproduce itself as determining factors in 
 the sex of their offspring. But the male and female 
 principles or elements of the egg cell and sperm cell 
 have always a consortial union, each necessary to the 
 other's existence, and separated they soon perish. 
 The two, forever as two, make up the life both of the 
 paternal and maternal germ cell. (See Dr. Edmund 
 B. Wilson, of Columbia University, on the cell theo- 
 ries, quoted in this work; also. The American Text- 
 book of Physiology, by Dr. William H. Howell.) 
 
 Parent organisms among human beings may pro- 
 duce sexless offspring. At the same time the life of 
 those parents depends upon the presence of the male 
 and female principles or elements of life combined 
 
114 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 ■ and in operation in their bodies according to the laws 
 governing cellular life, and yet they may bring forth 
 sexless offspring. And also this sexless offspring, of 
 which there are striking and historic examples in 
 human history, both among those with the secondary 
 physical markings of men and those with the sec- 
 ondary physical markings of women, and which 
 human beings have, as a rule, been more than ordi- 
 nary as regards talents and genius, have and must 
 have existed, according to the rules and laws of the 
 cellular life, which make them living human beings, 
 and yet they are sexless. 
 
 There are parents who, for some local reason, it 
 may be said, are able to give birth to children of only 
 one sex — either boys or girls — and yet, in their turn, 
 these children, the offspring of such parents, give 
 birth to children of the two sexes — both boys and 
 girls. These cases offer opportunity for investiga- 
 tion regarding the part played by the male and 
 female elements necessary to the production of the 
 life of the individual cell which compose the whole 
 organism. 
 
 Though the sex-determining law is a case of pure 
 and simple mechanics in the matured organism, and 
 has a value in this regard to the biologist, morpholo- 
 gist, embryologist,etc., in the simplicity and directness 
 of it as a determining factor it evidently has to do 
 
MALE AND FEMALE ELEMENTS 115 
 
 with the parental organisms' powers of reproduction 
 by the ripened germ cells. 
 
 The following quotation from the Catholic 
 Churchmen in Science (Sketches of the Lives of 
 Catholic Ecclesiastics Who Were Among the Great 
 Founders in Science, by James J. Walsh, M.D., 
 Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Medical History, Ford- 
 ham University Medical School, and Professor of 
 Physiological Psychology in St. Xavier's College, 
 New York), from the chapter entitled "Abbot 
 Mendel, a New Outlook in Heredity," has a bear- 
 ing upon the foregoing statements, though they 
 were originally written regarding reproductioh and 
 heredity among other than the human species. Dr. 
 Walsh says: 
 
 "A very interesting phase of Mendel's discovery 
 is concerned with the relative value of the egg cell 
 and the pollen cell as regards their effect upon future 
 generations. It is an old and much discussed prob- 
 lem as to which of these germinal particles is the 
 more important in its influence upon the transmission 
 of parental qualities. Mendel's observations would 
 seem to decide definitely that in plants and by impli- 
 cation in animals, since the germinal process is 
 biogenetically similar, the value of both germinal 
 particles is exactly equal. In a note, Mendel says : 
 ' In pisum (/'. e., in peas) it is beyond doubt that, for 
 
116 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 the formation of the new embryo, a perfect union of 
 the elements of both fertilizing cells must take place. 
 How could we otherwise explain that among the off- 
 spring of hybrids both the original types reappear in 
 equal numbers, and with all their peculiarities? If 
 the influence of the egg cell upon the pollen cell were 
 only external, if it fulfilled the role of nurse only, 
 then the result of each artificial fertilization could 
 be no other than that the developed hybrid should 
 exactly resemble the pollen parent, or, at any rate, 
 do so very closely. These experiments, so far, have 
 nowise been confirmed. An evident proof of the 
 complete union of the contents of both cells is 
 afforded by the experience gained on all sides, that 
 it is immaterial, as regards the form of the hybrid, 
 which of the original species is the seed cell, or which 
 the pollen parent.' 
 
 "This is the first actual demonstration of the 
 equivalent value of both germinal particles as regards 
 their influence on transmission inheritance in future 
 generations. It is only by simplifying the problem, 
 so that all disturbing factors could be eliminated, 
 that Mendel succeeded in making his demonstration. 
 Too many qualities have hitherto been considered, 
 with consequent confusion as to the results obtained. 
 It is of the genius of the man that he should have 
 been able to succeed in seeing the problem in simple 
 
MALE AND FEMALE STIMULI 117 
 
 terms wnile it is apparently so complex, and thus 
 obtain results that are as far-reaching as the problem 
 they solve is basic in its character." 
 
 CEREBROSPINAL AND SYMPATHETIC SYSTEMS AS 
 
 THE CONSERVERS AND TRANSMITTERS OF 
 
 MALE AND FEMALE STIMULI. 
 
 Is it not susceptible of demonstration whether or 
 not different natured qualities are characteristic of 
 right and left organs and ganglia which have con- 
 nection with a corresponding right and left brain 
 centre with the same characteristic qualities of those 
 organs and ganglia ? And also, if the reversing of 
 the regular order of these characteristic qualities 
 would be attended by the reversing of the usual loca- 
 tion in the brain centre of those qualities. 
 
 If it is a fact that it is in the cerebrum — and in the 
 perfect coordination of its complex, but never con- 
 fused cerebrospinal and sympathetic systems — that 
 the stimuli of the various functions of the body's 
 organs are originated and sent forth to their infal- 
 lible destiny for the life of the whole creature and 
 also for the preservation of the species, then these two 
 great systems, it would appear, receive, conserve, 
 and transmit the male and female stimuli necessary 
 for the body's psychophysical existence. And if. 
 
118 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 through the media of these two systems, each par- 
 ticular organ controls the production of its own 
 particular necessity, though the stimuli for its work 
 are distilled from the whole organism and conducted 
 to each organ by the arbitrary administering of these 
 two systems; and if a given locality never errs in the 
 quality or nature of its creation for the benefit of the 
 whole completed organism — whether the organs are 
 located in the body, according to the general rule of 
 their location, as well as when the general order of 
 location is reversed; therefore it appears that the 
 cerebrospinal and sympathetic systems of cords, fila- 
 ments, and fibers, with their ganglionic centres, 
 become and are the efficient and economic conditions 
 which meet the necessity for the generation, preser- 
 vation, and transmission of the male and female 
 elements or principles which make possible the living 
 and perpetuation of the human organism. 
 
 The following quotations on the sympathetic system 
 are taken from the works of Drs. Flint and Dalton: 
 
 "The nerves of the sympathetic system prepon- 
 derate in the organs of nutrition, and in their influ- 
 ence on the functions of circulation, calorification, 
 secretion, and growth. 
 
 "The cerebrospinal nerves are in greatest abun- 
 dance and manifest their most striking properties in 
 the organs of animal life. 
 
MALE AND FEMALE STIMULI 119 
 
 "All the organs in the body contain nerve fibers 
 from both sources, the difference consisting in the 
 relative number of one kind or the other in par- 
 ticular parts. 
 
 " The ganglia on the spinal and cranial nerve roots 
 are undoubtedly analogous, in their anatomical rela- 
 tions, to those of the sympathetic system; and this 
 system may be considered as made up of nervous 
 centres disseminated through the great cavities of 
 the body, and connecting filaments vsrhich receive 
 fibers from the cerebrospinal nerves and supply to 
 these nerves fibers of their own." (Dalton.) 
 
 " In the cranium are the four cranial ganglia — the 
 ophthalmic, the sphenopalatine, the otic, and the 
 submaxillary. 
 
 " In the neck are the cervical ganglia — the superior, 
 the middle, and the inferior. 
 
 " In the chest are the twelve thoracic ganglia, corre- 
 sponding to the twelve ribs. 
 
 "The great semilunar ganglia, the largest of all in 
 the body, and sometimes called the abdominal brain, 
 are in the abdomen, by the side of the cceliac axis. 
 
 "The four lumbar ganglia are in the lumbar 
 region in front of the spinal column. 
 
 " The pelvic ganglia, or the four or five sacral gan- 
 glia, are in front of the sacrum. 
 
 " Finally, the small ganglia in front of the coccyx 
 
120 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 is sometimes called the last of the sympathetic cord, 
 and consists of twenty-eight to thirty ganglia on 
 either side and terminating below in a single ganglia. 
 
 "The four or five sacral ganglia and the ganglia 
 impar are situated by the inner side of the sacral 
 foramina and in front of the coccyx. These are con- 
 nected with the ganglia above and with each other, 
 and receive filaments from the sacral nerves, there 
 being usually two branches of communication for 
 each ganglion. The filaments of distribution go to all 
 the pelvic viscera and bloodvessels." (Flint.) 
 
 "The muscular apparatus of the eye is under the 
 control of two nervous influences derived, respectively, 
 from the cerebrospinal and sympathetic ganglion. 
 
 " The iris receives all of its motor fibers from the 
 ophthalmic ganglion. This is the first sympathetic 
 ganglion in the head, on the orbit of the eye, on the 
 outer aspect of the optic nerve. 
 
 " But those causing contraction of the pupil come 
 through the ganglion from the oculomotor nerve; 
 those causing dilatation are derived through the same 
 channel, and from the central ganglion of the sym- 
 pathetic system. 
 
 " The central part of the sympathetic system is a 
 double chain of ganglia on the sides of the spinal 
 column, united with each other by longitudinal 
 filaments. Each ganglion is connected by motor 
 
MALE AND FEMALE STIMULI 121 
 
 and sensitive fibers with the cerebrospinal system." 
 (Dalton.) 
 
 "The cervical ganglia of the sympathetic lie on 
 the spine at the base of the neck. The three cervical 
 ganglia are situated opposite the third, fifth, and 
 seventh cervical vertebrae. The middle ganglion is 
 sometimes wanting, and the inferior ganglion is occa- 
 sionally fused with the first thoracic ganglion. These 
 ganglia are connected together by the so-called sym- 
 pathetic cord. They have a number of filaments of 
 communication above with the cranial ganglia and 
 with the cervical nerves of the cerebrospinal system. 
 
 "From the cervical portion of the sympathetic 
 three cardiac nerves arise and pass to the heart, 
 entering into the formation of the cardiac plexus. 
 The superior cardiac nerve arises from the superior 
 ganglion; the middle nerve, the largest of the three, 
 arises from the middle ganglion, or from the sym- 
 pathetic cord when this ganglion is wanting; and 
 the inferior nerve arises from the inferior cervical 
 ganglion, or from the first thoracic ganglion. 
 
 "These nerves present frequent communication 
 with various of the adjacent cerebrospinal nerves, 
 penetrate the thorax, and form the deep and super- 
 ficial cardiac plexus. 
 
 "In these plexuses are found ganglioform en- 
 largements, and on the surface and in the substance 
 
122 ■ THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 of the heart are collections of nerve cells connected 
 with the fibers. 
 
 "The thoracic ganglia are situated in the chest, 
 beneath the pleura, and rest on the heads of the ribs. 
 They usually are twelve in number, and occasionally 
 two are fused into one. They are connected to- 
 gether by the sympathetic cord. • They each com- 
 municate by two filaments with the cerebrospinal 
 nerves. One of these is white, like the spinal nerves, 
 and probably passes to the sympathetic; the other 
 is of a grayish color, and is thought to contain the 
 true sympathetic filaments. 
 
 "From the upper sixth ganglia, filaments pass to 
 the aorta and its branches. The branches that the 
 posterior pulmonary plexus arise from are the third 
 and fourth ganglia. 
 
 "The great splanchnic nerve arises mainly from the 
 seventh, eighth, and ninth ganglia, receiving a few 
 filaments from the upper sixth ganglion. 
 
 "This nerve is a large, white, rounded cord which 
 penetrates the diaphragm, and passes to the semi- 
 lunar ganglia, sending a few filaments to the renal 
 plexus and the suprarenal capsules." (Flint.) 
 
 "In the abdomen the sympathetic system arises 
 mainly from an aggregation of ganglionic enlarge- 
 ments situated on the cceliac artery, known as the 
 semilunar or cceliac ganglia. From this centre a 
 
MALE AND FEMALE STIMULI 123 
 
 multitude of diverging and inosculating branches 
 are sent out, which, from their common origin and 
 radiating course, are termed the solar plexus. Its 
 secondary plexuses accompanying the branches of 
 the abdominal aorta are distributed to the stomach, 
 intestines, spleen, pancreas, liver, kidneys, suprarenal 
 capsules, and internal organs of generation. 
 
 " In the pelvis there are four or five pairs of gan- 
 glia, situated on the anterior aspect of the sacrum, 
 and at its lower extremity the ganglion impar, which 
 is regarded as a fusion of two symmetrical ganglia. 
 
 " In all of these parts the main characteristic of the 
 sympathetic nerves is their arrangement in the form of 
 plexuses, which surround the arterial branches and 
 follow their peripheral distribution in the vascular 
 organs." (Dalton.) 
 
 "The lesser splanchnic nerve arises from the tenth 
 and eleventh thoracic ganglia, passes into the abdo- 
 men, and joins the cceliac plexus, which is the largest 
 sympathetic ganglion in the body. 
 
 "The renal splanchnic nerve arises from the last 
 thoracic ganglion and passes to the renal plexuses. 
 These three splanchnic nerves — the great, the lesser, 
 and the renal — present frequent anastomoses with 
 each other." (Flint.) 
 
 "The sympathetic ganglia and nerves are en- 
 dowed both with sensibility and the power of exciting 
 
124 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 motion; but these properties are less active than 
 in the cerebrospinal system, and are exercised in a 
 different manner. 
 
 "In experiments on the sympathetic nerves, evi- 
 dences of sensibility when manifested are much less 
 acute than in the spinal nerve, under the same con- 
 ditions, and show themselves only after prolonged 
 application of the existing cause, while with the 
 spinal nerve the muscular reactions are decisive and 
 immediate. 
 
 " The most important general function of the sym- 
 pathetic nerves and nerve centres is connected with 
 the bloodvessels and the circulation in different 
 regions of the body. Their filaments and plexuses 
 are especially associated with the arterial branches, 
 which they follow in their subsequent ramifications; 
 and their terminal fibers are largely distributed to the 
 muscular coat of these vessels. 
 
 "Under their influence the muscular elements 
 contract, thus approximating the walls of the artery, 
 and diminishing its caliber. The nerves which ex- 
 cite in this way the bloodvessels are called vaso- 
 motor nerves, and the nerve centres from which they 
 emanate, vasomotor centres. 
 
 " While the entire system, therefore, depends upon 
 the heart as an organ of impulsion for the circulation 
 in general, each artery controls, for its own special 
 
MALE AND FEMALE STIMULI 125 
 
 region, the quantity of blood submitted to the capil- 
 laries and veins. 
 
 "The sympathetic nerves accordingly exert an in- 
 fluence on the muscular coat of the arteries similar 
 to that of the cerebrospinal nerves on the voluntary 
 muscles. They cause the contraction of these 
 muscles, a diminished flow of blood through them, 
 and consequently pallor and coolness in the corre- 
 sponding parts. 
 
 "On the other hand, division of these nerves causes 
 relaxation of the arteries, and all the secondary 
 results of an increased supply of blood. 
 
 "The real origin of the vasomotor centres is in the 
 spinal cord. 
 
 "All the sympathetic ganglia, besides their con- 
 nection with each other by the longitudinal filament 
 of the sympathetic nerve, are connected with the 
 adjacent spinal nerves by communicating branches; 
 and many of the fibers composing these branches 
 may be traced through the spinal nerve roots, to the 
 spinal cord. Experiments also show that the spinal 
 cord is the source of nervous action for the sympa- 
 thetic system." (Dalton.) 
 
 "The general distribution of sympathetic filaments 
 is to mucous membranes, and possibly to integument 
 to the heart, to noii-striated muscular fibers, and 
 particularly to the muscular coat of the arteries. 
 
126 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 "So far as has been shown by anatomical investi- 
 gation, there are no fibers derived exclusively from 
 the sympathetic that are distributed to striated 
 muscles, except those yv^hich pass to the muscular 
 tissues of the heart." (Flint.) 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DR. ERASMUS DARWIN ON HUMAN GENERATION 
 
 AND SEX DETERMINATION IN THE 
 
 YEAR 1784. 
 
 I should think there could be no earnest investi- 
 gation or sincere thought made in any department of 
 science, and that effort be considered as thorough, 
 without knowledge of what Darwin thought upon 
 the same; that is, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, grandfather 
 of the modern Charles Darwin. For surely in Dr. 
 Erasmus Darwin may be found the suggested out- 
 lines at least of all "Darwin's demesnes." For he 
 was a truly great originator, thinker, citizen, and 
 man. Besides actual data, as is well known to all, 
 he projected abstracts and formulas on scientific 
 subjects alone sufficient to keep his generations of 
 offspring valuably occupied for much time to come. 
 
 Although he was considered the greatest physician 
 of his time, which was the eighteenth century, espe- 
 cially the last half, yet his ideas, as expressed by 
 himself on the subject matter of this little book, and 
 the physiological subjects connected with it, seem 
 
 almost as matters of curiosity, merely, today. 
 
 (127) 
 
128 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 In the light of the nineteenth and twentieth cen- 
 turies, cellular theories and history, and especially in 
 connection with the experiments and theories of Abbot 
 Mendel, as set forth in his Principles of Heredity in 
 the Laws of Dominance and Segregation, Erasmus 
 Darwin's Zoonomia, or the Laws of Organic Life, 
 appears in many respects as a most interesting curi- 
 osity, especially in his chapter devoted to the general 
 subject of generation, and especially in the part 
 of it devoted to the study of the human being. 
 Although, on the other hand, much of it might have 
 been written in the light of modern scientific dis- 
 coveries, but always Dr. Erasmus Darwin's thought 
 projects plenty of pure science, plenty of true phil- 
 osophy, and plenty of poetical imagination of the 
 highest order. 
 
 The following quotations from the above-men- 
 tioned book are selected out of the great mass on the 
 general subject of generation, as they bear princi- 
 pally on reproduction of offspring, and set forth his 
 principle of sex determination. 
 
 Of Zoonomia, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, its author, 
 said himself: " I am studying my Zoonomia, which I 
 think I shall publish, in hopes of selling it, as I am 
 now too old and hardened to fear a little abuse. 
 Every John Hunter must expect a Jessy Foot to 
 pursue him, as the fly bites a horse." 
 
BIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF FAMOUS PHYSICIANS 129 
 
 This work was translated into German, French, 
 and Italian. The Zoonomta was published May i, 
 1 794, from which the following excerpts are made : 
 
 "The ingenious Dr. Hartley, in his work on man, 
 and some other philosophers, have been of the opinion 
 that our immortal part acquires during this life cer- 
 tain habits of action or of sentiment which become 
 forever indissoluble, continuing after death in a future 
 state of existence; and add, if these habits are of the 
 malevolent kind, they must render the possessor 
 miserable, even in Heaven. I would apply this inge- 
 nious idea to the generation or production of the 
 embryon, or new animal, which partakes so much 
 of the form and propensities of the parent. 
 
 " Owing to the imperfection of language, the off- 
 spring is termed a new animal, but is in truth a 
 branch or elongation of the parent; since a part of 
 the embryon animal is or was a part of the parent, 
 therefore in strict language it cannot be said to be 
 entirely new at the time of its production; and, 
 therefore, it may retain some of the habits of the 
 parent system. 
 
 "At the earliest period of its existence the em- 
 bryon, as secreted from the blood of the male, would 
 seem to consist of a living filament, with certain 
 capabilities of irritation, sensation, volition, and 
 association, and also with some acquired habits or 
 
 9 
 
130 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 propensities peculiar to the parent. The former of 
 these are in common with other animals; the latter 
 seem to distinguish or produce the kind of animal, 
 whether man or quadrupeds, with the similarity of 
 feature or form to the parent. It is difficult to be 
 conceived that a living entity can be separated or 
 produced from the blood by the action of the gland; 
 and which shall afterward become an animal similar 
 to that in whose vessels it is formed, even though we 
 should suppose, with some modern theorists, that 
 the blood is alive; yet every other hypothesis con- 
 cerning generation rests on principles still more 
 difficult to our comprehension. 
 
 "At the time of procreation this speck of entity is 
 received into an appropriate nidus, in which it must 
 acquire two circumstances necessary to its life and 
 growth; one of these is food, or sustenance, which 
 is to be received by the absorbent mouths of its ves- 
 sels; and the other is that part of atmospherical air 
 or water which by the new chemistry is called 
 oxygene, and which affects the blood, by passing 
 through the coats of the vessels which contain it. 
 The fluid surrounding the embryon in its new habi- 
 tation, which is called liquor amnii, supplies it with 
 nourishment; and as some air cannot but be intro- 
 duced into the uterus along with the new embryon, 
 it would seem that this same fluid would, for a short 
 
BIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF FAMOUS PHYSICIANS 131 
 
 time, suppose for a few hours, supply likewise a 
 sufficient quantity of the oxygene for its immediate 
 existence. 
 
 " The idea of the reproduction of animals from a 
 single living filament of their fathers appears to have 
 been shadowed or allegorized in the curious account 
 in sacred writ of the formation of Eve from a rib of 
 Adam. 
 
 " From all these analogies I conclude that the em- 
 bryon is produced solely by the male, and that the 
 female supplies it with a proper nidus, with suste- 
 nance, and with oxygenation; and that the idea of 
 the semen of the male constituting only a stimulus 
 to the egg of the female, exciting it into life, has no 
 support from experiment or analogy. 
 
 "Others have supposed that all the parts of the 
 embryon are formed in the male previous to its being 
 deposited in the egg, or uterus, and that it is there 
 only to have its parts evolved or distended, as men- 
 tioned above; but this is only to get rid of one diffi- 
 culty by proposing another equally incomprehensible; 
 they found it difficult to conceive how the embryon 
 could be formed in the uterus, or egg, and therefore 
 wished it to be formed before it came thither." 
 
 The following was Erasmus Darwin's theory of sex 
 determination : " The imagination of the male forms 
 the sex." There probably could be no more striking 
 
132 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 and brilliant exponent of Mendel's laws of heredity 
 than is set forth in the Darwin generations, beginning 
 even with the family when it appears in the seven- 
 teenth century, on up to Dr. Erasmus Darwin, during 
 the eighteenth century, and overlapping into the 
 nineteenth century, as exemplified by his grand- 
 son, Charles Darwin, and extending on up to our 
 present day eminent scientists of that same name 
 and fame. 
 
 Dr. Erasmus Darwin was not only a scientist but 
 a genius of exceptional mechanical skill, and a poet 
 of no mean quality, when Horace Walpole, in May 
 14, 1792, speaks of him in the following words: 
 "The 'Triumph of Flora,' beginning at the fifty- 
 ninth line, is most beautiful and enchantingly 
 imagined; and the twelve verses that by miracle 
 describe and comprehend the creation of the uni- 
 verse out of chaos are the most sublime passages in 
 any author, or in any of the few languages with 
 which I am acquainted. There are a thousand 
 other verses most charming — or, indeed, all are so — 
 crowded with most poetic imagery, gorgeous epithets, 
 and style; and yet these four cantos do not please me 
 equally with the ' Loves of the Plants.' " 
 
 The following lines are the ones Horace Walpole 
 quotes from Erasmus Darwin's "The Botanic 
 Garden :" 
 
BIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF FAMOUS PHYSICIANS 133 
 
 "'Let there be light!' proclaimed the Almighty Lord. 
 
 Astonished Chaos heard the potent word; 
 
 Through all his realms the kindling ether runs. 
 
 And the mass starts into a million suns. 
 
 Earths round each sun with quick explosions burst, 
 
 And second planets issue from the first; 
 
 Bend, as they journey with projectile force, 
 
 In bright ellipses their reluctant course. 
 
 Orbs wheel in orbs, round centres centres roll, 
 
 And form, self-balanced, one revolving whole. 
 
 Onward they move amid their bright abode — 
 
 Space without bound, the bosom to their God." 
 
 As believer and Christian, the following ode and 
 saying of his give evidence : 
 
 "Dull atheist, could a giddy dance 
 Of atoms lawless hurl'd. 
 Construct so wonderful, so wise. 
 So harmonized a world ? " 
 
 The following evinces his quality as patriot and 
 politician. In April 13, 1789, he writes: 
 
 " I have just heard that there are muzzles or gags 
 made at Birmingham for the slaves in our islands. 
 If this be true, and such an instrument could be 
 exhibited by a speaker in the House of Commons, 
 
134 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 it might have a great effect. Could not one of 
 their long whips or wire tails be also procured and 
 exhibited ? But an instrument of torture of our own 
 manufacture would have a greater effect, I daresay." 
 The following quotations on slavery appeared in 
 Canto Three of "The Loves of the Plants," in 1790: 
 
 "Throned in the vaulted heart, his dread resort, 
 Inexorable conscience holds his court; 
 With still small voice the plots of guilt alarms — 
 Bares his mask'd brow, his lifted hand disarms; 
 But, wrapp'd in might, with terrors all his own. 
 He speaks in thunder, when the deed is done. 
 Hear him, ye Senates ! hear his truth sublime — 
 He, who allows oppression, shares the crime." 
 
 AN OBSERVATION MADE BY HIPPOCRATES. 
 
 It is a curious and interesting fact that at a time 
 as modern as the last half of the eighteenth century 
 the eminent scientist and physician. Dr. Erasmus 
 Darwin, speaks of the uterus as the egg (meaning 
 the human ovum). And it is equally curious and 
 interesting that the human ovum, or egg, was not 
 discovered until 1827, by von Baer; and that, there- 
 fore, up to that date (1827) there could not have 
 been a theory regarding the determination of sex of 
 
HUMAN ANATOMY AND HIPPOCRATES 135 
 
 human beings which involved the knowledge of the 
 location in the ovaries of the human ovum or 
 human egg. In view of this history, it is interesting 
 to recall the fact that the science of human anatomy 
 was first and especially developed at the great 
 medical University of Bologna, and that 
 
 "Mondino had, very early in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, re-created the modern science of anatomy, as 
 we know it. He was the first to realize the impor- 
 tance and urge the necessity for the dissection of 
 human bodies, if any real lasting progress in human 
 anatomy was to be made. Medical teaching before 
 this time had been largely by lectures and disputa- 
 tions upon the work of Aristotle, Hippocrates, and 
 Galen, but actual observations on human tissues and 
 organs, now replaced the older methods. 
 
 " From Mondino to Morgagni there is a continuous 
 series of great men. About midway between these 
 two men came the great Vesalius, who taught at 
 Bologna, as well as Padua and Pisa, and whose work 
 on anatomy was to be a treasure for anatomists of 
 all countries for many generations. It was while 
 teaching at Bologna that Vesalius made the famous 
 series of dissections which formed the subjects of 
 the illustrations for his great work on anatomy. 
 Titian, the celebrated Venetian artist, who had come 
 down from Venice in order to study anatomy, for 
 
136 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 artistic purposes, at the famous school of anatomy, 
 and under the supervision of its great teachers, is 
 said to have executed the plates for the book." 
 (Makers of Modern Medicine, by James J. Walsh, 
 M.D., Ph.D., LL.D., Acting Dean and Professor of 
 the History of Medicine and of Nervous Diseases, 
 Fordham University Medical Schools; Adjunct Pro- 
 fessor of Medicine at the New York Polytechnic 
 School for Graduates in Medicine, and Professor of 
 Physiological Psychology at St. Xavier's College, 
 New York.) 
 
 It is in the light of this history that it is of particular 
 interest to note that in the far away time between 
 400 B.C. and 370 B.C. this same Hippocrates men- 
 tioned in the above quotation is reputed to have 
 made the following observation upon fetuses, and in 
 connection with his observation it is of particular 
 interest to keep in mind that the discovery of the 
 human ovum was not made until 1827 of the Christian 
 era, which discovery was made possible, it would 
 appear, after the great Bologna University should 
 have set up the fathers and founders of anatomical 
 investigation of the human body especially by dis- 
 section, and that these great men should have all 
 passed away, leaving their important work and valu- 
 able discoveries, which opened a sure way for this 
 great discovery of the human ovum, or egg, and for 
 
HUMAN ANATOMY AND HIPPOCRATES 137 
 
 the work of those great founders of the cell theory — 
 Schwann and Schleiden — both of these great events 
 belonging to the nineteenth century of the Christian 
 era. 
 
 It was between 400 B.C. and 375 B.C. that this 
 great medical scientist, Hippocrates, observed: 
 
 " It is a fact observed by me, and every careful 
 observer will find it to be true, that in the last month 
 of pregnancy the fetus always lies habitually either to 
 the right or left side. In case it lies to the right side, 
 it can be proved by investigation that the fetus lies 
 with its back to the right, and in this case a male 
 child is born. On the other hand, if the fetus lies 
 with its back to the left, a female child is born." 
 
 It is evident to me from this observation of Hip- 
 pocrates that if the great philosopher had lived after 
 the discovery of the human ova, or egg located in 
 right and left ovaries, that is, after 1827, he would 
 have surely substantiated my discovery of the law 
 of the determination of sex of human offspring; but, 
 naturally, he knew nothing of the fact of the existence 
 of human ova, or egg, though much experimentation 
 was made and much theorizing was done during his 
 time on the question of the egg of the feathered world, 
 especially the eggs of pigeons. But what could they 
 really learn of human mothers from the conditions 
 governing the bird mothers ? 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EXCERPTS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE GENERAL 
 
 SUBJECT OF SEX, BY WILLIAM H. HOWELL, 
 
 PH.D., M.D. 
 
 "In the highly specialized sexual reproduction of 
 higher animals, including man, the individuals of 
 the species are of two kinds of sexes, the male and 
 the female, with profound morphological and phys- 
 iological differences between them. In each the 
 protoplasm of the body consists of two kinds of 
 cells — somatic cells and germ cells — the former sub- 
 serving the nutritive, muscular, and nervous func- 
 tions of daily life, the latter subserving reproduction. 
 The germ cells of the male, called spermatozoa, are 
 relatively small and active; those of the female, 
 called ova, are relatively large and passive. The 
 reproductive process consists of the fusion of a male 
 and female germ cell, the essential part being a 
 fusion of the nuclei; and this is followed by continued 
 sexual cell division and growth into a new individual." 
 From the American Text-hook of Physiology, second 
 edition, edited by William H. Howell, Ph.D., M.D. 
 (138) 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF SEX 139 
 
 ORIGIN OF SEX AND THEORY OF REPRODUCTION IN 
 GENERAL. 
 
 "Among living beings two methods of reproduc- 
 tion are recognized — the asexual and the sexual. 
 Both are widespread among animals and plants, but 
 the asexual method is the more primitive of the 
 two, and is relatively more frequent in low organ- 
 isms. The sexual method, the only one present in 
 the production of new individuals among the higher 
 animals, has evidently been acquired gradually, and 
 has probably been developed from the asexual 
 method." 
 
 ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION. 
 
 "Asexual reproduction, or agamogenesis, is the 
 chief method of reproduction among unicellular 
 plants and animals. 
 
 "Among various species it takes various forms, 
 known as fission or division, gemmation or budding, 
 endogenous cell formation or multiple fission; but 
 all the varieties are modifications of the simplest 
 form — fission or division. In fission, found only in 
 unicellular organisms and typified in amebae, the 
 protoplasm of the single cell, together with the 
 nucleus, becomes divided into two approximately 
 equal portions, which separate from one another. 
 
 " In this process no material is lost, and two inde- 
 
140 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 pendent, nucleated, organisms result, each approxi- 
 mately half the size of the original. The parent 
 body has become bodily transformed into the two 
 offspring, which have only to increase in size by the 
 usual processes of assimilation in order themselves to 
 become parents." 
 
 SEXUAL REPRODUCTION. 
 
 "The explanation of sexual reproduction is much 
 more difficult, for here, in addition to the budding 
 of the germ cells of the parent bodies, which probably 
 has the same fundamental cause as fission in uni- 
 cellular forms, we must account for the differen- 
 tiation into sexes, the existence of special sexual 
 cells, and the fusion of the male and female germinal 
 substance; in short, we must account for the con- 
 ception of sexuality itself and all that it implies. 
 
 " Regarding the origin of sexuality itself, as to the 
 question whether sexuality is an original and funda- 
 mental attribute of protoplasm, or has been acquired, 
 we may say at once that at present we know really 
 nothing." 
 
 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CHARACTERS. 
 
 " In the human species, as in all the higher sexual 
 animals, the characters of sex, anatomical, physio- 
 logical, and |)sychological, are divisible into two 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF SEX 141 
 
 classes, called primary and secondary. Primary sexual 
 characters are those that pertain to the sexual organs 
 themselves and to their functions. They are naturally 
 the most pronounced of all the sexual attributes. 
 
 "Secondary sexual characters comprise those at- 
 tributes that are not directly connected with the 
 sexual organs, but that, nevertheless, constitute dif- 
 ferences between the sexes. Such are the greater 
 size and strength of man's body as compared with 
 woman's; the superior grace and delicacy of woman's 
 movements; the deeper, rougher voice of man, and 
 the higher, softer voice of woman. In reality, all 
 secondary sexual characters are accessory to the 
 primary ones. The primary sexual characters of 
 the male centre in the production of spermatozoa 
 and the process of impregnation ; those in the female 
 in the production of ova and the care of the devel- 
 oping embryo." The above quotations are from The 
 American Text-hook of Physiology, second edition, 
 edited by William H. Howell, Ph.D., M.D. 
 
 With regard to the origin of sex, John Adam 
 Ryder says:- 
 
 " A careful survey of the living world leads to the 
 conclusion that sexuality has been, in all probability, 
 one of the many results of the operation of the forces 
 of evolution. A still further examination of the data 
 of sexuality leads to the conclusion that the method 
 
142 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 of it which may be observed in the vegetable and 
 animal world has proceeded along two parallel but 
 distinct lines of progress. Both have ended in the 
 achievement of the same result, namely, viviparity, 
 or the production of offspring in the advanced state 
 of development, before the latter is set free from the 
 parent to begin an independent existence for itself. 
 An acorn is as truly a product of viviparous develop- 
 ment as an infant human being. Without question- 
 ing the high value of the results of such experimental 
 investigations, the question of the origin of sex is 
 probably nearly, or quite, beyond the pale of experi- 
 mental inquiry, in virtue of the fact that even the 
 lowest organisms in which sexuality is manifested are 
 already so persistently adapted to a certain habit of 
 life, and are consequently so fixed in organization, 
 that experimental investigation, looking to a modifi- 
 cation of their reproductive processes through arti- 
 ficial interference, is quite impossible within the 
 limits of a single lifetime devoted to experimental 
 research." 
 
 T. W. Heineman, in his studies of the history of the 
 origin of sex, traces the evolving of the perfected 
 power of reproduction through varying grades of 
 living organisms as follows : 
 
 "The simplest kind of reproduction is hard to 
 distinguish from mere overgrowth. The next higher 
 
GENERAL HISTORY OF SEX 143 
 
 step in reproduction is by gemmation. In the next 
 higher form of reproduction there appears a ten- 
 dency of the reproductive substance to fall apart 
 into two different materials — that is, the male and 
 female reproductive matter. These two different 
 substances, representing different functions and po- 
 tencies, occur at this stage, however, in the same 
 individual. In a step still higher, the male repro- 
 ductive material has acquired separate existence. It 
 lives apart from the body of the individual contain- 
 ing the bulk of the female substance. But in this 
 primary form of the sexes, the male has hardly any 
 other functions or organs besides those appertaining 
 exclusively to reproduction. 
 
 " It has been reported by microscopists that in this 
 the lowest form of sexual life the male is sometimes 
 absorbed into the female organism by serving as food. 
 
 " In the highest type of sexual reproduction both 
 the male substance and the female are each con- 
 tained in a separate organ, and each of these is 
 specialized to its own part of the reproductive 
 process exclusively. Each of these organs is, then, 
 a part of a well-developed individual of the race 
 type. 
 
 "The individuals of such races are distinguished 
 as being of male or female sex, and neither sex at 
 this stage can reproduce without the other. 
 
144 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 " The process by which like concentrates with like 
 and dissociates from unlike has practically been con- 
 tinuously at work upon the reproductive substance 
 of the universe as a unit ever since life first began on 
 earth. Therefore, the reproductive substance con- 
 tained in any form of life today represents for that 
 form the total result of this process of concentration 
 and dissociation, since life first began on the earth, 
 and in the highest form of sexual development this 
 process has nearly reached perfection." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EXCERPTS FROM CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY AS SET 
 FORTH BY LEADING SCIENTISTS OF THE NINE- 
 TEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES. 
 
 Dr. Edmund B. Wilson, of the Columbia Univer- 
 sity, has said : 
 
 "Nothing in biological history or research in the 
 last twenty-five years surpasses or even equals the 
 following three achievements: (i) The theory of 
 organic evolution; (2) the discovery of the funda- 
 mental relations between animals and plants; and 
 (3) the establishment of the cell theory and the recog- 
 nition of protoplasm as the physical basis of life. 
 
 " It is certain that new results of the highest interest 
 relating to the chemical conditions in living matter 
 may be looked for along the lines of research thus 
 opened. 
 
 "One of the most specific problems in this direc- 
 tion is the long-standing one of sex determination." 
 
 Dr. Wilson's latest leanings regarding sex deter- 
 mination are toward the Mendelian theory, which 
 is a law in heredity. His experiments are devoted 
 
 principally to insects. 
 
 10 ( 14s ) 
 
146 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 According to Professor T. H. Morgan, statistics do 
 not bear out the fact of the working of the Mendelian 
 theory in heredity as a law for the determination of 
 sex. 
 
 Scientists are generally agreed that an animal cell 
 is composed of two sharply distinct organs — (i) a cell 
 body (cytosome), and (2) a nucleus (caryosome). 
 That the properties of a nucleated cell are, broadly 
 speaking, (i) those tending to the preservation of the 
 individual cell, and (2) those tending to the mainte- 
 nance of the species. 
 
 They are generally agreed, also, "That the pre- 
 determined factors in the cell are constitution and 
 organization, and that organization is not struc- 
 ture. 
 
 "Constitution is the chemical and physical indi- 
 viduality of the cell substance. 
 
 "Organization expresses the fact that the chemical 
 and physical properties of the substance are not 
 equally distributed through the entire mass, but are 
 bound, separately, to lesser morphological units. 
 
 " Structure is the specific arrangement of the ele- 
 ments of like character into groups, instigated by 
 external stimulus. In other words, structure is the 
 expression of the most direct path along which spe- 
 cific response must travel in order to meet a specific 
 stimuli." 
 
CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY 147 
 
 According to Professor Watase, the generally ac- 
 cepted belief regarding a nucleated cell is that: 
 
 "A nucleus in its resting stage has a definite mem- 
 brane around it, called the nuclear membrane, or 
 caryotheca. 
 
 " The cell body (cytosome) is a network" of cyto- 
 plasm. This network contains within its own sub- 
 stance small bodies of varying sizes, which are known 
 as the microsomes; or, more strictly, the cytomicro- 
 somes. Surrounding the cytosomes there is a mem- 
 brane, known as the cell membrane or cytotheca. It 
 may exist as a thickened border of the cytosome or as 
 a distinct membrane separate from the cytosome. 
 
 "The meshes of the cytoplasm are filled with a 
 fluid substance commonly called the cytoplasmic 
 fluid, or, to use Haeckel's term, the cytolymph. 
 
 "The cytolymph is the only living portion of the 
 cell body, and hence properly belongs to the category 
 of protoplasm, in the most striking sense of the word. 
 
 "The cytoplasm contains the inert, passive, non- 
 living portion of the cell body. Besides the cyto- 
 lymph there usually exist a number of non-living 
 bodies in the cell body, as yolk granules, oil drops, 
 debris of food, zymogen granules, etc., according to 
 the nature of the different cells. These non-living 
 substances altogether belong to the group known as 
 metaplasm, or paraplasm, in contradistinction to the 
 
148 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 substance which is the real living element in the cell, 
 the protoplasm. 
 
 " The contents of the nucleus (caryosome) may be 
 arranged into two similar groups of living and non- 
 living elements. 
 
 "The chromosomes of the nucleus are distinctly 
 protoplasmic in character, and so is the fine network 
 achromatic thread-like substance which is often found 
 traversing the nuclear cavity. In several cases, if not 
 in all, these filaments are the actual continuation of 
 the cytoplasmic network existing around the mem- 
 brane. 
 
 "The fluid which bathes these semisolid living con- 
 stituents of the nucleus is known as nuclear fluid, or 
 caryolymph. 
 
 "In the caryolymph there exists a body known as 
 the nucleolus. In certain cases the filaments of the 
 chromosomes have been found passing through the 
 substance of the nucleolus, or directly ending in it. 
 Sometimes only one nucleolus exists in each nucleus, 
 while in other cases over one hundred nucleoli may be 
 found in each nucleus. The number of nucleoli is 
 quite variable in diff'erent cells, but fairly constant in 
 a given species of cell. 
 
 "The microchemical reaction of the nucleolus is 
 entirely different from that of the chromosome. It 
 appears probable that three or four different bodies 
 
CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY 149 
 
 are included under the name of nucleolus. Indeed, 
 one sees no reason why the inside of the nucleus 
 membrane may not be used as a depository for some 
 solid products of cell metabolism, under certain cir- 
 cumstances, just as the spaces in the cell body are 
 used for such a purpose. And thus some of the 
 bodies included under the generic name of nucleolus 
 may belong to the group of metaplasm. 
 
 "To recapitulate: 
 
 "The chromosome and the cytoplasm are the two 
 active, living constituents of the cell. 
 
 " The rest of the bulk consists of non-living sub- 
 stances which have yet to be converted into vital ele- 
 ments, or are the products of metabolism, which have 
 now lost the distinctive characteristics of a living 
 substance. The behavior of the cytoplasmic thread, 
 or network, suggests that it is formed of a group of 
 small, living particles, each with the power to assimi- 
 late, to grow, and to multiply by division. 
 
 "The chromosome, in the same way, is itself a 
 colony of minute organisms of another kind, each 
 endowed with similar attributes of vitality. 
 
 " The media in which they live — the cytolymph and 
 caryolymph — are the media in which they breathe, 
 from which they derive their nourishment, or within 
 which they deposit their products of metabolism. 
 
 "The reason why the cell as a whole assimilates, 
 
150 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 grows, and divides is ultimately due to the fact that 
 the minute particles which compose the cytoplasm 
 and the chromosome are endowed with these func- 
 tions. 
 
 "Two important activities in the developmental 
 phases of protoplasmic life are cell division (karyo- 
 kinesis) and cell fusion (fecundation). 
 
 "The organs of an individual cell are studied from 
 three viewpoints — physiologically, morphologically, 
 and phylogenetically: (i) How far are nucleus and 
 cytoplasm adapted by their form and structure to 
 perform their physiological work in a given cell ? (2) 
 Morphologically, in what manner do they originate 
 in a given cell ? This immediately resolves itself into 
 the problem of cell division and cell fusion. (3) 
 What are the probable steps in the ancestral history 
 by which these structures came into existence ? This 
 belongs to the broad question of cytogeny, under- 
 stood in its phylogenetic sense. 
 
 "According to the morphological view, however 
 complicated one of the higher animals or plants may 
 be, it began its separate existence under the form of 
 a nucleated cell. This, by division, became an aggre- 
 gate of nucleated cells; the parts of this aggregate, 
 following different laws of growth and multiplication, 
 give rise to the rudiments of the organs; and the parts 
 of these rudiments, by the needful modes of multipli- 
 
CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY 151 
 
 cation and metamorphosis, convert the rudiments 
 into the perfect structure. 
 
 " Writers agree that the identity of the nucleus and 
 the cytoplasm is never once lost during the whole 
 series of remarkable changes. There is a continuity 
 of nuclear matter from one phase to another, just as 
 there is a continuity of cytoplasm through the suc- 
 cessive periods in the history of the cell. The nucleus 
 always originates from a preceding nucleus, and the 
 cytoplasm from a preceding cytoplasm. There is no 
 evidence proving that the nucleus is formed by the 
 process of differentiation from the cytoplasm, nor 
 that the cytoplasm is formed by the differentiation 
 of the nuclear substance. Thus we are led to 
 regard the two substances as independent structures, 
 although each is necessary to the physiological exist- 
 ence of the other." 
 
 All writers unanimously agree "that the cell itself 
 was formed out of still smaller organisms which 
 already existed, somewhat like the physiological 
 units which constitute the cytoplasm and the nucleus 
 of a cell, but each with the power of assimilating, 
 growing, and multiplying by division — ultramicro- 
 scopic organisms. Separating the cytoplasm from 
 the nucleus in a given cell, and then separating them 
 smaller and smaller, we should come to the physio- 
 logical unit." 
 
152 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 All writers, however, do not agree upon the name 
 of this physiological unit. It has been called by 
 many different names, that are almost but not always 
 synonymous. They were called, in 1887, the bio- 
 blasts of Altmann; in 1888, the somacules of Foster; 
 in 1889, the panganes of Hugo de Vries; in 1893, the 
 plasomes of Wiesner; in 1893, the biophores of 
 Weissman, or "his bearers of vitality," because they 
 are the smallest units which exhibit the primary vital 
 forces; in 1893, the idioblasts of Hertwig; and then 
 there are the gemules of Darwin; the miscellae of 
 Nageli; the plastidules of Elsberg-Haekel; the micro- 
 zymes of Bechamp-Estor; and the physiological units 
 of Spencer. 
 
 "The vital properties of a cell do not reside in the 
 nucleus alone, nor in the cytoplasm which surrounds 
 it, but in the two together. The cell may be desti- 
 tute of a wall, or it may be enclosed within its own 
 cell membrane, or a cell may exist side by side with 
 other cells without any visible boundary between 
 them. 
 
 "The limitations of the cells are the expression of 
 the organic cohesion of a system of biosomes asso- 
 ciated to form an organic unit. We may therefore 
 compare the cells in a rude way to the solar system, 
 in which also a number of different elements are held 
 together by the cohesion of the universe (gravitation) 
 
CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY 153 
 
 and form one unit. There is no wall around it, yet 
 there is a distinct limitation. 
 
 "The chromosomes cannot grow beyond a certain 
 bulk, nor is the cytoplasm capable of unlimited 
 growth, without each meeting restraining influences 
 from the other. The division of the cell, when such 
 exists, is the result incidental to the increase in the 
 number of two kinds of cell forming organisms 
 existing in each nucleated cell." 
 
 Since the founders of the classical cellular theory 
 by Schlieden and Schwann, in 1838 and 1839, scien- 
 tists generally agree that to explain the nature of a 
 nucleated cell four well-ascertained facts with regard 
 to nucleus and cytoplasm must be explained and 
 held under common view, and must recognize the 
 profound physiological interdependence between the 
 nucleus and the cytoplasm, and also recognize their 
 morphological independence. These four facts are: 
 
 "i. The two elements in each cell — chromosome 
 and the cytoplasm — have the capacity for assimilation 
 growth and multiplication by division. 
 
 "2. Each is essential to the physiological existence 
 of the other. 
 
 "3. The chromosome always originates from pre- 
 ceding chromosome, and cytoplasm from preceding 
 cytoplasm. 
 
 '4. Each has a definite chemical reaction, dif- 
 
 « 
 
154 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 ferent from the other, and is composed of different 
 chemical substance." 
 
 To explain a nucleated cell and its cellular life, in- 
 violately, would mean to give a definition of life itself. 
 Therefore, before considering the leading scientists' 
 cellular theories, it may be well to remember what 
 Dr. Graf has said on the possibility of an infallible 
 cellular theory. He says : 
 
 "We cannot give a definition of life itself, because 
 we come to the conception of life only by a deduction. 
 Life is the unknown cause of a series of effects which 
 we call life phenomena; for example, growth, irrita- 
 bility, division, self-determination, etc. We find that 
 all these phenomena, or functions of life, may, under 
 favorable conditions, be performed by one single cell, 
 as is the case with the protozoons and in the wander- 
 ing cells of the metazoon body." 
 
 Professor Watase applies De Bary's doctrine of 
 symbiosis to the association of the two different kinds 
 of cell-forming organisms in each cell as the best 
 possible explanation of cellular life. He finds that 
 Darwin's idea of a cell expressed in his theory of 
 pangenesis, and in its special aspect which con- 
 siders mutualistic symbiosis as the basis for cellular 
 organization, adds a more concrete meaning to his 
 well-known passage. 
 
 "An organic being is a microcosm — a little universe 
 
CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY 155 
 
 — formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, 
 inconceivably minute, and numerous as the stars of 
 heaven." 
 
 Professor Watase says that in a restricted sense 
 symbiosis means the normal fellowship, or the con- 
 sortial union of two or more organisms of dissimilar 
 origin, each of which acts as the physiological com- 
 plement to the other in the struggle for existence. 
 He summarizes the general consequence of the sym- 
 biotic existence to its participants as follows: 
 
 " I. Inasmuch as one organic being comes in con- 
 nection with another in order to be nourished, and to 
 nourish the other in return, they obtain a freedom in 
 choice of dwelling place which is not enjoyed by 
 them otherwise. 
 
 "2. Symbiosis of two dissimilar organisms induces 
 certain modifications in each symbiont, by the sup- 
 pression of certain characters originally present in 
 each, or by the acquisition of others which were for- 
 merly absent. 
 
 "3. When the adaptation of one symbiont to the 
 other becomes perfect, the whole community behaves 
 like a new organism, subject to new laws of growth 
 and development, and is no longer subject to those 
 relating to each symbiont separately. 
 
 "4. A power of adaptation to the external world, 
 which each symbiont did not possess individually in 
 
156 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 the struggle for existence, may be acquired indirectly 
 or by the combined efforts of the two. 
 
 "5. In proportion as the symbiotic adaptation of 
 two or more organisms becomes more and more per- 
 fect, each symbiont loses the power of living inde- 
 pendently which it originally possessed." 
 
 Professor Watase claims that the symbiotic sig- 
 nificance to the cellular life of the two different kinds 
 of cell-forming organisms in each cell explains : 
 
 " I. The constant difference in anatomical, optical, 
 and microscopic characteristics between chromosome 
 and the cytoplasm. 
 
 "2. The maintenance of their specific identity 
 through all phases of their developmental changes, as 
 in karyokinesis and fecundation. 
 
 "3. The participation of both nucleus and cyto- 
 plasm in the manifestation of non-developmental 
 phenomena of cell life such as secretion and excre- 
 tion. 
 
 "4. The interchange of metabolic products be- 
 tween nucleus and cytoplasm as the necessary out- 
 come of a symbiotic mode of existence. 
 
 "5. The reason why the cytoplasm, separated 
 from the nucleus, or the nucleus isolated from the 
 cytoplasm, invariably perish 
 
 "6. Why the nucleus and the cytoplasm are the 
 physiological organs of a cell, and yet they are not 
 
CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY 157 
 
 the organs from a morphological or developmental 
 standpoint." 
 
 Dr. Arnold Graf, in his lecture on the "Indi- 
 viduality of a Cell," in 1895, reviews three different 
 cellular theories. He says: 
 
 " The classical theory of Schlieden and Schwann, 
 the fathers of cellular theories, is based upon the 
 facts of the formation and division of elementary 
 units- — the cells." 
 
 He capitulates the principles of their theory as 
 follows : 
 
 "i. The multicellular body is a colony or a state 
 of cells. 
 
 "2. The cell is a unit — an elementary organism. 
 
 "3. Differentiation is caused by specific adaptation 
 of originally like cells to different external con- 
 ditions. 
 
 "4. The body is enabled to perform its work by the 
 principle of division of labor among the elementary 
 units. (Zellenstant.) 
 
 "5. The cell leads a double life, an independent 
 life on the one hand, and as an integral part of a 
 higher unit on the other. 
 
 "6. The cell limitations are the specific structure 
 of the cell. 
 
 "7. The structure is the fundamental principle 
 upon which all the life phenomena are based. 
 
158 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 "8. The division of cells is caused by overgrowth 
 ' over a maximum size." 
 
 Dr. Graf also speaks of the idioplasm theory of 
 Naegeli, Weissman, and especially of Whitman, and 
 says this theory is based upon the assumption of a 
 formative povper, the seat of which lies in the idio- 
 plasm, respectively in the idiosomes, and capitulates 
 the theory as follows: 
 
 "i. The body of an absolute unit. Its constitu- 
 ents, the idiosomes, are not independent units, but 
 are the integral parts of a whole. 
 
 "2. The cell is merely a structure, an outward 
 sign of subtle changes in the idioplasmic consti- 
 tution. 
 
 "3. With regard to the problem of diflPerentiation, 
 it is localized specialization, it is the grouping of 
 idiosomes of like character into areas of increased 
 energy." 
 
 Dr. Graf says : 
 
 "This would lead us back, however, to the cell 
 standpoint, as it is the same thing whether we call a 
 cell a centre of energy, an area, or a cell. 
 
 "4. The body is enabled to perform its work by a 
 specific formative power of its own. 
 
 "5. The cell leads an independent life. The ac- 
 tions of the cell are due to the energies of the idio- 
 somes. Life is the formative power of the idioplasm. 
 
CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY 159 
 
 and the cells are only a result of the action of this 
 power. 
 
 "6. Cell boundaries are of no import. Organic 
 cohesion goes through the whole body. 
 
 "7. Structure is fundamental, is inherited, and 
 without the presupposition of structure no function 
 can be conceived. 
 
 "8. Organic growth and regeneration are due to 
 the formative power of the idioplasm. 
 
 "9. The fission of cells is a secondary phenomena, 
 is the outward sign of subtle occurrences in the idio- 
 plasm." 
 
 So much for the idioplasm cell theory. 
 
 Dr. Graf says further of another theory: 
 
 "A complete revised cellular theory, which has 
 not been specially formulated as such, but of which 
 we find the building stones of almost every modern 
 cytologist since Schwann." 
 
 As for himself, Dr. Graf says : 
 
 "i. The body is an association of cells. 
 
 "2. The cell is the physiological unit, and consists 
 of a large quantity of structural elements which may 
 have the form of granules (microsomes). These 
 microsomes are not all alike, but we must assume 
 a great number of different categories of such, differ- 
 ing by a specific irritability with regard to external 
 stimuli. 
 
160 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 " Under the influence of specific stimuli, certain of 
 the microsomes grow and divide, others remain un- 
 disturbed, and by the numerical supremacy of one or 
 more categories of microsomes over the other the 
 specific character of the cell is determined. 
 
 "The sum total of the energies of these granules, 
 microsomes, or, better, biosomes, constitutes the life 
 of the cell. 
 
 " In my view the biosomes (granules) (microsomes) 
 cannot be imagined to live separately; they are not 
 bearers of life but elements of a living body. 
 
 "These biosomes represent an organic association 
 which we call a cell, and cannot be imagined sepa- 
 rate from the association and yet living, as life is a 
 collective conception. 
 
 "The association of biosomes called a cell is the 
 ultimate organic unit, as the molecule is the ultimate 
 chemical unit of a specific substance. The cells are 
 the molecules of the body. 
 
 "The cause of differentiation might be called the 
 selection of stimuli from the side of the cell elements. 
 The division of labor is no formative principle or 
 cause, but only the efi^ects of differentiation. Thus, 
 differentiation determines the character of the cell. 
 
 "The cell leads only one life — an independent 
 life." 
 
 Dr. Graf maintains a perfect individuality or inde- 
 
CELLULAR LIFE HISTORY 161 
 
 pendence of the cellular life in opposition to all the 
 other cell theories. He says : 
 
 "Organic growth and regeneration are due to the 
 growth and division of the idiosomes, which, again, is 
 caused by the influence of the specific stimuli. 
 
 " All division may be due to the overabundance of 
 elementary units or biosomes, and it is affected by an 
 equal distribution and arrangement of these units into 
 two new systems." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PHYSIOLOGICAL INTER-RELATION OF THE 
 
 CELLS. BY DR. EDMUND B. WILSON, 
 
 OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 
 
 In his discussion of the physiological inter-relation 
 of the cells. Dr. Wilson reviews the whole cell 
 theory history and its facts established up to now 
 by the leading scientists. He says: 
 
 "The cellular structure of animals and plants was 
 dimly perceived two centuries ago by those pioneers 
 of microscopic research, Leeuwenhoek, Malpighi, 
 Grew, Hooke, and their followers. 
 
 "The story of the foundation of the cell thbory, by 
 Schleiden and Schwann, in 1839 and in 1840, of its 
 development by Remak, Koelliker, Naegeli, Virchow, 
 and other investigators of their time, has often been 
 told, and the history of the discovery that led to the 
 identification of protoplasm as the physical basis of 
 life and of the cell as the immediate arena of its 
 manifold activities. 
 
 "Microscopic research brought to light the won- 
 derful fact that the cell is not only the seat of vital 
 activity, but is also the seat of heredity transmission; 
 (16O 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL INTER-RELATION OF CELLS 163 
 
 and, further, that the life of successive generations of 
 living beings shovsr no breach of continuity, but forms 
 a continuous vital stream, which, as Virchovsr says, 
 'rules an eternal law of continuity.' 
 
 " The physiological inter-relation of the cells bears 
 more directly upon the general problem of life. 
 
 " Schwann, the father of the cell theory, conceived 
 the multicellular body as a composite or mosaic work, 
 as a congeries of cooperating but still independent 
 units, namely, the cells. He said : ' The whole organ- 
 ism subsists only by means of reciprocal actions of 
 the single elementary parts.' 
 
 "There are some forms of cells, such as the wan- 
 dering leukocytes, that seem, in fact, to lead an al- 
 most independent existence in the body, their life 
 being strikingly similar to the free-living, one-celled 
 organisms, such as the rhizopods. Even the cells of 
 the fixed tissues often show a high degree of inde- 
 pendence, and may perfectly retain their individual 
 characteristics if transplanted to another part of the 
 body, or even grafted upon another organism. 
 
 "Whether we conceive the cell as a complex mix- 
 ture of molecules, a composite of micellae, or congeries 
 of invisible, self-propagating units, we encounter the 
 same problem. 
 
 "Chemical analysis proves that the protoplasm is 
 not a single chemical substance, but a highly com- 
 
164 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 plex mixture of highly complex organic compounds, 
 which undergo continual chemical transformations. 
 Indeed, the living cell is doubtless the arena of the 
 most complex chemical operations taking place in 
 nature. 
 
 "But the more complex these transformations 
 the more imperative becomes the assumption of a 
 coordinating factor that determines their orderly 
 sequence and cooperation in the ever-recurring cycle 
 of life. It is a similar factor that must be recog- 
 nized as the coordinating and unifying element, 
 vsrhich brings out a typical result in the development 
 of the many-celled organisms from the egg, or its 
 regeneration from a fragment of its own body. 
 
 "To many naturalists this is the most character- 
 istic and most difficult of comprehension. 
 
 " Regarding the nature of that factor, we are still 
 almost wholly ignorant, and can only say, vaguely, 
 that it lies in the inherited organism of the same kind, 
 developing under similar conditions. In the adult 
 body we perceive the organization like that of a 
 machine destined to perform specific operations, and 
 physiological research has given us a tolerably clear 
 comprehension of the manner in which the machine 
 performs many of these operations. When we turn 
 to those subtler operations involved in the cell activi- 
 ties, particularly in the case of germ cells, and the 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL INTER-RELATION OF CELLS 165 
 
 developing organism, we find ourselves almost 
 wholly in the dark. 
 
 " So difficult is it to conceive these activities hy the 
 assumption of machine-like organization of the cell, 
 that Driesch, one of the foremost leaders of the 
 experimental embryologists, has recently expressed 
 the conviction that we must assume the existence of 
 a determining and coordinating factor, or group of 
 such factors (specifically in the egg cell and the de- 
 veloping embryo as a whole), for which no analogue 
 exists in the organic world. 
 
 " It is a happy augury for the future of biology that 
 it is apparently entering upon a new constructive 
 phase, characterized by a frank recognition of igno- 
 rance, by a decline of baseless theorizing, by steadily 
 increasing thoroughness and range of observation, 
 and, above all, by the extensive application in every 
 direction of exact experimental methods to subjects 
 which have hitherto hardly been approached along 
 this path. 
 
 "One of the most fundamental results thus far ob- 
 tained by cell research is that the nucleus plays some 
 essential role in the synthetic cell process, involving 
 not only the chemical operations of constructive 
 metabolism, but also the consideration of growth 
 and other factors of morphological (as opposed to 
 chemical) synthesis. 
 
166 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 " Virchow generalized the phenomena of cell origin, 
 and later researches have sustained the conclusion 
 that every cell arises by division of a preexisting cell, 
 and in no other way. This involves not only the 
 protoplasm mass as a whole, but also the nucleus. 
 The nucleus is not formed de novo, but arises by the 
 division of the nucleus of the mother cell. From 
 this it follows that every nucleus of the body is a 
 descendant of that of the egg, which, in its turn, is 
 derived by a division of a nucleus in the parent 
 body. 
 
 " Upon what does the power of cell division depend ? 
 
 " From the investigation of this question a number 
 of scientists arrived at the assumption of ultimate 
 protoplasmic units, or elements, that are not single 
 molecules, but groups, perhaps very complex mole- 
 cules. 
 
 " This conception was first systematically developed 
 by Herbert Spencer in his acutely reasoned hypoth- 
 esis of physiological units. Elaborated and raised 
 to a working hypothesis by the botanist Naegeli, who 
 considered that the phenomena of growth are only 
 explicable under the assumption that the proto- 
 plasm consists of molecular groups, or 'micellae,' 
 surrounded by layers of water. 
 
 "This assumption appears in a vague way in 
 Darwin's pangenesis, but was first synthetically 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL INTER-RELATION OF CELLS 167 
 
 developed by de Vries and Wiesner, and still further 
 expanded by Weissmann. 
 
 "The power of protoplasmic growth as sought in 
 the power of cell division is explained as follows : 
 
 "It has been seen that the cell does not simply 
 divide as a whole, but through the separate division 
 of nucleus and protoplasm. Nor does the nucleus 
 undergo a mere mass division, but resolves itself into 
 dividing units of a lower order, namely, the chromo- 
 somes. Research has shown that in some cases at 
 least the chromosomes themselves are compound 
 bodies, consisting of still smaller masses arranged 
 like beads on a string, which in their turn divide, and 
 this forms the splitting of the chromosomes. 
 
 "These smallest visible dividing elements are of 
 extreme minuteness, and it is only a matter of con- 
 jecture whether they in turn consist of bodies smaller 
 still. There is no reason to place the limit of this 
 series at the point where it vanishes from view, and 
 we are almost driven to the conclusion that the divi- 
 sion of the nuclear substance as a whole must be the 
 result of division on the part of invisible elements, by 
 the aggregation of which the visible structures are 
 formed. 
 
 "A similar conclusion has been reached in the case 
 of protoplasm, or the extranuclear part of the cell. 
 But the evidence here is less convincing. The pro- 
 
168 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 toplasm of some forms of cells contains minute bodies 
 that multiply by division ('plastids'), and a remark- 
 able body, known as the ' centrosome,' the nature of 
 which is now under active discussion. 
 
 "The cell, like the organism at large, maintains a 
 state of moving equilibrium with the environment, 
 and continually receives chemical and physical stim- 
 uli from the latter, and continually responds to those 
 stimuli by modes of activity, conditioned by its own 
 organization. 
 
 " This conclusion leads to the consideration of the 
 discovery relating to the fertilization of the egg, with 
 which the modern era of cell research may be said to 
 begin. 
 
 "This discovery was made by Oscar Hertwig in 
 1875, in the egg of the sea-urchin, and has been 
 confirmed by innumerable subsequent observers in 
 animals and plants representing almost every known 
 group. 
 
 "The essential fact is that the fertilization of the 
 egg is thus accomplished. 
 
 "A single cell derived from the father (spermato- 
 zoon) unites with a single cell (the egg) derived from 
 the mother, while the paternal nucleus unites with 
 the maternal. By continued division of the single 
 cell thus formed arise all the cells of the body. 
 
 "Examining the process, we find one remarkable 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL INTER-RELATION OF CELLS 169 
 
 difference between egg and spermatozoon, namely, 
 that while the two contribute equally to the nucleus 
 of the fertilized germ, the whole, or very nearly the 
 whole, of the remaining cell substance (protoplasm) 
 is supplied by the egg. 
 
 "We have thus a substantial basis for the conclu- 
 sion that the protoplasm of the embryo is derived 
 wholly or mainly from the mother, while the nuclei 
 are derived equally from both parents. This result, 
 with those derived from microscopic vivisection, give 
 for the first time a clear though superficial view of the 
 mechanism of inheritance. 
 
 "The studies of Darwin, Galton, and others have 
 shown that there is no peculiarity of structure or 
 function in any part of the body too slight to escape 
 the influence of either parent, or both, by inheritance. 
 The physical correlative of this conclusion lies in the 
 fact that the cells, of which every part of the body is 
 built, contain nuclei derived by unbroken descent 
 from a nucleus that is equally of paternal and 
 maternal origin. 
 
 "Upon this fact Hertwig and Strausberger based 
 the conclusion that the nucleus must be regarded as 
 the vehicle of inheritance. 
 
 "We are thus enabled to form some conception, 
 however imperfect, of the manner in which both 
 parents affect the whole development of the child, 
 
170 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 and may exert an influence upon every detail of its 
 organization. 
 
 "Van Beneden, the great Belgian observer, build- 
 ing upon the basis laid by Flemming, Hertwig, and 
 Strausberger, in 1885 to 1887, followed in detail the 
 transformation of the nucleus itself during fertiliza- 
 tion. His experiments were made with the highly 
 favorable egg of the Ascaris, a threadworm parasite, 
 in the horse. 
 
 "His discoveries, confirmed and extended by Boveri 
 and many others, have been found to hold good to 
 such an extent that there can be no doubt of their 
 general applicability throughout the plant and animal 
 kingdom. 
 
 "As the paternal and maternal nuclei approach 
 each other within the egg, each undergoes a compli- 
 cated metamorphosis, and finally resolves itself into 
 a number of rod-like or worm-like bodies, known as 
 the chromosomes, which are exactly equal in number 
 and similar in form in the two. 
 
 "At this period, therefore, the egg no longer con- 
 tains two nuclei, but in their place two precisely 
 similar groups of chromosomes, which are, respec- 
 tively, paternal and maternal in their origin. 
 
 "As the egg undergoes its first division to form the 
 first two cells of the embryo, every chromosome in the 
 group splits lengthwise into exactly similar halves, 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL INTER-RELATION OF CELLS 171 
 
 which separate and pass one to each of the daughter 
 cells. Each of the latter, therefore, receives two 
 similar groups of daughter chromosomes, paternal and 
 maternal, which are exactly duplicated in the other 
 cell. And from these two groups in each cell is built 
 a daughter nucleus, shown by its mode of origin to 
 be equally derived from both parents. 
 
 "At the second division the chromosomes reap- 
 pear, again split lengthwise, and the halves are again 
 equally distributed to the daughter nucleus, and so 
 on throughout the entire growth of the animal. 
 
 " Even before Van Beneden's work, Flemming and 
 Strausberger had observed the formation and the 
 splitting of the chromosomes in the division of the 
 tissue cells (karyokinesis or mitosis). And later ob- 
 servers have demonstrated that this is a phenomenon 
 of general occurrence. 
 
 " One remarkable fact has fixed the attention of all 
 later observers, namely, that the number of chromo- 
 somes is always the same in given species; and, 
 further, in sexually produced organisms this number 
 is always an even one; for example, there are 
 twenty-four in the lily and the frog, sixteen in the 
 onion, thirty-four in the snail, thirty-six in the shark, 
 and so on. 
 
 "In the light of Van Beneden's work, the even 
 number of chromosomes seems only explicable under 
 
172 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 the assumption that they are the direct descendants 
 of those in the fertilized egg, and the latter are 
 necessarily even, since equally derived from two 
 parents. 
 
 " We have strong ground for the conclusion that all 
 the nuclei of the body are equally derived from those 
 of the two parents, and this has received support 
 from a large number of experimental research. 
 
 "Among the foremost results recently attained in 
 cell physiology and experimental embryology is the 
 recent discovery of Loeb, that the egg may be fer- 
 tilized by chemical stimulus without participation 
 of the male element. 
 
 "The way for Loeb's discovery was paved by the 
 experiments of Richard Hertwig and Morgan, who 
 showed that if unfertilized eggs be treated by a weak 
 solution of various substances, such as sodium chlo- 
 ride, magnesium chloride, or strychnine, they undergo 
 some of the preparatory changes of division; and 
 Morgan showed that they might actually divide, 
 though without producing any embryo. 
 
 "The experiments of Herbst in particular gave an 
 almost startling revelation upon the profound effect 
 upon the egg produced by apparently insignificant 
 alterations in the chemical environment. 
 
 " If, for example, the egg of a sea-urchin be allowed 
 to develop in sea water containing a very slight excess 
 
PHYSIOLOGICAL INTER-RELATION OF CELLS 173 
 
 of potassium chloride, the development is greatly 
 altered, no skeleton is formed, and a larva results 
 vsrhich, though living and vigorous, is widely different 
 from the normal ones 
 
 "If, in the place of potassium chloride, lithium 
 chloride be added to the water, the changes are still 
 more remarkable — the embryo never enfolding the 
 cells which normally give rise to the alimentary canal, 
 and developing, as it were, inside out. These mon- 
 strous forms are, of course, incapable of nourishing 
 themselves, and ultimately perish. 
 
 "These decisive experiments show that the egg is 
 capable of complete development, without union with 
 the spermatazoon, as a result of chemical stimulus, 
 and they also indicate that even in normal fertiliza- 
 tion we must regard the stimulus and development 
 as being given by a specific substance, or substances, 
 carried by the spermatazoon. 
 
 " It has long been known that the eggs of a number 
 of animals — plant lice and some crustaceans — are 
 capable, under certain conditions, of developing with- 
 out fertilization, /. e., by parthenogenesis; and it is 
 probable that here, too, the stimulus may be due to 
 changed chemical conditions affecting the egg through 
 the process of nutrition. 
 
 "Loeb's further experiments, together with slight 
 earlier ones of Herbst, indicate that the normal 
 
174 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 equilibrimn of the egg depends upon the equilibrium 
 of chemical conditions in the protoplasm which is 
 maintained by the conditions of the environment." 
 
 SOME PHASES OF MENDEL S FAMOUS LAW OF DOMI- 
 NANCE AND SEGREGATION AS IT HAS BEEN 
 APPLIED BY SOME SCIENTISTS TO SEX- 
 DETERMINATION THEORIES. 
 
 Mendel's principles of heredity in his law of domi- 
 nance and segregation are considered by some scien- 
 tists as perhaps the greatest discovery ever made in 
 the study of heredity. And it seems almost certain 
 that a number of the more popular modern sex- 
 determination theories have been constructed di- 
 rectly or quite obviously indirectly upon this famous 
 law. 
 
 The basic principles of Mendel's law are two — 
 (i) that of dominance, and (2) segregation. As 
 explained by William Ernest Castle: 
 
 "The principle of dominance: When there unite 
 in fertilization two gametes, one of which bears one 
 of a pair of alternative characters, while the other 
 gamete bears the other character. It often happens 
 that the zygote thus formed manifests only one of 
 the two characters. This character may be called 
 the dominant one. 
 
PHASES OF DOMINANCE AND SEGREGATION 175 
 
 "The other character becomes latent or recessive, 
 and is first seen in the next generation of offspring. 
 For example, when white mice are crossed with wild 
 gray mice, all the offspring are gray, that character 
 being dominant; white, recessive. 
 
 " White mice are never obtained in the first hybrid 
 generation, but upon breeding of the primary hy- 
 brids both white and gray offspring are obtained, 
 approximately in the ratio of i to 3. 
 
 "The principle of segregation : The appearance of 
 white mice as just described in the second hybrid 
 generation follows the principle of segregation. 
 
 "The primitive germ cell of the primary hybrid 
 contains both parental characters, i. e., dominant and 
 recessive, but in the maturation of the germ cell the 
 two are separated, so that the ripe germ cell, or 
 gamete, contains either dominant or recessive, but 
 not both." 
 
 This is the part of Mendel's famous law which is 
 supposed to be applicable to sex determination. 
 Professor Kellogg, of Stanford University, California, 
 says Mendel's name will undoubtedly live forever in 
 the annals of biological science. For the observa- 
 tions, experiments, and conclusions of Mendel on 
 inheritance have taken their place already as matters 
 of fundamental importance in the study of heredity. 
 
 George Johann Mendel was an Austrian monkj 
 
176 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 whose parents were peasants. He lived in the small 
 Austrian village of Brunn, was ordained a priest, and 
 became Abbot of his cloister. It was some time be- 
 tween 1855 and 1865 that in the garden of his cloister 
 he carried on the culture of peas and other plants. 
 The data that he thus acquired he read before the 
 Natural History Society of Brunn, together with his 
 interpretation of their significance. In 1865 he pub- 
 lished the account of his experiments and studies, 
 under the title of Experiments in Plant Hybridiza- 
 tion. He spoke of himself as a student of Collar, and 
 was for a time made president of Brunn's Natural 
 History Society, 
 
PART III. 
 
 SYNOPSES OF A NUMBER OF POPULAR SEX-DETER- 
 MINATION THEORIES BY LEADING SCIENTISTS, 
 WITH AN ANALYSIS AND VALUATION OF 
 THEIR PRACTICABILITY ACCORD- 
 ING TO OTHER PROMINENT 
 SCIENTISTS OF TODAY. 
 
 (177) 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A THEORY OF SEX DETERMINATION, BY WILLIAM 
 ERNEST CASTLE, OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 
 
 " I would go farther, and say that all animals and 
 plants are potential hermaphrodites, for they con- 
 tain the character of both sexes. Ordinarily, the 
 characters of one sex only are developed. The exist- 
 ence of each sex, in a latent condition, in all creatures 
 is shown by the occurrence in each sex of the rudi- 
 mentary organs peculiar to both sexes." 
 
 Of Mr. Castle's theory of the dominance in some 
 eggs of the female element, and in others of the male 
 element, he says: 
 
 "Our present knowledge of the process of fertiliza- 
 tion indicates that in it a union is accomplished 
 between elements strictly equivalent to those which 
 separated in the formation of the gametes. But we 
 should expect only opposite sex characters to unite 
 in fertilization. The male and the female characters 
 meet anew in a struggle for supremacy at each fer- 
 tilization. Sometimes one and sometimes the other 
 dominates in the zygote, and the vanquished character 
 becomes recessive." 
 
 (179) 
 
180 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 Mr. Castle undertakes to substantiate Ris theory of 
 sex determination by Mendel's principles of heredity 
 in his law of dominance and segregation. Mr. 
 Castle says: 
 
 "Accordingly there are ova 'dominant' and ova 
 * recessive' possessed by each parent in equal abun- 
 dance, and they unite at random, the sorts of zygotes 
 resulting, and their relative frequencies of occurrence 
 will be expressed by the product." 
 
 Mr. Castle thus locates the sex of the offspring in 
 the germ cell of both parents to be determined, ac- 
 cording to Mendel's principles of heredity in his law 
 of dominance and segregation. 
 
 The following is a short review of Professor T. H. 
 Morgan's analysis and valuation of Mr. Castle's 
 theory of sex determination. 
 
 "Castle has also recently advanced certain hy- 
 potheses in regard to sex determination. 
 
 "In certain superficial respects Castle's views ap- 
 pear similar to those of Beard, but closer scrutiny 
 shows that the two views are essentially different in 
 many important points. 
 
 " Castle assumes that there are two kinds of eggs, 
 male and female, and two kinds of spermatozoa, 
 male and female. He supposes that both kinds of 
 spermatozoa are functional in the sense that each 
 carries with it the possibility of determining the sex 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 181 
 
 of the individual, and that each spermatozoon is also 
 capable of fertilizing an egg; but a male spermato- 
 zoon can fertilize only a female egg, and a female 
 spermatozoon can fertilize only a male egg. 
 
 "It is evident, therefore, that Castle's idea in re- 
 gard to the spermatozoa fundamentally differs from 
 that of Beard. Furthermore, Castle supposes that 
 the separation of the male from the female qualities 
 of each egg takes place at the time when the second 
 polar body is extruded, and, in consequence, the egg 
 and one of the polar bodies will be female, and the 
 other two polar bodies male; or, if the egg remains 
 female, one polar body will be female and the other 
 two male. Similarly, for the spermatozoa, two of 
 each four (formed from the spermatocyte) are female 
 and two are male. 
 
 "Perhaps the most distinctive part of Castle's 
 paper is his attempt to apply the much discussed 
 Mendel's law to problems of sex determination — an 
 idea that had suggested itself to Batesson and Saun- 
 ders, but had been rejected, because the distribution 
 of sex among first crosses shows great disparity from 
 the normal proportions. Castle does not admit, 
 however, the force of this objection." 
 
 Professor Morgan then cites the example of the 
 crossing of the wild gray mouse with a white mouse, 
 and says: 
 
182 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 " Castle tries to make an application of Mendel's 
 principles of heredity to sex. 
 
 " Just as there are two kinds of mice, in our illus- 
 tration, white and gray, there are two kinds of sexual 
 individuals, male and female. 
 
 " It is now assumed that the germ cells, when they 
 reach final division, separate their male from their 
 female, giving pure male and pure female eggs, and 
 pure male and pure female spermatozoa. 
 
 " If, as in the mice, all chance combinations of the 
 germ cells are possible, there will result three kinds 
 of individuals, in the proportion of 2: i : i. 
 
 "The first of these, that are twice as common as 
 either of the other two, would be sex hybrids. 
 
 " If we assume, as in the mice, that one character 
 always dominates in such a combination, the male, 
 let us say, there would be twice as many males of this 
 hybrid kind as there are individuals of either of the 
 other two pure kinds; and since there are as many 
 pure males as there are pure females, there would be 
 in all three times as many males born as females. 
 Since we know there is no such disproportion of one 
 sex to the other, it appears absurd to attempt to apply 
 Mendel's law to the problem of sex. 
 
 "Castle is therefore obliged to make a further 
 assumption to avoid this difficulty. 
 
 "He assumes that a male spermatozoon can fer- 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 183 
 
 tilize only female eggs, and a female spermatozoon 
 only male eggs. 
 
 "There is no evidence known at present support- 
 ing this assumption, but it must be admitted that 
 it cannot be disproved, hovpever improbable it may 
 appear. 
 
 "On this view every fertilized egg is a sex hybrid, 
 and may give rise to a male or to a female, according 
 to which elements dominate. 
 
 "Thus we return once more to our original ques- 
 tion, as to what determines the sex of the individual. 
 
 "We shall see presently that Castle fails to meet 
 this fundamental question. 
 
 "There is another side of Castle's hypothesis that 
 must be briefly referred to, since he suggests a way 
 of meeting a difficulty that is fatal to Beard's theory. 
 I refer to parthenogenetic development and to the 
 production at the end of a parthenogenetic series of 
 male and female individuals. 
 
 "Castle supposes that in parthenogenetic repro- 
 duction the female character dominates over the 
 male, when the two are present together, and that 
 when a separation of the sex characters takes place 
 it does so at the time of the formation of the second 
 polar body in the egg, and probably at the corre- 
 sponding state of development in the spermatozoon. 
 
 "There is a fact in this connection the bearing of 
 
184 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 which Weissmann was the first to fully appreciate — 
 namely, that the parthenogenetic eggs of daphnids 
 and of some rotifers give ofF only one polar body, 
 while eggs that are to be fertilized give off two polar 
 bodies. 
 
 "Castle suggests that the second polar body is the 
 female gamete, hence, when it is given off, the egg 
 must become a pure male if it develops. If this polar 
 body should be retained in the egg, the conditions are 
 exactly the same as when a female spermatozoon 
 enters a male egg. Hence, since the female element 
 dominates in these animals when the two sexes meet, 
 the individual must become a female. 
 
 "Since, therefore, such an egg carries the male 
 element in a recessive form, this element may, if it 
 becomes separated from its female associate, give 
 rise to a male. In this way the theoretical difficulty 
 referred to above is met. 
 
 "Castle's theory appears needlessly complex, and 
 the whole attempt to apply the Mendelian principles 
 to the question of sex does not appear to have been 
 successful. The weakest side of the theory has al- 
 ready been spoken of — namely, that it fails to account 
 for the very problem that a theory of sex should ex- 
 plain — that is, the problem of what it is that deter- 
 mines whether an egg that contains both potentialities 
 becomes a male or a female." 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 185 
 
 To the assumption that there are male and female 
 eggs, and male and female spermatozoa, Professor 
 Morgan says: 
 
 "We have just examined two recent theories that 
 rest on assumptions of this kind, and have found, in 
 my opinion, that they are both unsatisfactory." 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 VIEWS ON SEX DETERMINATION, BY M. L. GUENOT, 
 OF NANCY, FRANCE. 
 
 "As to the time at which the determination of sex 
 is irrevocably settled in the embryo, there are four 
 theories held by leading scientists of the world : 
 
 "i. A group who believe that the sex of the em- 
 bryo is determined before fertilization, and conse- 
 quently without any influence of the male. Among 
 this group are Ahlfeld, Schultz, Anazagore, Coste, 
 Henke, Seligson, etc. 
 
 "2. Those who believe that the determination of 
 sex is at the moment of fecundation. Among these 
 are Democrite, D'Abdere, Aristotle, Thury, Richartz, 
 Lesshaft, Mayrhofer, etc. 
 
 "3. Those who believe that sex is determined after 
 fecundation, influenced by the conditions of gestation, 
 and, consequently, without the participation of the 
 male. Among these are Empedocle, Ackermann, and 
 GeofFroy-Saint-Hilaire. 
 
 "4. Those who believe that sex determination may 
 be at any time, before, during, or after fecunda- 
 tion. Among this group are Dusing, Wilckens, and 
 
 Orshansky." 
 (186) 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 187 
 
 M. Cuenot says that, of these theories, the third 
 must be eliminated at once as impossible and un- 
 thinkable. Then he discusses the three remaining 
 theories : 
 
 "i. Ahlfeld's theory claims that the male and fe- 
 male eggs develop in the ovary, and that the father 
 has no influence whatever upon the sex of the off- 
 spring, but that it is entirely with the mother." 
 
 Apropos of Ahlfeld's theory, Simon Newcomb says: 
 
 "The question of the influence of the age of the 
 parents has been studied by Rosenfeld, Saddler, and 
 Bertillon. Saddler laid down the general law that 
 the elder parent has preponderating influence in the 
 direction of determining children of his or her own 
 sex. But Ahlfeld reached the opposite conclusion, 
 that when the father was more than ten years older 
 than the mother there was a preponderance of female 
 children." 
 
 "2. This group, including Aristotle, de Gelien, and 
 others, believe that the human spermatozoon is in 
 its nature male and female, and that the mother has 
 nothing whatever to do in the determination of the sex 
 of the child. 
 
 "3. Dusing declares that a quantity of factors in- 
 fluence the sexual development of the egg and sper- 
 matozoon from their first appearance in the child's 
 developing genital glands, their maturation, and 
 
188 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 subsequent fertilization, and besides this, there are 
 other factors that affect the sex developed in the em- 
 bryo up to the very moment when the character of 
 the sex of the embryo is apparent as either male or 
 female." 
 
 The following is the theory preferred by M. Cuenot 
 himself: 
 
 " Sex is determined at the moment of fertilization, 
 as a result of the conflict of the two gametes — mater- 
 nal and paternal — and nothing can change their 
 character of male and female, once established, dur- 
 ing the course of their development. Each of the 
 gametes is influenced by several factors (dont la 
 somme algebrique determine la tendance finale)." 
 
 M. Cuenot explains at great length why he prefers 
 this theory to any of those cited above, especially for 
 mammals. In regard to the conflict of the gametes, 
 it will be remembered that Castle says : 
 
 "The male and female characters (gametes) meet 
 anew in a struggle for supremacy at each fertilization ; 
 sometimes one and sometimes the other dominates in 
 the zygote, and the vanquished character becomes 
 recessive." 
 
 M. Cuenot discusses sex determination under three 
 heads, in the light of other experiments which were 
 submitted to him for consideration, and from his 
 own experiments: (i) He discusses notions acquired 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 189 
 
 regarding the best-known forms of parthenogenetic 
 life, since the determination of sex with them is 
 necessarily different from animals that require fecun- 
 dation. (2) Notions acquired regarding the different 
 groups of creatures — "a fecundation boligatoir" — in 
 the light of ancient research as well as from his own 
 experiments. (3) A general discussion, where he ex- 
 amines the various problems raised by the question 
 of sex determination, especially regarding auto- 
 regulation, epoque, participation des parents, sexe des 
 bourgeons, hermaphroditism, etc. Under the first 
 head he deals with rotifers, daphnids (fleas, water 
 lice), aphids (plant lice), cynipides, and hymen- 
 optera porte aiguillon. Some of his conclusions under 
 this head are: 
 
 "The quantity and quality of nutrition does exer- 
 cise an effect upon the eggs in the ovary of the 
 mothers of these orders of life — developing an espe- 
 cial sort of males and females." 
 
 With regard to the effect of spermatozoon upon the 
 parthenogenetic egg, he found : 
 
 "The unfecundated egg that produced a male, 
 when fecundated, produced a female, and that in all 
 cases that the sex of the creature was determined in 
 the egg which gave it birth, not later than the mo- 
 ment of fecundation." 
 
 Under the second head he considers the classic 
 
190 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 examples of pigeons, insects, and frogs, and again 
 concludes: 
 
 "The determination of sex coincides with the 
 moment of fecundation or before it." 
 
 As to nutrition, he cites Marchal's observation, that 
 insects poorly nourished produce male offspring. 
 But as for his own experiments on this subject he 
 says: 
 
 "My experiments gave altogether different results 
 from this. While nutrition of the parents does not 
 play the role of sex determination, at the same time 
 it is a significant fact that a poorly nourished creature 
 produces few eggs, and one abundantly nourished 
 produces many; but in both cases the usual propor- 
 tion of sexes appears. 
 
 " As to the effect of the age of the spermatozoon as 
 a determining factor of sex, is the classic example of 
 the pigeon, which, since the days of Aristotle, has 
 been supposed always to lay first a male and then 
 a female egg. 
 
 I " Those who believe this argue that the second egg 
 is fertilized, by at least a few hours, by an older sper- 
 matozoon than the first egg; that in that probably 
 lies the determination of their different sexes. 
 
 "Gerbe pretends, after careful experiments, that a 
 hen, for fifteen days after a single fecundation, pro- 
 duces fertilized eggs. 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 191 
 
 "Also Girard, Joseph, and Brocadello found that 
 the size of the egg is a sexual difference, and also this 
 is the verdict of fowl raisers. My own experiments 
 do not contradict this. 
 
 " My own experiments, as well as those of others, 
 only verify for me that the sex of the egg is deter- 
 mined in the egg, and not later than fertilization." 
 
 In the second part of this second division of his 
 subject Professor Cuenot examines the theories of sex 
 determination as regards human beings and other 
 mammals. He says: 
 
 "The determination of sex is one of the most 
 interesting and most difficult problems of biology. 
 From the greatest antiquity, the solving of this prob- 
 lem has been sought for, but no satisfactory solution 
 has yet been found — not one that has been able to 
 stand the test of time. Modern science has been able 
 to solve this problem for a few of some of the inferior 
 forms of life. 
 
 "It is humiliating to be obliged to admit that for 
 mankind and other mammals there has not been 
 much advance since the time of the predecessors of 
 Aristotle, although there has been a considerable 
 amount of hard work done — il faut croire qu'on s'y 
 est mal pris. 
 
 "It is something to be abl^ to demolish others' 
 theories, but in order to be able to build up solidly 
 
192 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 this matter, it is necessary to establish these funda- 
 mental points: When is sex determined, and what 
 the influence of the parents, the one or both, which 
 can stand the crucial test of experiment ? 
 
 "Then Professor Cuenot speaks of various ideas 
 that have formed the basis for different theories on 
 the subject, among them the following: 
 
 "Age of parents: Some say that a very young or 
 a very old father has but little power to transmit their 
 sex to their offspring. But this is not apparent in 
 the actual facts of life. 
 
 "Social Conditions: Investigation shows a very 
 small variation in the sex of the children of well-to-do 
 people and the poor; between the aristocrat and the 
 peasant; and that of the clergy. 
 
 "Nutrition as a Factor: Nearly all investigators 
 attribute an enormous importance to the quantity 
 and quality of the parents' nutrition; indeed, nutri- 
 tion has become a classical subject for proof of sex 
 determination. 
 
 "Dusing bases his theory of the law of natural 
 selection as applied to sex upon nutrition, pretending 
 that with abundant nutrition organisms produce 
 more females, because that is an important factor for 
 the preservation of the species, and that with meager 
 nourishment males are produced. 
 
 " But in the case of twins, Dusing must admit that 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 193 
 
 two children would have less nourishment from a 
 single mother during the developing of the embryo 
 than a single or one embryo would have, and yet that 
 the sex of the twins is almost as frequently different 
 as they are identical. And that this is true of triplets, 
 where, also, again, the nutrition is divided between 
 three instead of one, and yet they are not infrequently 
 all girls. 
 
 "While Fiquet and Richarz found that a parent 
 well nourished transmitted the sex contrary to his 
 own, which is the basis for the theory for cross- 
 heredity as a factor in the determination of sex." 
 
 As for himself, Professor Cuenot says: 
 
 "Good or poor nutrition of the parents has a 
 positive influence upon the sexual tendencies of the 
 maternal and paternal gametes, but it must be ad- 
 ministered before the moment of fecundation." 
 
 Of Schenk's theory, which has its basis in nutri- 
 tion, he says: 
 
 " Schenk's theory, recently promulgated, which has 
 made considerable noise, especially in the world of 
 'extra scientifique,' is: If, in a mother's urine, there 
 is found a certain quantity of sugar, which indicates 
 an incomplete combustion of carbon hydrates, the 
 maturing egg, afi'ected by this, becomes female; if 
 there is no trace of sugar, the egg becomes male." 
 
 After undertaking to verify all the known data on 
 
194 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 the following subject as a sex determining factor, 
 Professor Cuenot says : 
 
 "Je ne crois pas utile de parler de la proportion 
 sexuelle consideree dans ses reports avec une faible 
 ou forte menstruation, avec un bassin etroit; no more 
 than with the month of the year, the high altitude of 
 the country, the consanguinity of the parents, or of 
 the sickly condition of the one or the other. 
 
 " It appeals to me as superfluous to speak of such 
 fairy tales and fables, proposed by a considerable 
 number of writers on this subject, who are as highly 
 imaginative as they are little scientific. 
 
 " It is therefore evident that sex is determined by 
 internal factors about which we have not the slightest 
 knowledge, for external circumstances could not in- 
 fluence the determination of sex only in the most 
 indirect and remote fashion. 
 
 "Not only will human beings probably never be 
 able to voluntarily control the sex of their children, 
 but, also, they are unable to predict, depending upon 
 external circumstances, with any degree of certainty, 
 the sex of an unborn child." 
 
 Under his third head of general discussion Professor 
 Cuenot takes up the subject of twins: 
 
 "Among human beings there are two kinds of 
 twins. In the first category each one of the twins 
 has its own particular chorion ; the placentas of these 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 195 
 
 twins may or may not have vascular connection. It 
 is believed that these twins come from two different 
 eggs, each fertilized by a separate spermatozoon and 
 developing side by side. And these twins are fre- 
 quently of different sex, averaging about thirty-six 
 out of a hundred. 
 
 " In the second category, to the contrary, the twins 
 are enclosed in the same chorion, have a single pla- 
 centa for both of them, and it is believed that they 
 come from a single egg, and always, without a single 
 exception, the twins are of the same sex. 
 
 "Many think that in this case the egg has two 
 germative vesicles. But I think that that is not 
 necessary, but rather that the blastoderms of the egg 
 are separated. 
 
 "As a result of convincing observations, it is gen- 
 erally believed that the two gametes have an equal 
 participation in determining the sex of the egg, 
 which is contrary to the hypotheses of Schultz and 
 Ahlfeld." — Bulletin Scientifique de la France et de la 
 Belgique, October, 1899. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THEORY OF JOHN BEARD, 
 
 " I . The sex of the individual is determined in the 
 egg before fertilization. 
 
 "2. The determination of sex probably takes place 
 at the time of the reduction in the number of chromo- 
 somes. 
 
 "3. Each egg and its two polar bodies are poten- 
 tially of the same sex — either male or female. 
 
 "4. A corresponding differentiation of the primary 
 germ cells takes place in the male. An early separa- 
 tion of the spermatogonial cells into male and female 
 occurs. After this each cell may continue to divide, 
 but remains of the sex it has acquired in the differen- 
 tiating division. Finally, each of these cells produces 
 four spermatozoa. This division is comparable to 
 the one in the egg series when the polar bodies are 
 given off, so that each group of four spermatozoa 
 corresponds to a female egg and its three female polar 
 bodies; but in the cases of the spermatozoa, the indi- 
 viduals are supposed to be without sexual qualities. 
 It is the egg alone that determines the sex." 
 
 In regard to Beard's theory of the sex problem, 
 
 Professor Morgan says: 
 (196) 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 197 
 
 " Beard attempts to bring the differentiation of the 
 sexes into connection with the recent work relating to 
 the origin of the reproductive cells or gametes. 
 
 " He appears to take it for granted that a female egg 
 can give rise to cells that become male eggs. If so, 
 this theory can have very little if any value, since the 
 entire conception upon which it rests, namely, the sep- 
 aration of the male and female eggs at one division, 
 is rendered valueless, I think, by the assumption that 
 after such a thing has taken place a female cell may 
 in the next generation give rise to male eggs. 
 
 " Furthermore, Beard's assumption that the separa- 
 tion of the male and female egg occurs at the time 
 when the reproduction in numbers of the chromo- 
 somes takes place in the egg is pure guesswork, and 
 not very good guessing either, for certain recent work 
 indicates that the reduction in the number of the 
 chromosomes involves a process that can have no 
 conceivable connection with the separation of male 
 from the female elements of the egg. On the whole, 
 it does not appear that Beard has offered a very con- 
 vincing theory as to how the determination of the sex 
 of the individual is accomplished. He tries to show 
 that there are not only two kinds of eggs, but also 
 two kinds of spermatozoa that correspond to the 
 two kinds of eggs. That the determination of sex 
 rests entirely in the egg, and that the spermatozoa 
 
198 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 do not have any influence on sex determination, and 
 that one of the two kinds of spermatozoa has lost its 
 power of fertilizing the egg, and in most cases has 
 become degenerate. 
 
 " In respect to the occurrence of two kinds of sper- 
 matozoa, it has been known for some time that in a 
 few cases two kinds of spermatozoa have been found. 
 In the long list of cases given by Beard, in which two 
 forms of spermatozoa have been described, there are 
 several cases in which the two distinct forms appear 
 to be always present and characteristic, as in the 
 cases cited. He also includes other cases in which 
 giant spermatozoa occur, and some of these at least 
 have been shown to be the result of a failure of the 
 spermatocytes to divide. 
 
 "Until it can be shown that this failure to divide is 
 usual and characteristic of one set of these sper- 
 matocyte cells, the result may really have no bearing 
 at all on Beard's contention. 
 
 "Much more striking are the cases in which there 
 is an accessory chromosome present in two of the four 
 cells that develop from a single spermatogonial 
 cell. 
 
 " The discoveries of McClung, Montgomery, and 
 Sutton in this connection indicates that there are two 
 kinds of spermatozoa, and McClung has urged that 
 this difference is connected with the determination of 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 199 
 
 sex. But there is nothing more than the supposition 
 that this may be so. 
 
 "In these cases, although the form of the sper- 
 matozoa is the same for the two kinds, there appears to 
 to be a difference in the amount of the chromatin 
 material. 
 
 " It has not been shown that a difference of this 
 kind would have any value in the determination of sex, 
 and even if this were the case, the results do not con- 
 form to the requirements of Beard's theory. 
 
 " He calls attention to the fact that in nearly all the 
 cases in which two kinds of spermatozoa have been 
 described there is evidence of the degeneration of one 
 of the two kinds. From this he draws the rather 
 sweeping conclusion that throughout the animal 
 kingdom one of the two forms of spermatozoa has 
 been suppressed. He arrives at this conclusion in 
 the face of an overwhelming body of evidence to the 
 contrary, for in the great majority of forms all the 
 spermatozoa that are formed develop in the same 
 way, and are, so far as we can see, capable of fertil- 
 izing the egg. 
 
 " In a sense. Beard took up the sex determination 
 problem where it was left by Cuenot." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 VIEWS ON SEX DETERMINATION, BY PROFESSOR T. H. 
 MORGAN. 
 
 "i. It has been shown in several cases by recent 
 discoveries that the sex of the embryo is already de- 
 termined in the fertilized egg. In other cases it ap- 
 pears to be determined even before fertilization, but 
 this need not mean that there are male and female 
 eggs and male and female spermatozoa. 
 
 "May it not be possible to bring under one point 
 of view the old and new discoveries in regard to the 
 determination of sex, and construct an hypothesis 
 that does not involve the idea that there is separa- 
 tion of the primoidia of sex in the germ cells ? 
 
 " It has been shown in a few cases that two kinds 
 of eggs are produced, which become male and female 
 individuals, in some cases with fertilization, in others 
 without fertilization. 
 
 " It may be erroneous to conclude from these facts 
 
 that the eggs themselves are male and female in the 
 
 sense that the elements (primoidia) that determine 
 
 the sex of the embryo have become separated and 
 
 confined to the male or female eggs. 
 (200) 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 201 
 
 " In a case like that of the silkworm, where a graded 
 series exists, the size of the egg appears to be the de- 
 termining factor in respect to which sex develops, 
 not that the female sex elements are found only in 
 the large eggs and the male elements in the small eggs. 
 It seems more reasonable to assume, on the contrary, 
 that both elements are present in all kinds of eggs. 
 In other cases other factors than that of size deter- 
 mine which sex develops. 
 
 " In regard to the two forms of spermatozoa that 
 have been found in few species, there is no evidence 
 that one sort contains only the primoidia of a male 
 individual and the other those of the female, 
 
 "In those arthropods in which an accessory 
 chromosome has been found we have no evidence to 
 show that this chromosome is the male or female 
 element, and so long as we know nothing at all in 
 respect to conditions in the egg, it is useless to specu- 
 late further on these cases. 
 
 "2. There is experimental evidence pointing to 
 the conclusion that factors external to the egg itself 
 may determine in some species what kind of egg 
 will be produced. In other cases it appears that 
 the addition of the chromatin in one of the polar 
 bodies may accomplish the same result. Here the 
 relation may be purely a quantitative one. In other 
 animals the addition of the spermatozoon to the 
 
202 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 egg is not, it appears, the factor that determines the 
 sex. 
 
 "3. Having discovered that the sex is already de- 
 termined in the fertilized egg in some cases, and in 
 others that it is connected with the processes of fer- 
 tilization, the question at once suggests itself whether 
 the determining influence comes from the nucleus or 
 the cytoplasm. At present we have no conclusive 
 evidence pointing in either direction. 
 
 "That the quantity of nuclear material may be 
 important seems probable in the case of the bee. 
 
 "That the size of the egg, which is due to a greater 
 amount of cytoplasm, may be a factor in the result, 
 seems in other cases to be important, but so long as 
 we do not know what relation the nucleus bears to the 
 cytoplasm in these forms we cannot decide as to the 
 meaning of greater volume as a sex determinant. 
 
 " If, as seems highly probable, identical twins come 
 from halves of the same egg, then, since the pairs may 
 be of either sex, it seems to follow that the absolute 
 size of the egg is not a factor. Whether in these cases 
 the chromatin in the nu^cleus enters into the problem 
 remains to be shown. 
 
 " It should be pointed out that while we must sup- 
 pose that the influences in the embryo that control 
 the development of one or the other sex reside, or 
 have resided, in the nucleus of the egg, this is a dif- 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 203 
 
 ferent question from that as to whether the nucleus 
 or the cytoplasm of the egg determines which of the 
 two possibilities that are potentially present in the 
 nucleus shall be awakened. 
 
 "Among the earlier experiments that were carried 
 out to show whether the sex of the individual could 
 be determined by external conditions were those of 
 Born, in 1881, and of Yung, in 1885. 
 
 " Born tried to show that more male eggs developed 
 when the fluid containing the fertilizing spermatozoa 
 is more concentrated. 
 
 " But this conclusion has been shown to be wrong. 
 
 "Born also fed the tadpoles of Rana temporarily 
 on a rich diet, consisting of water plants, and of the 
 flesh of frogs and tadpoles. A large percentage of 
 females developed, which Born attributed to the 
 abundance of food. 
 
 " It was shown, however, by Pfliiger, in the follow- 
 ing year, 1882, that Born's conclusion was erroneous, 
 because even under normal conditions female frogs 
 are more numerous. 
 
 "Pfliiger found that the normal proportions of 
 females to males is often as high as five to one. This 
 corresponds also to the proportion sometimes ob- 
 tained when tadpoles are reared from eggs artificially 
 fertilized. 
 
 "A difference is found in the size of the eggs that 
 
204 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 produce male and female in certain rotifers, in Hy- , 
 datina senta, for example. In this species there are 
 three kinds of females, distinguished by the different 
 kinds of eggs they lay. One lays large eggs, which 
 without fertilization produce females. Another lays 
 small eggs, less rich in yolk than the last, and these 
 eggs, also without being fertilized, produce males. A 
 third kind of female produces the winter egg, which 
 are fertilized by the males and give rise to females. 
 
 "Nussbaum has made the important discovery that 
 the amount of nourishment taken by a young female 
 between the time of her emergence from the egg and 
 the deposition of her first egg determines which kind 
 of eggs she will subsequently produce. 
 
 " If she has been well nourished in this interval, she 
 produces eggs that become females; but if poorly 
 nourished, she produces male eggs. 
 
 "It has not been determined why some females 
 produce parthenogenetic eggs and other females pro- 
 duce winter eggs that are to be fertilized. 
 
 "In view of the facts known with regard to the 
 nature of some insects and crustaceans, the daphnids, 
 or water fleas, the aphids, or plant lice, the appear- 
 ance of the male and female generation is supposed 
 to be connected with the change in temperature, or, 
 more probably, with the change in the amount of 
 food. Under these conditions, as has just been said, 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 205 
 
 eggs that produce males and females have been 
 formed. Here it would appear that an external 
 condition determines the appearance of the male and 
 of a different kind of female." 
 
 In conclusion, Professor Morgan says: 
 "Our general conclusion is that while recent the- 
 ories have done good service in directing attention to 
 the early determination of sex in the egg, those of 
 them which have attempted to connect this conclusion 
 with the assumption of the separation of male and 
 female primoidia in the germ cells have failed to 
 establish their point of view. 
 
 " The egg, so far as sex is concerned, appears to be 
 in a sort of balance state, and the conditions to which 
 it is exposed, even when it is not fully formed, may 
 determine which sex it will produce. It may be a 
 futile attempt to try to discover any one influence 
 that has a deciding influence for all kinds of eggs. 
 Here, as elsewhere in organic nature, different stimuli 
 may determine in different species which of the possi- 
 bilities which exist shall become realized." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 VIEWS ON THE ORIGIN AND DETERMINATION OF SEX, 
 BY JOHN ADAM RYDER. 
 
 "Reciprocal relations are sustained between nu- 
 cleus and cytoplasm of such importance that the 
 transformation or 'fission' of the one is impossible 
 without the other. 
 
 "The growth of molecular bodies and disintegra- 
 tion is probably essentially similar to the growth and 
 solution of crystals, during the process of metabo 
 lism, with this difference, that growth and disinte- 
 gration go on at the same time in living bodies. The 
 forces that determine this, we may be certain, are of 
 a chemical nature, operating under very peculiar 
 conditions. 
 
 " Sex itself is thus determined, and must in some 
 way depend upon subtle disturbances of the trans- 
 formation of the molecular mechanism of the germ, 
 the nature of which is quite unknown to us. 
 
 " In man the ratio of volume of the male cell to the 
 female is as i to 3000, approximately. The sub- 
 stance of the egg appears to be complementary to 
 
 that of the spermatozoon. The power within the egg 
 (206) 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 207 
 
 to develop a new being is not manifested without the 
 presence of the male. 
 
 " We find that living matter is chemically the most 
 complex and unstable substance known. It is com- 
 posed largely of carbon, a quadrivalent element that 
 stands alone in its power to contain within itself, and 
 at the same time hold in chemical bondage, groups of 
 atoms representing other chemical bodies. External 
 forces can never be excluded in studying the life his- 
 tory of any organism. Metabolism is assumed to be 
 the sole agent in affecting the mechanical dynamical 
 rearrangement, or sorting, of the nucleus into organs 
 during development. 
 
 " It is sufficient to indicate that the transition from 
 asexuality to female microgonidia and male micro- 
 gonidia is affected by mere differentiation of cells as 
 respects their size. 
 
 "The new dominant hypothesis is simply an am- 
 plification, in the light of numerous modern facts, of 
 the performationism of Democritus. 
 
 " He supposed that almost infinitesimally small and 
 very numerous bodies were brought together in the 
 germ from all parts of the body of the parent. 
 
 " These minute representative corpuscles were sup- 
 posed to have the power to grow or germinate, at the 
 right time, into the forms of the parts and the organs 
 of the new being. In this way it was supposed that 
 
208 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 the characteristics of the parents were represented in 
 a latent in the germ, which might grow as a whole, 
 by the simultaneous and successive development of 
 the germinal aggregate composed, so to speak, of 
 excessively minute buds, or rudiments of the organs. 
 
 " In such wise, also, did the successors of Democ- 
 ritus, namely, Aristotle, BufFon, Erasmus, and Dar- 
 win, suppose that the inheritance of parental likeness 
 by offspring was to be explained. 
 
 "Dr. Spencer supposed that the germ cells and 
 sperm cells are essentially nothing more than vehicles 
 in which are contained all groups of the physiological 
 units in a fit state for obeying their proclivity toward 
 the structural arrangements of the species they be- 
 long to. 
 
 "These 'physiological units,' according to Mr. 
 Spencer, are neither chemical nor morphological in 
 character; but it is admitted that their properties and 
 powers must be determined in some way by their 
 own constitution, conditions, and aggregation, and 
 relation to the outer world." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE DEPENDENCE OF SEXUAL DIFFERENCE UPON 
 OUTWARD INFLUENCES, BY THE LATE PRO- 
 FESSOR S. L. SCHENCK, OF VIENNA. 
 
 " I. The theory of nutritious and organic exchange 
 alone can lay claim to accuracy and validity upon the 
 subject of influence on the formation of sex in the 
 ovum. 
 
 "The conditions of nutrition, and especially the 
 organic exchange of the parent individual, have an 
 influence on the formation of sex not only among the 
 lower animals, but also in the case of the higher 
 species, and also of man. 
 
 "A greater capacity for the consumption of the 
 nitrogenous substances is shown in connection with 
 the male sex than in the case of those ova which 
 develop into female individuals. 
 
 " Concerning the arbitrary determination of sex by 
 means of dieting: Among the Germanic tribes from 
 India, according to a quotation by Michael Stephan- 
 ides, of Metelin, the geographer Strabo says: 'Thus 
 by means of their medical science they were able to 
 
 produce either male or female generations, affecting 
 
 14 ( 209 ) 
 
210 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 this either by drugs or by the use of certain kinds of 
 foods.' 
 
 " There are cases where the desired result is scarcely 
 attainable by means of outward influences. In experi- 
 menting, one meets with cases in which it may be seen 
 by the results of assimilation, even during the experi- 
 ment, that there is no hope of successfully influencing 
 the formation of sex by means of nourishment. 
 
 " In these cases a power of resistance with regard 
 to the assimilation of food appears to be shown by 
 which it is impossible to obtain a sufficiently large 
 assimilation of albumin, such as is necessary to ob- 
 tain a male by arbitrarily influencing the sex. 
 
 "It is conceded by Wilkins that in addition to 
 nutrition there are other influences at work upon the 
 determination of sex which may not have been con- 
 sidered, and the investigation of which has not yet 
 been made. Hence it occurs that one and the same 
 female generator, in the same conditions of stimula- 
 tion, does not always generate the same sex — notably 
 twins and triplets, etc. 
 
 " Since my publication a number of writers have 
 been occupied with this question, among whom are 
 Giovanni Canestrino, A. Gevidelli, L. Weill, of 
 Strausberg; K. Fukii, in Tokyo, who also established 
 the influence of nutrition; Professor Dangeard, of 
 Poitiers, and many other scientists. 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 211 
 
 "Elements of the human ovum, which is not so 
 accessible to chemical research on account of its mi- 
 croscopic size, has not been investigated so thoroughly 
 as those of other classes of vertebrae possessing large 
 ova. The bases of the chemical and physiological 
 processes are found in the ovum. 
 
 " There are a number of processes which are recog- 
 nizable by morphological signs, there also occur 
 within the changes of a physiological nature, the 
 knowledge of which is still imperfect and insuffi- 
 ciently studied. 
 
 " So, for example, are formed the functional power 
 of the heart's action, of the breathing apparatus, of 
 the intestinal canal, of the central and peripheral 
 nerve system, of motility, etc. In all these processes, 
 besides a number of anatomical signs to be observed, 
 leading to the development of the permanent forms, 
 there are certain other constantly recurring actions 
 in the histological elements and the organs com- 
 posed of these, the study of which is at present 
 impossible. 
 
 " In this class of phenomena also belong the origin 
 and completion of the difference of sex in the human 
 ovum and in that of animals. In these changes 
 taking place in the ovum it is impossible to detect 
 any morphological or physiological sign by means of 
 which it might be determined with certainty in the 
 
212 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 case of the unimpregnated ovum, in the early stages 
 of development, whether it be male or female. 
 
 " It may, however, be said with certainty that this 
 phenomenon must be considered as inherited, and 
 that a fundamental cause must precede this heredity. 
 
 " The heredity of sex appears to be connected with 
 the heredity of other physiological qualities. With 
 the preservation of the latter quality in the offspring 
 it also happens that the one or the other sex is formed 
 in the ovum. 
 
 "Its appearance at this time does not seem to be 
 an Independent formation of the genital regions alone. 
 
 " Those qualities of a parent which affect the sex 
 of an ovum, such as nutrition and organic exchange, 
 appear to be necessarily hereditary in order to pro- 
 duce an effect in the formation of sex by heredity. 
 
 "The ovum coincides in all conditions of nutrition 
 with the parent, whether the former be in the earliest 
 stage of development or in a state of maturity. Even 
 after impregnation the dependence of the various 
 processes of development upon the parent is not to be 
 denied. 
 
 "As regards many animals of the inferior classes, 
 we are in a position to testify to facts, proving that 
 there is an undoubted influence on the formation of 
 sex by means of nutrition. 
 
 "Observations have also been noted in the case of 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 213 
 
 higher animals, showing that scanty nutrition is 
 favorable to the development of males. 
 
 " Ploss asserts that the proportion of male births 
 rises and falls with the price of food. 
 
 "Rolph characterizes males as a 'hunger gener- 
 ation.' 
 
 " Men suffer more in times of want than the more 
 abstemious women. Hence the greater influence of 
 the latter on procreative action, and according to the 
 theory of cross-heredity, more male births. 
 
 "This theory of crossed sexual heredity has long 
 been known. 
 
 "Lorenz asserts, from his genealogical studies, that 
 entire families appear predestined to the generation 
 of female offspring, and that in some the tendency to 
 male and in others to female births repeats itself from 
 generation to generation. One also meets with the 
 tendency of many families to produce always male or 
 always female firstborn through long lines of descent. 
 
 "Generally speaking, it is only possible in the case 
 of reigning families to determine which sex has pre- 
 dominated in succession through a long line of genera- 
 tions. One fact is certain, that it is only in the rarest 
 cases that one sex occurs exclusively, without the 
 presence of the other, if only in very small numbers. 
 
 "It may be seen from statistical reports that no 
 case is at present known in which one sex alone is 
 
214 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 constantly found in a line of successive generations; 
 but there are many cases known of families in which 
 isolated representatives of the other sex occur here 
 and there." 
 
 THEORY OF HOW SEX MAY BE CONTROLLED, BY 
 DR. ROMME, A FRENCH SCIENTIST. 
 
 "Sex favors the weaker parent. A weak father 
 will have mostly boys, a weak mother a majority of 
 girls. 
 
 " We arrive at a conclusion which may be summed 
 up as follows : If a woman be dieted according to our 
 method, she can reach a stage in which she becomes 
 physically superior to the man, and her offspring will 
 then be male, in accordance with the law of cross- 
 heredity of sex. ' 
 
 "Old age is one of the weaknesses which nature 
 favors particularly in determining sex. When old 
 men marry young women the offspring is in a large 
 majority of cases male. The older the husband, the 
 greater the probability of a boy." 
 
 It has been said that Dr. Romme takes up the work 
 on sex determination where it was laid down by Dr. 
 Leopold Schenck, of Vienna. He gives the following 
 prescriptions : 
 
 "The diet for the mother when a boy is desired: 
 Eat as much meat and fat as possible, and as little 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 215 
 
 sugar and starchy foods as possible." Like Dr. 
 Schenck, he advocates highly nitrogenous diet. "Add 
 only so much carbohydrate as is absolutely necessary 
 to prevent its want being felt. 
 
 "We would say that in certain regions and among 
 certain peoples where meat forms the principal diet, 
 a large preponderance of male offspring would be 
 anticipated. 
 
 "Whether the mother eats much meat is a sec- 
 ondary consideration. Whether and how the food 
 taken is made use of completely in the process of 
 combustion, that is a matter of importance for the 
 purpose we have in view. 
 
 "How the physiological combustion goes on in the 
 organism, and what changes take place in it, in 
 consequence of the altered diet, until sugar entirely 
 disappears, is in the case of human beings of the 
 highest importance and furnishes an index of the 
 consequences." 
 
 THEORY OF SEX DETERMINATION, BY E. T. BREWSTER, 
 
 1906. 
 
 " I. Sex in man is nearly if not quite a matter of 
 chance. 
 
 "2. In large families and among the first three 
 births in families of six children or more the propor- 
 tion of boys is more than average. 
 
216 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 "3. This is probably due to the great vigor of the 
 mothers. 
 
 "4. The excess of boys is not entirely due to pre- 
 potency, but it probably points to the fact that these 
 mothers lose fewer boys than the average women. 
 
 "5. The same principle might be conceivably ex- 
 tended to explain all departure from chance distri- 
 bution. 
 
 " If two or more children, consecutive, are of the 
 same sex, the next stands an appreciable better than 
 an average chance of being of that sex also. 
 
 "A sporting neighbor of the patriarch Jacob, after 
 the birth of the eleventh consecutive son, might risk 
 a wager of three to one that number twelve would 
 also be a son. 
 
 "A tendency to depart from chance distribution 
 in sex, in a direction of excess of boys or girls, is 
 correlated with the age of the mother. The cor- 
 relation need not, however, be direct. In fact, it is 
 a more obvious supposition that the correlation is 
 primarily with bodily vigor and only incidentally 
 with age. 
 
 " Presumably women who bear more than five chil- 
 dren are appreciably more vigorous than the general 
 body of wives. They should, therefore, bear a some- 
 what larger proportion of boys. 
 
 "After all, the significant thing about the distri- 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 217 
 
 bution of sex is that it is so nearly in accord with 
 chance. Only by supposing a chance distribution, 
 somewhat modified by some variable causes acting 
 within small limits, can we avoid the difficulties 
 inherent in all theories which involve the idea of 
 prepotency, and assign to the same cause the general 
 law and the departure from it." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ON THE EVOLUTION OF SEX AND SEX DETERMINATION, 
 BY GEDDES AND J. ARTHUR THOMSON, 1889. 
 
 "It is recognized that the problem for the pro- 
 duction of male and female is one for scientific 
 analysis; thus, the constitution, age, nutrition, and 
 environment of parents must be especially considered. 
 
 "The theory that there are two kinds of ova, re- 
 spectively destined to develop into males or females, 
 is more than a mere begging of the question. 
 
 "The constitution of the ovum is undoubtedly a 
 fact of primal importance, but we must also recog- 
 nize that what is virtually decided at this early stage 
 may be counteracted by later influences of an oppo- 
 site character. 
 
 " Males live at a loss, are more ' katabolic' — that is, 
 disruptive changes tend to preponderate in the sum 
 of changes in their living matter, or protoplasm. 
 Females, on the other hand, live at a profit, and are 
 more 'anabolic' Constructive processes predomi- 
 nate in their life, whence, indeed, the capacity of 
 bearing offspring. 
 
 "Within the ordinary nutritive functions of the 
 
 (218) 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 219 
 
 body there is necessarily a continuous antithesis 
 between two sets of processes — constructive and 
 destructive ' metabolism.' 
 
 "The reader whose physiological studies have been 
 so recent as to familiarize him with the condition of 
 all physiological processes will find their ultimate 
 expression in the 'metabolism,' 'anabolism,' and 
 'katabolism' of protoplasm. 
 
 "What takes place before fertilization is, as we 
 have seen, very varied among animals. What takes 
 place after fertilization is, of course, cell division. 
 What takes place at fertilization is, however, always 
 essentially the same. 
 
 " The head of the spermatozoon becomes the male 
 nucleus, or pronucleus, as it is generally called, of the 
 fertilized ovum. It enters into close association with 
 the female nucleus, which has had its own history; 
 it is no longer the original germinal vesicle, nor, usu- 
 ally, like it in appearance; it is the germinal vesicle 
 minus the quality of nuclear substance given off in 
 forming two polar globules. 
 
 "The female nucleus does not remain quite passive 
 in the process, though the greater activity in bringing 
 about the close association is certainly still exhibited 
 by the male. 
 
 "Whitman has recently emphasized the reality of 
 an attractive influence between the pronuclei. 
 
220 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 "Some observers still doubt whether what can be 
 accurately called fusion of nuclei ever occurs; and if 
 fusion means inextricable confounding and mixing up 
 of the male and female nuclear elements, it is almost 
 certain that such in any case does not happen. 
 
 "There is no doubt, however, that the two nuclei 
 become very closely associated, and, according to most 
 observers, a double entity is formed, in which the 
 component nuclear elements from the two originals, 
 so diverse, are united in perfect orderly fashiop. 
 
 " So exact, in fact, is this duality that when the first 
 division of the egg takes place each of the two daugh- 
 ter cells has in its nucleus half of the male and half 
 of the female elements — and so on, perhaps, in after 
 stages. 
 
 " In the double nucleus, from the union of the male 
 and female nuclei, Van Beneden, Carney, and others 
 have shown that both constituents have an equal 
 share. The one half is purely male, and the other 
 half purely female. 
 
 "Capitulation of the origin of fertilization: (i) 
 Plasmodial union. (2) Multiple conjugation. (3) 
 Ordinary conjugation. (4) Union of dimorphic cells. 
 (5) Fertilization of ovum by spermatozoon. 
 
 "True twins are of the same sex. When both are 
 of the same sex they are both normal; otherwise one 
 of them is normal and the other one always exhibits 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 221 
 
 the peculiar abnormality known as a 'free-martin,' 
 The internal organs are male, but the external acces- 
 sory organs are female, and there are also rudimentary 
 female ducts. No theory has yet explained the fact 
 of this case. 
 
 "Various naturalists have insisted on the contrast 
 between the cells of the embryo which go to form the 
 body and those which are set apart as reproductive 
 organs. 
 
 "As early as 1849 Owen noted that in the develop- 
 ing germ it was possible to distinguish between cells 
 which become much changed to form the body and 
 cells which remained little changed and formed the 
 reproductive organs. 
 
 " This view, as Brooks points out, he unfortunately 
 afterward departed from in his Anatomy of the Ver- 
 tebrates. 
 
 "Haechel and Rauber both drew a clear contrast 
 between the somatic and germinal portions of the 
 embryo, or between the body and the sex cells. 
 
 "W. K. Brooks, in 1876 and 1877, again drew 
 attention to this significant contrast. But more 
 explicit, in 1877, was the ingenious Dr. Jager. Re- 
 ferring to a previous paper, he wrote, as follows: 
 
 " ' Through a great series of generations the 
 germinal protoplasm retains its specific properties, 
 dividing every reproduction into an ontogenetic 
 
222 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 portion, out of which the individual was built up, 
 and a phylogenetic portion, which is reserved to form 
 the reproductive material of the mature offspring. 
 
 " ' This reservation of the phylogenetic material 
 I described as the "continuity of the germ proto- 
 plasm." Encapsuled in the ontogenetic material, the 
 phylogenetic protoplasm is sheltered from external 
 influences and retains its specific and embryonic 
 character.' 
 
 "In 1876 Gallon drew attention to the contrast 
 between the gemmules of the ovum which go to form 
 the body and those which, remaining undeveloped, 
 form the sex cells. 
 
 "The developed part of the 'strip,' or gemmules 
 of the ovum, is almost sterile, that is, without influ- 
 ence in heredity. 
 
 " It is from the undeveloped residue that the sexual 
 elements are derived. In some cases it is possible to 
 trace direct cellular continuity (i) of all between the 
 ovum and early separation of the reproductive rudi- 
 ments, and (2) between the latter and future ova and 
 sperm. 
 
 "There is not only cellular continuity between the 
 ovum which gives rise to parents, and the ovum 
 which gives rise to ofl^spring, that the cell theory 
 demands, but there is a continuity in which the 
 character of the original ovum is never lost by differ- 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 223 
 
 entiation. In fact, there is a continuous chain of 
 reproductive cells quite apart from the body cells. 
 
 "This is the sense in which some authors have 
 spoken of the continuity of the germ cells. This is 
 certainly true in some cases. If it were true for all, 
 the problems of reproduction and heredity would 
 be much simpler than at present they appear 
 to be. 
 
 "Weissmann says: 'A continuity of germ cells is 
 now for the most part no longer demonstrable.' Yet 
 there is nothing he more strongly insists upon than 
 the reality of continuity between ovum and ovum. 
 
 "According to Weissmann, a portion of the specific 
 germ plasm which the parental ovum contains is 
 unused in the upbuilding of the offspring's body, and 
 is reserved unchanged to form the germ cells of the 
 next generation. 
 
 "B. S. Schultze advanced the hypothesis of two 
 kinds of ova, but the grounds for his views are not 
 admitted as correct; only its existence need be 
 noticed until more observations are forthcoming. 
 
 " Darwin's theory is, as it were, an evolved woman, 
 and Spencer's woman is an arrested man. 
 
 " Richarz founded his theory on the basis of the 
 superiority of males, as many others have done. He 
 says: 'Sex is not a quality transmitted from the 
 parents, but has its basis in the degree of organiza- 
 
224 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 tion attained by offspring. Male is a higher develop- 
 ment in the embryo.' 
 
 " Hough thinks males are born when the maternal 
 system is at its best; females at periods of growth, 
 reparation, or disease. 
 
 "Tiedman and others regard female offspring as 
 arrested in the original state. 
 
 "Valpan regards females as degenerates from 
 primitive maleness. 
 
 " Starkweather firmly maintains that neither sex is 
 physically the superior, but both are essentially equal 
 in a physiological sense. He concludes that sex is 
 determined by the superior parent, and also that the 
 superior parent produces the opposite sex. 
 
 " Hopacker's and Saddler's statistics of 2000 births 
 in favor of their theory, that when the male parent is 
 the older the children are preponderatingly male, has 
 received both confirmation and contradiction." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 STATISTICAL INQUIRY INTO THE PROBABILITY OF 
 
 CAUSES OF THE PRODUCTION OF SEX IN 
 
 HUMAN OFFSPRING, BY PROFESSOR 
 
 SIMON NEWCOMB, IQO^o 
 
 "i. The distinction of male and fe;TiaIe exists in 
 original germs, antecedent to conception, presumably 
 supplied by the father. 
 
 "2. Sex is entirely determined by the conditions to 
 which the germ is subject during early stages of its 
 development. Changes produced by age in the 
 human system are such that we may plausibly look 
 to them as causes affecting the sex of offspring. 
 
 "When we see families consisting mainly or wholly 
 of male or female children, it is very natural to sus- 
 pect that the sex in each case may be due to some 
 characteristic faculty of the parents, or some pecu- 
 liarity of their constitution, which may or may not 
 admit of discovery and investigation. 
 
 "The mere fact of this inequality, taken in itself, 
 does not, however, prove anything, because it may 
 be the natural result of those accidents which deter- 
 mine sex, but of which we know nothing. 
 
 "Granting the existence of constitutional or other 
 15 ( 22s ) 
 
226 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 tendencies of the kind supposed, we may apply the 
 term ' unisexual' to the 
 
 "What we know, to start with, is, that if some 
 parents have a tendency greater than the normal to 
 produce male children, then there must be a corre- 
 sponding tendency, among other parents, to produce 
 female children. 
 
 "The following data has been derived from Mr. 
 Hunt, chief of the division of popular statistics, in the 
 Census Office 
 
 "Families of which the children are all of the same 
 sex, whether male or female: Of 670 families, 322 
 had all the same sex; 348 had opposite sexes. 
 
 "Thus we see at a glance to what extent, if any, 
 a bisexual tendency can be found in the families 
 enumerated. 
 
 "We may make the hypothesis that there is some- 
 thing in the constitution or habits of parents which 
 results in some having a unisexual tendency in the 
 production of male children, and others toward the 
 production of females, which tendencies, neverthe- 
 less, elude investigation otherwise than by statistical 
 investigation of their effects." 
 
 After thorough investigation of statistics, both in 
 Europe and America, among the various races — 
 Semitic, Japanese, negro, etc. — Professor Newcomb 
 concludes : 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 227 
 
 "There are no unisexual tendencies on the part of 
 parents sufficiently great to be of practical impor- 
 tance. 
 
 "A formal discussion, by algebraic methods, of the 
 unisexual tendency. 
 
 " Sex of twins. 
 
 " The numbers derived from the statistics of twins 
 may be applied to the case of triplets, and a com- 
 parison of the actual statistics of triplets with those 
 derived from the statistics of twins will be of interest. 
 
 "The processes which we presuppose are these: 
 During an unknown period of time, commencing 
 with the moment of conception, the two germs are 
 exposed to a series of common influences, either in 
 the male or female direction, tending to make them of 
 the same sex. 
 
 "As, without appreciable error, we can make ab- 
 straction of the small normal preponderance toward 
 the male sex, we may say that in the general average 
 this unisexual tendency will be as often in one direc- 
 tion as in the other. 
 
 " But these preponderating influences do not com- 
 pletely determine the sex. There are accidental 
 causes operating differently, on the two growing 
 organisms, which may result in their becoming of 
 opposite sexes. 
 
 "The main point is that there is some preponder- 
 
228 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 ating tendency of the pair of organisms toward one 
 sex in some cases, and in the opposite sex in the 
 remaining cases. 
 
 "Summary of conclusions and statistics of sex: 
 
 "i. The preponderance of male or female births 
 probably varies with the race. Although remarkably 
 uniform in all branches of the Semitic race, it seems 
 to be non-existent, or quite small, in the negro race. 
 
 "2. There are no important differences as regards 
 capacity for producing children of one sex rather than 
 the other which are permanent in the individual. 
 
 "All fathers and all mothers are equally likely to 
 have children of either sex except for the slight 
 variations that may be due to age. In view of the 
 great variety of conditions on which the conclusion 
 is based, it seems in the highest degree unlikely that 
 there is any way by which a parent can affect the sex 
 of his or her offspring. 
 
 "3. The most natural inference from all the statis- 
 tical data is that the functions of the father in gen- 
 eration are entirely asexual, the sex being wholly 
 determined by the mother. If so, it cannot be said 
 that one father is more likely than another to have 
 children of either sex. This conclusion requires to 
 be tested by making a classification of the sex of 
 third born and the following children according to the 
 age of the father. 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 229 
 
 "4. The sex is not determined by any one moment, 
 by any one act, but is the product of a series of acci- 
 dental causes, some acting in one direction and some 
 in another, until a preponderance in one direction 
 finally determines it. The statistics of twins and 
 triplets seem to show very strongly that these acci- 
 dents occur after conception, but throw no light upon 
 the question of the time which they occupy. 
 
 " 5. The first born child of any mother is likely to 
 be a male in the proportion of about eight to seven. 
 There is probably a smaller preponderance in the 
 case of the second child. But there is no conclusive 
 evidence that after a mother has had two children 
 there is any change in her tendencies. 
 
 "6. The observed preponderance of male births 
 in the Semitic race is due mainly to the unisexual 
 tendency of the mother in the case of a first child." 
 
 MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF THE EFFECT OF 
 UNISEXUAL TENDENCY. 
 
 "i. An indefinite number of pairs of parents, 
 each pair of which may have an indefinite number 
 of children of either sex. The treatment of this 
 subject will include the general case of an indefinite 
 number of causes, each of which may, on each trial, 
 be productive of one or the other of two different 
 effects. 
 
230 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 "2. Taking the general average of the whole mass 
 of couples, there is a certain normal probability 
 (p) that a child, taken at random, will be male, and 
 the probability (l-p) that it will be female. 
 
 "3. It may be that the probability is the same for 
 every individual couple for the whole mass. But 
 it may also be that for some of the couples the 
 probability is greater than (p). In this case it will 
 necessarily follow that for certain other couples the 
 probability is less than (p), the latter quantity 
 being the average for the whole mass. 
 
 "4. In order not to complicate the problem too 
 greatly, we shall suppose that each of the individual 
 couples belongs to one of three classes : 
 
 "A class for which the probability for having a 
 male child has the normal value of (p). Another by 
 which it is greater than (p) by an unknown quantity 
 (a). And a third for which it is less than (p) by the 
 same quantity. 
 
 "We designate the classes by A, B, C. A, rep- 
 resenting couples with probability (p plus a). B, 
 representing couples with probability (p). C, repre- 
 senting couples with probability (p minus a). The 
 numbers of classes of A and C are necessarily 
 equal. 
 
 " Let us put (h) the fraction of the total belonging 
 to the two equal classes A and C; (h') the fraction 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 231 
 
 of the whole class belonging to class B. We shall 
 have (h plus h' equals i). Proceeding accord- 
 ing to the methods of probabilities, we suppose 
 a parent couple taken at random from the mass. 
 The respective probabilities that this couple will be- 
 long to the classes A, B, and C are |h, h', and ^h. 
 The probabilities of a male child in these general 
 classes are: For class A, (p plus a); for class B (p); 
 for class C (p minus a). Then, by the principle of 
 the theories of probabilities, if a couple be taken at 
 random from the whole mass the respective com- 
 bined probabilities that the couple will be one of the 
 classes and the child a male will be: In class A, Jh 
 (p plus a); in class B, h' (p); in class C, |h (p 
 minus a), of which the sum is (p), as it should be. 
 "The problem before us is to find a criterion for 
 deciding whether the quantity (a), which we consider 
 as the unisexual factor, and which we call co-efficient 
 of unisexuality, is or is not of appreciable magnitude. 
 Such a criterion is afforded by a count of males and 
 females in families of two or more children. The 
 theory requires that in a family of a given number of 
 children we express the probable respective numbers 
 of males and females in terms of the factor (a). The 
 problem now assumes the following form: A parent 
 couple, taken at random from the whole mass has, 
 (n) children. What is the probability that (a) of 
 
232 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 these children will be males and (n minus s) females ? 
 
 Using the notation (m/s) equals 
 
 n (n minus i) (n minus 2) . . . (n minus s plus i) 
 
 I . 2 . 3 . ... s I . 2 . 3 . ... s 
 
 we have the well-known theorem that if the prob- 
 ability of an event on a single trial is (p), the 
 probability of its occurring (s) times on (n) trials is 
 ps ^°' equals (n/s) p^ (i minus p) °™'"««. Putting 
 for (p) the three values of the probabilities given in 
 (i), we find that the probabilities in question are: 
 "For class A, (n/s) (p plus a) ° (i minus p minus n) 
 
 n minus s 
 
 "For class B, (n/s) p= (i minus p) °'^°"«». 
 
 " For class C, (n/s) (p minus a) ^ (i minus p plus a) 
 
 n minus s 
 
 " Multiplying these expressions as in (2) by the re- 
 spective factors §h, h', and |h, putting for brevity 
 n minus s equals r and i minus p equals q, and taking 
 the sum of the products, we find the probability that 
 a family of (n) children taken at random from the 
 whole mass will comprise (s) males and (r) females 
 to be: 
 
 "'Pi1={hh (p + a)« (q-a)»(q + a) ^ + h' p' 
 
 q'}[|]; 
 
 "This expression may now be developed in even 
 powers of (a), the co-efficient of the odd powers all 
 vanishing in the form P n/s equals (A plus Af plus 
 A f plus .. (n/s). 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 233 
 
 The value of the first co-efficients are: A equals 
 (h plus h') P= q' equals P« q'. A, = h p" -^ q '-^ (p' 
 [2J +f [f]-r s p q)=i h {n(n-i) p^ - 2 (n-i)s p 
 + s(p-i)}p«-^q'-^ 
 
 "For our present purpose these terms suffice to 
 
 investigate unisexual deviation. It will also lead to 
 
 no appreciable error to suppose p equals q equals |. 
 
 The value of P^°^ that is, the probability of a family 
 
 of (n) children will consist of (s) males and (r) 
 
 females now becomes: P^"^ equals (n/s) Q plus 
 
 (r minus s) ^ minus n , , , 
 
 ^^ -. by haO- 
 
 2n mmus i 
 
 "We may use this formula to express the proba- 
 bility in question for the case of a family of any num- 
 ber of children, distributed in any way among the 
 two sexes. 
 
 " Now we make a practical application of this the- 
 ory by determining the numerical value of the uni- 
 sexual tendency, (a) in the respective cases of twins 
 there cited show that of such pairs 0.646 are unisex- 
 ual and 0.354 are bisexual. 
 
 " Equating these percentages to the expressions for 
 the probability we find \ plus aha^ equals 0.646; 
 \ minus aha'' equals 0.354. Subtracting these from 
 each other, we find 4ha^ equals 0.292; and hence, 
 supposing h equals i, 2? equals 0.073, a equals 
 0.027. 
 
234 THE LAW OP SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 " We may now consider the case of triplets in two 
 ways: Proceeding as in the case of twins, by equating 
 each probability to the fraction indicating the pro- 
 portional number of families to which it relates, we 
 have the equation: J plus 3ha' equals 0.499; I 
 minus 3ha' equals 0.501. Solving these, after put- 
 ting h equals i; a' equals 0.0831; a equals 0.29. 
 
 " We may also proceed in another way, by substi- 
 tuting the expressions for the respective probabilities 
 of unisexual and bisexual triplets the value of ha^ 
 derived from the case of the twins. It may be added 
 that this relation is not changed by changing the 
 value of (h). It is, therefore, indifferent what value 
 we assign to (h). The co-eflBcient for unisexual ten- 
 dency is, therefore, for triplets, a equals 0.29. 
 
 " Now, we should suppose, a priori, the ratio of the 
 unisexual preponderance to the effect of the acci- 
 dental causes which finally determine the sex would 
 be the same with twins and triplets. 
 
 " It is true that the discrepancy between 0.27 and 
 0.29, or between 46.9 and 49.9 per cent, is not greater 
 than might easily have been the result of fortuitous 
 deviation. 
 
 "We may regard it as expressing a real law. We 
 may suppose that, besides the independent cases at 
 action tending toward one sex or the other, there is 
 an interaction between the two organisms by which 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 235 
 
 the sex of one influences the sex of the other in its own 
 direction. 
 
 "'Apart from this, the general conclusion from 
 triplets confirms that from twins ^ — there are not 
 male and female germs. It would seem in this that 
 we have a practically conclusive negation of the theory 
 of completely determined sex, in the original germs, 
 and may provisionally accept that of complete asexu- 
 ality on the part of such germs, subject to further 
 statistical tests." 
 
 PROCESSES IN THE DETERMINATION OF SEX 
 
 SUGGESTED BY THE STATISTICS OF 
 
 MULTIPLE BIRTHS. 
 
 "The view that if the sex is not completely deter- 
 mined in the original formation of a germ it must be 
 determined at some definite moment of development, 
 that there can be no intermediate state between com- 
 plete asexuality and complete sexuality, is one which, 
 at first sight, seems almost axiomatic. And yet the 
 preceding statistics of multiple births seems to show 
 that such is not the case, and there may be a series 
 of causes acting first in one direction and then in 
 the other, each of which tends to make one sex or 
 the other more probable, until gradually the sex is 
 definitely determined." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 HEREDITY AND SEX — INTERNAL CONDITIONS. 
 
 In his recent work on Heredity, J. Arthur Thomson, 
 M.A., who has been called the Ruskin of biology of 
 modern times, discusses under the above heading, 
 from his book, which was published in 1908, on page 
 494, theories of sex determination. The most feasible 
 one of all those mentioned, according to his opinion, 
 is that of Professor T. H. Morgan, who decides that 
 the "determination of sex is undetermined." Dr. 
 Thomson says: 
 
 TWO KINDS OF EGGS. 
 
 "It has often been suggested that there may be 
 two kinds of eggs — one kind predisposed toward de- 
 veloping into females, and the other predisposed to- 
 ward developing into males. In the same way there 
 may be two kinds of spermatozoa similarly predis- 
 posed toward developing into males or females. 
 
 "A fertilization of an ovum predisposed to female 
 development by a sperm predisposed to female devel- 
 opment would naturally result in a female, and vice 
 (236) 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 237 
 
 versa. The results of the combination of an ovum 
 predisposed to female development with a sperma- 
 tozoon predisposed to male development would 
 depend on the relative prepotency of the two gametes. 
 In the case of hermaphrodite animals, one kind of 
 egg and one kind of sperm would suffice. 
 
 "This solution savors a little of Columbus and the 
 egg, but it is not to be hastily brushed aside. It is 
 easy to see that it simply shunts the difficulty a little 
 farther back, for what are the conditions producing 
 the two kinds of eggs ? 
 
 " But if the primary difference oetween male and 
 female, between a sperm producer and an egg pro- 
 ducer, is merely a slight physiological difference in 
 the gearing of th e metabolism ; if the contrast between 
 male and female is like the contrast between sperm 
 and ovum, considered as cells; if the antithesis is 
 simply a particular expression of omnipresent fluctua- 
 tion in the ratio of anabolism to katabolism, then we 
 do not see that the assumption of two kinds of ova 
 and two kinds of spermatozoa is a mere begging of 
 the question. 
 
 " Where there is complex dimorphism between the 
 sexes, it is necessary to make the further assumption 
 that all gametes, whether maternal or paternal, and 
 whether disposed toward female production or toward 
 male production, have a complete set of hereditary 
 
238 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 characters of the two sexes (so far as these require the 
 postulate of germinal representation), and that the 
 physiological difference of protoplasmic 'gearing' 
 determines which set is to find expression and which 
 set is to remain latent. The drawback to the theory 
 is that it remains an hypothesis, except in so far as 
 there are known cases of demonstrable differences 
 between two kinds of ova or between two kinds of 
 spermatozoa." 
 
 "W. E. Castle has proposed an ingenious hypothe- 
 sis, which also assumes two kinds of eggs and two 
 kinds of spermatozoa, but is distinctive in the further 
 hypothesis that 'male' spermatozoa can only fer- 
 tilize 'female' eggs, and that 'female' spermatozoa 
 can only fertilize 'male' eggs. Thus the fertilized 
 egg represents a union of 'male' and 'female' gametes 
 and the determination of sex is left undetermined." 
 
 TWO KINDS OF SPERMATOZOA. 
 
 " In about thirty different kinds of animals, such 
 as the fresh water snail, Paludina, there are two dis- 
 tinct forms of spermatozoa, and it has been suggested 
 that the two kinds are, respectively, predisposed to- 
 ward the two sexes. But there is no definite evidence 
 of this." 
 
POPULAR SEX-DETERMINATION THEORIES 239 
 INCLUSIVE CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 "At present it does not seem safe to go farther 
 than Morgan does when he says: 'In all species with 
 separate sexes the potentiality of producing both 
 sexes is present in all eggs and in all sperms; but the 
 development of the one or the other sex is determined 
 by some unknown internal relation. 
 
 "'The condition that leads to the development of 
 the alternative characters may exist in the egg alone 
 (as for the male bee), or in the sperm alone (as for 
 certain Hemoptera), or by the combination of egg 
 and sperm (as for the female bee). 
 
 "'Admitting that all eggs and all sperms carry the 
 material basis that can produce both the male and 
 female, the two conditions being mutually exclusive 
 when development occurs, the immediate problem of 
 sex determination resolves itself into a study of the 
 conditions that in each species regulates the develop- 
 ment of one or the other sex. It seems not improb- 
 able that this regulation is different in different species 
 and that, therefore, it is futile to search for any prin- 
 ciple of sex determination that is universal for all 
 species with separate sexes; for, while the funda- 
 mental internal change that stands for the male or 
 female condition may be the same in all unisexual 
 forms, the factor that determines which of the alter- 
 
240 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 native states is realized may be very different in dif- 
 ferent species.' " 
 
 As for Professor T. H. Morgan's theory and Dr. 
 Thomson's discussion of it, and their conclusion that 
 " it is futile to search for any principle of sex deter- 
 mination that is universal for all species with separate 
 sexes," at that time, 1907, 1 was compiling for the first 
 time my observations and experiences in the evident 
 law of sex determination among human beings and 
 cattle, as I had discovered it, during a period of test- 
 ings that covered thirty years, and was ascertaining 
 by induction some of the scientific facts that these 
 eminent men have supposed from their general knowl- 
 edge in biological science. The law of sex deter- 
 mination, as I had discovered it, required, so is 
 seemed to me, the male and female sperm cells and 
 male and female egg cells, that are each the com- 
 plement of the other in the process of fertilization, 
 but that did not lead me to the conclusion that there- 
 fore "the determination of sex is undetermined," for 
 I had first discovered the law of sex determination, 
 and afterward wrote down my observations upon 
 the subject and some theories this law seemed to 
 necessitate, but this was done only in the light of the 
 knowledge that sex of human offspring and of the 
 offspring of cattle is determinable, according to my 
 experience, as was always manifest by the product. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE OFFICE AND PURPOSE OF THE SEXES. 
 
 The foregoing excerpts from the general history 
 of sex and from theories of sex determination by 
 men of science since a very remote antiquity, must 
 convince the reader that the great division of human- 
 ity, indeed, of all living creatures, into two classes, 
 maternal and paternal, presents one of the most 
 difficult scientific problems of all time. And per- 
 sonal experience and observation must reveal the 
 fact that in the necessity of the two sexes among 
 human beings, and all that that must imply of sexual 
 emotions, is continually presented and precipitated 
 the most difficult and vexed problems of human 
 existence — and which directly or indirectly affect 
 very profoundly seemingly all conditions which make 
 up the great mosaic of individual and national life. 
 And the good and evil that accrue to mankind 
 thereby are the results of the workings of purely 
 natural laws and principles which may be absolutely 
 and arbitrarily controlled, once the individual has 
 the knowledge of them and the will to apply them. 
 
 Mother and father hearts and heads cannot think 
 i6 (241) 
 
242 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 upon the unchanging, unwavering laws written in 
 the flesh and spirit by the necessity of the office of 
 the two sexes without at once being confronted by 
 the influence thereby exerted upon the destiny of 
 the immortal souls of their boys and girls. 
 
 It is generally admitted that "There is perhaps no 
 more interesting question in human life than the 
 mystery of why you were born a boy or a girl. No 
 problem of more far-reaching consequence than the 
 power to control the sex of future generations. It 
 has been abundantly shown that the whole current 
 of human history would have been changed had man 
 possessed the key to this secret of sex." 
 
 When I saw for the first time something of the 
 tragedy in the struggle of life among men and women, 
 even in small towns, in the crowded cities, and 
 lastly in the metropolises, then I began to realize the 
 great importance to humanity of the knowledge of 
 this sex-determining law. The sight of women and 
 girls pouring into the black heart of the city's life 
 every day, into the foundries, factories, and mills, 
 crowded into the anterooms of the administerers of 
 professional opportunity for men and women, the 
 women usually seeming to outnumber the men, and 
 among the seething masses of humanity in .the slums 
 of great cities, and in some European countries 
 hitched alongside the oxen to till the fields. This 
 
OFFICE AND PURPOSE OF THE SEXES 243 
 
 may be seen in some military countries where wars 
 decimate the men. These are among the conditions 
 which show the value of controlling the propor- 
 tionate numbers of men and women in the world. 
 Statistics show that more boy children die than girl 
 children. Any one who has undertaken to bring up 
 a boy can understand this. And afterward when 
 they become men they are necessarily more exposed 
 to the dangers of death than women are, as a rule. 
 And few women are able to do both the man's and 
 the woman's share of labor in the world. 
 
 It would seem that in the simple mechanics of the 
 proportionate number of men and women in the 
 world lies the solving of some of the greatest moral 
 and economic problems of modern life. All drudgery 
 work that women may be called upon to do could be 
 done as well by men. 
 
 In there being men instead of women for the out- 
 of-door battle of life, I can foresee the return of 
 something that is being lost out of the qualities 
 natural to manhood and womanhood, a something 
 most precious that the brutal business encounter of 
 men with women, which must perforce be as man to 
 man, as fighter to fighter, is destroying. A great 
 preponderance of women tends to destroy home, 
 rather than to establish it. 
 
 The purpose of the two sexes for the preservation 
 
244 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 of the human species seems scarcely to be of greater 
 importance to the races of men than the fact of the 
 presence of purity and impurity in body, mind, and 
 spirit, proceeding from the necessary presence of the 
 two sexes among them. 
 
 R. Heber Newton has said: "The union of the 
 sexes does, indeed, form the sacrament from which, 
 and through which, is the eternal procession of life. 
 It remains a sacrament always, even when lust min- 
 isters at the altar instead of Love, but it is then a 
 sacrament most foully degraded, most impiously 
 mocked. When the harlot who posed as the goddess 
 of Reason sat upon the high altar of Notre Dame amid 
 the orgies of the French Revolution, making a mock- 
 ery of the Mass, that holy office was none the less a 
 sacrament in that it was being sacrilegiously carica- 
 tured. This is the awful sin of Lust, that it wantons 
 in the holy place of Love, blaspheming in the very 
 presence of the Lord and Giver of Life, Himself. 
 The eternal procession of life verily flows on, even 
 through the tainted springs of impurity, but alas! 
 with what evil forthflowings to successive genera- 
 tions, where such goings-forth of life should have 
 been wholly sweet and clean and healthful. 
 
 "The source and continuity of evil are then, 
 through the most awful desecrations of the holy 
 sacrament of Love and Life. It is because the union 
 
OFFICE AND PURPOSE OF THE SEXES 245 
 
 of the sexes is generally the fountain spring of life, 
 that to poison it is such a sin as renders it man's 
 most sacred duty to make that union a joining to- 
 gether of souls as well as bodies, a marriage of love 
 and not a cohabitation of lust, a reverent act of the 
 child of the 'Lord and Giver of Life,' and not the 
 coupling of flies. 
 
 "The ethical heart of the drama was even more 
 clear in the first draft of the poem, which closed 
 with these lines: 
 
 " * Great is the charm of desire. 
 
 Greater the power of renunciation.' " 
 
 (From Criticisms and Appreciations of "Parsifal," 
 by R. Heber Newton). 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 MENSTRUATION IS NOT A SIGN OF OVULATION OF OVA. 
 
 Perhaps there is no scientist of to-day that would 
 maintain that menstruation is the only manifestation 
 of ovulation, because of the fact that ovulation may 
 also occur coincident with this phenomenon as well 
 as during the intermenstrual period, as it does with 
 women. So far as I have been able to find records 
 on this subject, the authorities of today are of the 
 same opinion as Dr. Frederick F. Lee, as quoted 
 previously (see p. 84). 
 
 There is, perhaps, no general law in woman's 
 organism more variable than the period of menstru- 
 ation. The following are a few of the different 
 phases of its variation that have come under my 
 observation, and which seem to show chiefly that 
 menstruation is a manifestation simply of the ne- 
 cessity of menstruation. 
 
 I have known several mothers of large families 
 who say that between the births of some two of their 
 children, which was usually a period of eighteen 
 months, they would not menstruate at all, and 
 though no sign of this phenomenon occurred, they 
 
 (847) 
 
248 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 became pregnant witK the other child, and in due 
 time gave birth to healthy, normal babies. 
 
 There have been other women who have said that 
 within four weeks after the birth of a child, menstru- 
 ation began with them and continued healthily and 
 normally up to the time of the next pregnancy, which 
 not infrequently would occur two years after the last 
 birth; and these women nursed their own babies. 
 
 Then there was a case of two women who gave 
 birth to healthy normal children — that is, each one of 
 these two had one child — after the climacteric period 
 had passed with them some five years. And, during 
 the five years, neither one of them, either before or 
 after the birth of their child, showed any signs of 
 menstruation 
 
 And, again, I have known women in advancecl 
 stages of tuberculosis, and who said because of the 
 disease they had ceased to have any sign of menstru- 
 ation, to give birth to children. 
 
 There was a young woman whom I knew, and 
 who was a superb specimen of animal beauty and 
 strength, who never during her life had any sign of 
 menstruation except, from. time to time, the merest 
 faint spot of colored substance would appear, and 
 afterward, when she was married, though this con- 
 dition did not change, she gave birth to fine healthy, 
 normal, and handsome children. 
 
APPENDIX 249 
 
 A HYBRID SQUASH. 
 
 There was one hybridization from my experiments 
 that might be of interest to others. This was the 
 hybridization of two squashes, the small scalloped 
 summer squash and the Hubbard squash. The 
 hybrid squash resembled a green scalloped bowl of 
 yellow custard, and was about eight inches in diam- 
 eter and twenty-four inches in circumference. The 
 main body had the greenish-gray color of the Hub- 
 bard squash, being about four or five inches deep, 
 and this was terminated by a straight brim, edged 
 with an appearance of green beading. Coming up 
 out of this was the summer squash, resembling egg 
 custard, and retaining its scalloped effect, thus com- 
 pleting the idea of the unevenness of the top of a 
 custard. The meat of this fantastic hybrid was a 
 decided improvement upon the quality of both its 
 progenitors, being daintier, sweeter, and very deli- 
 cious when baked, and, above all, a beautiful thing 
 to behold. 
 
 THE FREE-MARTIN. 
 
 " In tne free-martin the external appearance of the 
 calf is that of a heifer, but the uterus is only rudi- 
 mentary and there are no ovaries." The late Pro- 
 fessor James B. Wood, in 1868, raised and killed a 
 
250 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 free-martin, and upon examination of the calf, he says 
 the uterus was rudimentary, and there were no 
 ovaries. 
 
 BEEF CHYLE AS NOURISHMENT FOR INVALIDS 
 SUFFERING FROM STOMACH TROUBLE. 
 
 There are many tidbits in a freshly slaughtered 
 animal that may be used for food, but are neces- 
 sarily lost when meat must be transported some dis- 
 tance. We found the chyle of the lacteal intestine 
 of beeves a dainty and delicious food. This strip of 
 intestine is about a yard and a half long, and con- 
 tains the chyle, the milk fluid which is separated 
 from digested matter in the stomach, and is absorbed 
 by the lacteal intestine and then assimilated into the 
 blood. 
 
 In fact, chyle is the last process in the stomach's 
 preparation of food for the nourishment of the 
 creature. It seems probable to me that it might 
 be used as nourishment for people who are supposed 
 to be starving, because their stomachs are incapable, 
 for any reason whatever, of properly digesting food, 
 as this substance could be injected into the intestines 
 of a person, and would no doubt be assimilated 
 directly into his blood and thus nourish him without 
 any effort on the part of his stomach. It should in 
 all cases be the chyle from the body of a healthy 
 
APPENDIX 251 
 
 young beef, and if possible retain the animal heat of 
 the beef when used. It should not be cooked when 
 used for invalids. 
 
 AN ATTEMPT TO CONVEY THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE 
 
 SEX-DETERMINING LAW TO THE CZARINA OF 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 Countess H. S., of London, England, recognizing 
 the importance of being able to determine the sex of 
 a child, undertook to assist me to convey this knowl- 
 edge to the Czarina, in 1897. Accordingly, she dis- 
 cussed the matter at length with various people in 
 London whom she thought would be able to help 
 her to do this, but from everyone with whom she 
 talked she received only discouragement, and so she 
 discontinued the attempt. 
 
 After the birth of the Czarina's fourth daughter, 
 again I undertook to convey to her this knowledge. 
 And at the advice of the Russian Consular Office in 
 San Francisco, I sent by registered letter, directly to 
 the Czarina, these directions for determining the sex 
 of the child. And I may add that enclosed with 
 these directions was a letter commending me to Her 
 Imperial Majesty, by a prominent clergyman of San 
 Francisco. 
 
 That communication never came back to me, 
 
252 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 nor did I ever get word of its arrival, but I do not 
 mean to say bv this that the Czarina received my 
 letter. * 
 
 THE RIGHT AND LEFT LOCATING OF ORGANS AND 
 
 THEIR CONSEQUENT DIFFERENCE IN 
 
 CHARACTERISTIC QUALITIES. 
 
 "Most people use the right eye, leg, arm, in 
 preference to the left; but, exceptionally, some use 
 the left instead of the right. 
 
 "In man, sight, hearing, and speech are closely 
 connected with mental operations, at least, so far as 
 they give rise to or express ideas. 
 
 "The two eyes are necessary to perfect vision; but 
 the psychic visual centre, which receives ideas or 
 meanings conveyed by objects seen, is on the left side 
 of the cerebrum, except in left-handed people; in left- 
 handed people it is reversed, and the psychic centre 
 of the brain is on the right side of the cerebrum. 
 
 "The same may be said of the sense of hearing, the 
 psychic auditory centre being on the left side, except 
 in left-handed people, when it is on the right. 
 
 "There can be no doubt of the fact of a natural 
 dextral preeminence, and also that left-handedness 
 is congenital, difficult, if not impossible, to correct 
 entirely, and not due simply to habit. 
 
 " It would appear that there must be some condi- 
 
APPENDIX 253 
 
 tions of organization which produce dextral pre- 
 eminence, in a majority of persons, and left-handed- 
 ness as an exception; but what this condition is it is 
 difficult to determine. 
 
 "An explanation offered by some anatomists is that 
 the right subclavian artery arises nearer the heart 
 than the left, that the right arm is better supplied 
 with arterial blood, developed more fully, and con- 
 sequently is more commonly used in preference to the 
 left; but the exceptional preeminence of the left 
 hand cannot be explained in this way. 
 
 " Boyd has shown that the left side of the brain, 
 almost invariably, exceeds the right in weight by about 
 one-eighth of an ounce. This fact points to a predomi- 
 nance of the left side of the brain, which presides 
 over the movements of the right side of the body. 
 
 " While it is not yet possible to explain why the left 
 side of the brain has peculiar psychic functions, not 
 possessed by the right side, it is, nevertheless, true 
 that intellectual processes take their origin mainly, 
 and in some instances entirely, in the left half of the 
 cerebrum. > 
 
 "Pregnancy is attended with a temporary hyper- 
 trophy (enlargement) of the heart. It is mainly the 
 left ventricle that is thickened during uterogestation, 
 and the increase of the weight of the heart amounts 
 at full term to more than one-fifth. After delivery. 
 
254 THE LAW OF SEX DETERMINATION 
 
 the weight of the heart returns nearly to the normal 
 standard." (Flint.) 
 
 "After the third month the umbilical cord and its 
 bloodvessels elongate more rapidly than is required 
 by the increased size of the amniotic cavity. They 
 consequently become twisted, the two umbilical 
 arteries winding around the vein, in a spiral direction. 
 
 "The direction of the spiral is not always the same. 
 Professor McLane has recorded observations in re- 
 gard to this point upon 260 umbilical cords, at term, 
 partly in private practice, and partly in the Nursery 
 and Child's Hospital, New York. Of this number, 
 in 138 of the cases the direction of the spiral was 
 from left to right; in 112, from right to left; and in 
 the 10 remaining instances it was doubtful, the 
 twist being too imperfectly marked for decision. 
 This gives nearly the following percentage as the 
 result of all the observations : From left to right, 53 
 per cent.; from right to left, 43 per cent.; indeter- 
 minate, 4 per cent." (Dalton.) 
 
 "The umbilical cord is distinct at about the end of 
 the first month, and as development advances the 
 vessels consist of two arteries coming from the body of 
 the fetus, which are twisted usually from left to right, 
 around the single umbilical vein. In addition to the 
 spiral turns of the arteries around the vein, the entire 
 cord may be more or less twisted, probably from the 
 movements of the fetus." (Flint.) 
 
i'iijiilli 
 
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