The
immolation of a vast number of young germs is the means by which nature
secures to a few germs the certainty of arriving at maturity. In order
to render the ideas of germ-fecundity and productiveness more easily
understood, Prof. Mobius makes the following comparison between the
oyster and man:
According to Wappaus, for every 1,000 men there are 347 births.
According to Bockh, out of every 1,000 men born 554 arrive at maturity,
that is, live to be twenty years or more of age; thus, on an average,
347 children are produced from 554 mature men, or 626 children from
1,000 mature men. Since 1,000 full-grown oysters produce 440,000,000 of
germs, then the germ fecundity of the oyster is to the germ fecundity of
man as 440,000,000 to 6.26, or as 7,028,754 to 1. On the other hand, the
number which arrive at maturity is 579,002 times as great with mankind
as with the oyster; for of 1,000 human embryos brought into the world
554 arrive at maturity, or of 440,000,000 newly born 243,760,000 would
live to grow up, while of 440,000,000 young oysters only 421 ever become
capable of propagating their species.
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