The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-05-20

| Professor Jacques Loeb of the Rookie
feller institute, speaking before the
Manhattan Medical society in New
York recently described some of his
recent experiments in artificial repro
duction by fertilization of specimens
of animal life that developed to matur-
| ity. Professor Loeb excited great in
terest by relating that female frog,
produced from an artificially fertllized
egg, was found on dissection after ac-
cidental death to be equipped for par
enthood. This frog had reached adult
life.
The physicians followed closely DR..
Loeb's description of his experiments.
Professor Garry n. Calkins of Column
bia university led the discussion which
followed. Professor Loeb asserted that
as result of his experiments he had
not only learned how to initiate the eff
feet of the spermatozoon in nature, but
to learn the nature of the spermatozoon
itself and its method of action. He
said:
THE egg in nature is only able to
develop after the spermatozoon has en-
tered into 1t. The spermatozoon calls
the egg not into life-for it had life
already-but into a new being. The
question before biology has been,
How?
previously biologists answered this
question in the same way that a few
years ago was answered questions con-
corning contagious diseases, by hy-
potheses, by guesses. Biologists COM
pared the egg to a clock and said the
spermatozoon wound it. Liebeg put
his metaphor into terms of chemistry
and called the spermatozoon a ferment
which set up vibrations in the egg.
Initiating the Spermatazoon.
"The problem of artificial fertiliza-
ton was to do what the spermatazoon
does by simple physio-chemica means.
Observation of the natural process
showed visible changes in the egg
after the entrance Of the spermata-
zoon. The entrance was followed by
halo forming about the egg, called the
fertilization membrane. We found
that this was the important thing in
the process, not any change in the
nucleus, as we had supposed.
Experimentation led to the discov-
cry that this same halo, or fertiliza-
ton membrane, followed the applica-
ton of monobasic fatty acids, such as
acetic acid or buteric acid. We start
ed with the sea urchin egg, because
that iS constant aDd u,a u-ontad 20 bo
able to repeat our experiments.
1--WE found when we added a mono
basic fatty acid to sea water, in which
to immerse the egg, that in some cases
at low temperatures the egg developed
into a larvae and perished. At room
temperatures the eggs divided. 1t was
plain that the acid alone did not pro-
duce a sufficient effect.
"To prevent the disintegration we
hit upon a second treatment. We took
the egg from the acid sea water and
put it into hypertonic sea water-wa
ter to which sugar or salt had been
added. This had the effect of draw
| ing some of the water from the egg,
about which the fertilization men,
brane had formed, and great many
of the eggs developed normally. From
this we drew the conclusion that the
eggs needed a double treatment and
that the spermatazoon contained this
double treatment in exactly the right
proportions. All eggs did not form
the fertilization membrane when sub
| jected to the first treatment, cir
cumstance often embarrassing to the
experimenter. We then discovered
that all eggs could be made equally
sensitive by treating them first with
barium chloride or stronsium chloride.
Marine Life Hybrid.
"Our next experiment was the at
tempt to fertilize the sea urchin egg
with the sperm Of a remote species.
Ordinarily hybrids do not occur in ma
rine life. This is remarkable, as biol
ogists observed, when various related
sea creatures spawn in the same wa
ters. We succeeded, however, in fer
sperm by introducing a certain amount
of alkalinity into the water"
Professor Loeb explained that the
/ eggs of frogs were started on the road
to development by merely puncturing
them This, he said, convinced him
that the breaking Of the outside of the
egg was the important factor, accom-
plished in nature by chemical action Of
the spermatzoon, in his earlier expert
ments by chemical dissolution of its
natural protection. Experiments both
with naturally fertilized and artihcially
fertilized eggs, he said, showed that the
arst effect Of the formation Of the halo
was to increase oxidization six times.
rhis oxidization, he said, was the force
which stirred the cell to development.