Darwin and Modern ScienceSeward, A. C. (Albert Charles)
Philosophy
Darwin and Modern Science
Seward, A. C. (Albert Charles)
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882; Evolution (Biology); Science -- History
The experiments of Driesch and others have taught us that twins
originate from one egg in this manner, namely, that the first two cells
into which the egg divides after fertilisation become separated from
each other. This separation can be brought about by a change in the
chemical constitution of the sea-water. Herbst observed that if the
fertilised eggs of the sea-urchin are put into sea-water which is freed
from calcium, the cells into which the egg divides have a tendency
to fall apart. Driesch afterwards noticed that eggs of the sea-urchin
treated with sea-water which is free from lime have a tendency to give
rise to twins. The writer has recently found that twins can be produced
not only by the absence of lime, but also through the absence of sodium
or of potassium; in other words, through the absence of one or two of
the three important metals in the sea-water. There is, however, a second
condition, namely, that the solution used for the production of twins
must have a neutral or at least not an alkaline reaction.
The procedure for the production of twins in the sea-urchin egg consists
simply in this:--the eggs are fertilised as usual in normal sea-water
and then, after repeated washing in a neutral solution of sodium
chloride (of the concentration of the sea-water), are placed in a
neutral mixture of potassium chloride and calcium chloride, or of sodium
chloride and potassium chloride, or of sodium chloride and calcium
chloride, or of sodium chloride and magnesium chloride. The eggs must
remain in this solution until half an hour or an hour after they have
reached the two-cell stage. They are then transferred into normal
sea-water and allowed to develop. From 50 to 90 per cent of the eggs of
Strongylocentrotus purpuratus treated in this manner may develop into
twins. These twins may remain separate or grow partially together and
form double monsters, or heal together so completely that only slight or
even no imperfections indicate that the individual started its career
as a pair of twins. It is also possible to control the tendency of such
twins to grow together by a change in the constitution of the sea-water.
If we use as a twin-producing solution a mixture of sodium, magnesium
and potassium chlorides (in the proportion in which these salts exist in
the sea-water) the tendency of the twins to grow together is much
more pronounced than if we use simply a mixture of sodium chloride and
magnesium chloride.
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