The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical Viewpoint — John Shaqi
The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical ViewpointLoeb, Jacques
Science
The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical Viewpoint
Loeb, Jacques
Biology; Life (Biology); Mendel's law
It was found that approximately fifteen of the sixty children belonged
to each of the four groups. This should be expected if the inhibitory
substance to each parent is transmitted to the children independently.
Half of the children will thus inherit the inhibitory substance of one
parent and the other half will inherit the inhibitory substance of the
other parent. This agrees with the assumption that there are definite
determiners for the inhibitory substances in the children which will be
transmitted to half of the children. Rather complicated assumptions are
needed to explain all the facts observed by Correns on this basis and
since the subject is still under investigation we need not go further
into the details.
To us the assumption and experimental support of the idea that
self-sterility is caused by the presence of a substance inhibitory to
the entrance of a spermatozoön is important. Should it be possible
that the block created by the entrance of a spermatozoön into the egg
is also due to an inhibitory substance carried by a spermatozoön into
the egg; and furthermore that the effect of the inhibitory substance
should be the prevention of further agglutination of the spermatozoön
with the egg or of the growth of the pollen tube in plants? On such
an assumption self-sterility would be due to a lack of agglutination
between the egg of a hermaphrodite and a spermatozoön of the same
individual. The experiments on the agglutinins have shown that while
isoagglutinins (_i. e._, agglutinins for other individuals of the same
species) are common auto-agglutinins (_i. e._, agglutinins for cells of
the same individual) rarely if ever occur.
7. A positive chemotropism of the spermatozoa toward an egg of the same
species has been demonstrated in a few cases, but it seems that this
phenomenon is not determined by that type of substances which give
rise to species specificity. The famous experiment of Pfeffer on the
spermatozoa of ferns inaugurates this line of investigation. He found
that such spermatozoa when moving in a straight line through the water
will be deviated in their course if they come near an archegonium;
they will then turn toward it, enter it, and enter the egg. Pfeffer
showed that 0.01 per cent. malic acid if put into a capillary tube will
attract the spermatozoa of ferns.
When the liquid in the tube contains only 0.01 per cent. malic acid
the spermatozoa of ferns very soon move toward the opening of the
capillary tube and within from five to ten minutes many hundreds of
spermatozoa may accumulate in the tube. The malic acid acts as well
in the form of a free acid as in the form of salts.[82]
[82] Pfeffer, _Untersuchungen aus dem botanischen Institut zu
Tübingen_, 1881-1885, i., 363.
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