218 SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE ORGANISM 



either of adaptations of the morphological type, which 

 happened to be necessary in some former generation, or of 

 so-called contingent "variations," of some sort or other, 

 which also happened once in the ancestral line. Such a 

 postulate, of course, is identical with what is generally called 

 the theory of descent in any of its different forms. This 

 theory is to occupy us in the next lectures ; at present we 

 only analyse the " memory "-theory as a theory of heredity 

 in itself. In any case, to regard memory as the leading 

 point in inheritance, at least if it is to signify what is 

 called memory in any system of psychology, would be to 

 postulate that either adaptation or contingent " variation ' 

 has been the origin of every morphogenetic process. Indeed, 

 the American physiologist Jennings did not hesitate to 

 defend such a view most strongly, and many others seem to 

 be inclined to do the same. 



But such an assumption most certainly cannot be true. 



It cannot be true, because there are many phenomena 

 in morphogenesis, notably all the phenomena akin to 

 restitution of form, which occur in absolute perfection even 

 the very first time they happen. These processes, for the 

 simple reason of their primary perfection, cannot be due 

 either to " learning " from a single adaptation, or to accidental 

 variation. We shall afterwards employ a similar kind of 

 argument to refute certain theories of evolution. It there- 

 fore may be of a certain logical interest to notice that at 

 present, combating the memory-theory of inheritance, and 

 hereafter, combating certain theories of descent, we select 

 not " adaptation ' or " variation ' as the central points to 

 be refuted, but the assumed contingency of both of them. 



The word " memory," therefore, may be applied to the 



