INHERITANCE 219 



phenomena of inheritance only in a very figurative meaning, 

 if at all. We do not wholly deny the possibility of an 

 inheritance of acquired characters, as will be seen later on, 

 and to such a fact there might perhaps be applied such a 

 term as " memory " in its real sense, but we simply know 

 that there is something in inheritance which has no 

 similarity whatever to what is called " memory ' : in any 

 species of psychology. A primary perfection of processes 

 occurring quite abnormally proves that there is a " know- 

 ing " of something if we may say so but does not prove 

 at all that there is a " remembering." 



THE COMPLEX-EQUIPOTENTIAL SYSTEM AND ITS EOLE IN 



INHERITANCE l 



But we thus far have reached only negative results. Is 

 the question necessarily to remain at this point, which 

 could hardly be said to be very satisfying ; or could we 

 perhaps get better, that is, positive results about inheritance 

 by a change of our analytic methods ? Let us try to 

 analyse the facts that occur in inheritance instead of 

 beginning with hypotheses which claim to be complete 

 explanations. Perhaps we shall gain, if but small, yet 

 certainly fixed results by an analysis which goes from the 

 facts to the theory and not from the theory to the facts. 



Let the discussions that are to follow be placed upon 

 a basis as broad as possible. 



Our studies of morphogenetic restitution have shown us 

 that besides the harmonious-equipotential systems another 

 and widely different type of morphogenetic " systems " (i.e. 



1 Driesch, Organ. Rcgul. 1901. 



