Mexico weekly ledger., 1905-03-09
PROFESSOR LOEB PERPECTs AR,
TIFICIAI REPRODUCTION OF
SEA URCHINs.
|AAE REACH FIELD OF NAN.
'smazing Experiments Begun in Chi
cago Are Carried to Success by
Scientist Professor Loeb
Gives Outline of His
Work.

NAN IAANtloIOi Cd 20. OOulplCtl
success In artificial reproduction from
the female egg Of the sea urchin moi
vitalized by the male principle hal
been achieved by Professor Jacques
Loeb Of the University Of California
The eminent psychologist issued bul
letin to-day announcing that he had
at last perfected his amazing expert
ments, begun at the University Of
Chicago several years ago, to a point
which is just at the threshold of his
daring goal-the creation Of life IT.
self.
Since the publication Of his revolu'
tionary discoveries in Chicago, Profess
or Loeb has worked silently along the
same lines. His previous triumph
had been only partial-for the larvae
which he had developed by chemical
and physical means from unfertilized
eggs were abnormal, and could achieve
only the preliminary stages of their
growth. He succeeded, also, only
with fraction of per cent Of the
eggs with which he worked. But now
he can produce perfect, healty baby
urchins from more than 80 per cent OF
the eggs used.
SEES SOLUTION OF PROBLEM.
Professor Loeb sums up his results
In the following words: "We are now
able to initiate the natural process Of
fertilization in the egg Of the sea ur-
chin completely by physical and chem
ical means. The fact that the par
thenogenetic larvae animals develop
ed artificlally) produced by the new
method have the same vitality as the
larvae produced by normal fertiliza-
tion arouses the hope that 1t will be
possible to undertake the solution OF
the problems to which the raising Of
parthenogenetlc larvae in large num-
bers is preliminary"
These fields Of further research at
which Professor Loeb hints are moth
ing less than the rewriting Of the mys-
terry Of reproduction Of life, in all or
ganisms from animalculae to man, In
chemical and physical terms-the ell
limitation Of that divine force at the
sources of life which has previously
baflied materialistic science.
Professor Loeb's veiled suggestion
recalls a statement made by him sew
eral years ago In scientific journal
that he was fully convinced, from his
experiments with sea urchins, that
immaculate conception, through sub
tie changes in the ''ions'-chemical
and physical forces-in the blood is a
possibility.
GIVES OUTLINE OF WORK,
The previous Loeb experiments had
been carried out by an immersion of
unfertiiized eggs Of the sea urchfn In
water, the density of which was in
creased by certain salts. He has
achieved his complete success by the
addition of a chemical known as
''ethylacetate" to the former solu-
tions. In explaining his work, he
says:
"It occurred to me that thesperma-
tozoon tmale principle) might carry in
to the egg not one, but several sub.
stances or conditions, each Of which
was responsible for only part of the
specific features of sexual fertilization
and that In order to completely imi-
tate the action Of the spermatozoon
it might be necessary to combine two
methods of artidcial parthenogenesis,
each of which initiates the process of
sexual fertilization only partly. This
latter idea proved correct far beyond
my expectations"