The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-09

mained for many years, indeed, are stfn, IN moss
rerpects. the best sources OF Information eOout
these animals. Then the researches on tne
minute structure and development OF the teetn'
summed up in owens odontography ana ~
the article Odontolosy, contributed oy MN "
the EncycIopmdIa Britannica-sofa far as they deal
with the outward form. microscopic appear
ances, and the order Of succession OF the teetn'
and supply a foundation for q useful and con-
slstent nomenclature Of dental arrangements
have been Of very great service both 70 the
ordinary biologist and 10 the student OF
fossil remains. In regard 10 the class OF BIRDS
the memoirs on the Apteryx, the Great Aux
and the Dodo arc particularly notewortny'
while among articles dealing with the inveIte-
brates are named the CephaloDoda, the Me-
moir on Limulus, and the description OF the ter
rible parasite of man, trichina spiralis.
".
II was in 1897 that Owen. without any pause
in the long and important series OF anatomical
Investigations, some Of which have Just been
mentioned, began the contribution to paleon-
tology which. in after years, perhaps contrib
uted most to his fame with the public. "ioo
not know" says Huxley, where, unless u DO
in the easements Fossiles. ono Is 10 look for con-
trlbutlons to paleontology more varied, more
numerous, and. on tho whole. more accurate
than those which Owen poured forth In rapid
succession between 1897 and 1885," There was
no lack Of strong contemporaries at work In the
same field; De Blainville, Louis ARassiz, and
Won Meyer all belonged TO Owens generation.
But, to Huxley's mind, the fairest comparison
is with Cuvier. and he adds: lido not think
that those who have had to concern themselves
with these subjects will rank any OF Cuvier's
memoirs higher than those of Owen on certain
arfincf Snuth American anfmala In lR4O the
first OF the long series Of memoirs on British
fossil reptiles appeared; in 1868 the description
of the famous ~reptilian bird archmopteryx.
This is pronounced q splendid record; enough
and more than enough TO Justify the high place
in the scientific world which Owen SO long occu-
pied. On this point, the words of no man will
carry more weight than Huxley, who, It will be
remembered, was more than once engaged In
scientific controversy with the subject Of this
biography. His final Judgment may be COM
pressed in two sentences: "If I mistake not, the
historian OF comparative anatomy and paleon-
toloRy will always assign TO Owen q place next
10 and hardly lower than that Of Cuvier. wit
was practically the creator of those sciences In
their modern shape; and whose works must
always remain models of excellence In their
kind. 1t was not to hear our coun-
tryman called the British Cuvier, and so far, In
my judgment, the collocation was justified. high
as Is the praise IL implies"
As regards, on the other hand. the wonderful
and difficult problem presented in the phe-
nomena of Parthenogenesis, IL Is submitted that
Owen got no further toward a solution than
others have done before him. The interesting
circumstance, however. is pointed out that the
leading idea of his work on Parthenogene sis,
namely. that sexless proliferation is In some way
dependent upon the presence In the prolcfying
region Of relatively unaltered descendants ofthe
t. -L..-- all. L. "a H. -
tom Of the most of the attempts which have been
recently made TO deal with the question. Weiss
mans theory OF the continuity OF germ-plasm.
for example, is practically the same as Owens,
II we omit from the latter that the endowment
with spermatio force Is the indispensa-
BILE condition of proliferation. The great
progress Of knowledge about these mat
tiers since 1910 lies in the demonstration of
the importance of q certain formed material
which is met with in the nuclei of cells; of the
fact that this substance. growing and dividing.
is distributed from the nucleus of the primary
cell to the nuclei of all tho cells of the organ
ism; that. in sexual proliferation. the nuclear
substances Of the two parties TO the sexual act
pass bodily into the nucleus Of the resulting
embryo cell, without losing their independence.
and are similarly transmitted to all the cells of
the adult; whence 1t follows that every histo-
logical element of the adult living body thus
prOduced contains associated but yet materially
distinct descendants of the nuclear elements
derived from each parent.
This discovery ranks in tho opinion of Prof.
Huxley rs the greatest achievement of morpho-
logical science since the establishment of tho
cell theory. In a foot note IL Is explained that the
references arc to the neurological generaliza-
tions known by this name, not to any hypothesis
based upon them. The Importance of this dis
covery as a factor In every theory of heredity ia
obvious; and 1t must have an equally important
influence upon all theories of proliferation. For
the present, however. the opinion Is expressed
that 1t affords very little more help toward q
scientific explanation Of the phenomena OF Par
thenogenesis than Owens theory afforded in
the infancy of astrological inquiry. Ex-
cept by the help of assumptions, Of
which there is no proof, Huxley cannet see
that modern speculation at present gives us any
better explanation why the leaves of some plants
prolefy regularly and readily, why those of
others never do so, or why female cockroaches
never exhibit sexless proliferatlon, while queen
bees always do so. The ingenuity which fits
hypothesis 70 facts by the help of other hypoth-
but, IL IL is to be useful, its purely speculative
character should never be lost sight of. IL sci
ence is to retain its strength, IL must keep In
touch with the solid ground of observation. In
reading some of the biological literature OF the
present day, / sometimes rub my eyes and won
the NdtuTphtOsOphie."
YORK'S EXCESS OF WOMEN.