The Wonders of Life: A Popular Study of Biological PhilosophyHaeckel, Ernst
Philosophy
The Wonders of Life: A Popular Study of Biological Philosophy
Haeckel, Ernst
Biology; Evolution (Biology); Life -- Origin
In most of the lower and aquatic histona both kinds of sex-cells,
when they are ripe, fall directly into the water, and come together
there. But in most of the higher, and especially the terrestrial,
organisms special exits or conducting canals have been formed for the
sex-products, the sexual ducts (_gonoductus_); in the metazoa the
female have the general name of oviducts and the male spermaducts (or
_vasa deferentia_). In the viviparous histona special canals serve
for the conveyance of the sperm to the ovum, which remains inside the
mother's body; such are the neck of the archegonium in the cryptogams,
the pistil in the phanerogams, and the vagina in the metazoa. At the
outer opening of these conducting canals special copulative organs are
developed, as a rule.
When the ejected sex-cells do not directly encounter each other (as in
many aquatic organisms), special structures have to be formed to convey
the fertilizing sperm from the male to the female body. This process of
copulation becomes important, as it is associated with characteristic
feelings of pleasure, which may cause extreme psychic excitement; as
sexual love it becomes, in man and the higher animals, one of the most
powerful springs of vital activity. In many of the higher animals
(namely, vertebrates, articulates, and mollusks) there are also formed
a number of glands and other auxiliary organs which co-operate in the
copulation.
The manifold and intimate relations which exist, in man and the higher
animals (especially vertebrates and articulates), between their sexual
life and their higher psychic activity, have given rise to plenty of
"wonders of life." Wilhelm Bölsche has so ably described them in his
famous and popular work, _The Life of Love in Nature_, that I need only
refer the reader to it. I will only mention the great significance of
what are called "secondary sexual characters." These characteristics
of one sex that are wanting in the other, and that are not directly
connected with the sexual organs--such as the man's beard, the woman's
breasts, the lion's mane, or the goat's horns--have also an æsthetic
interest; they have, as Darwin showed, been acquired by sexual
selection, as weapons of the male in the struggle for the female,
and vice versa. The feeling of beauty plays a great part in this,
especially in birds and insects; the beautiful colors and forms which
we admire in the male bird of paradise, the humming-bird, the pheasant,
the butterfly, etc., have been formed by sexual selection (_cf._ the
_History of Creation_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account