THE PROGRAMME 21 



The physiology of heredity therefore appears as the counter- 

 part to those branches of the physiology of form which deal 

 with individual form and its restitutions. And our dis- 

 cussion on heredity may be followed by our second appendix 

 to this chief section on form, an appendix regarding the 

 outlines of systematics, evolution and history. 



Theoretical considerations on biology generally start, or 

 at least, used to start, from the evolution theory, discussing 

 all other problems of the physiology of form by the way 

 only, as things of secondary importance. You see from 

 our programme, that we shall go just the opposite way : 

 evolution will come last of all, and will be treated shortly ; 

 but the morphogenesis of the individual will be treated 

 very fully, and very carefully indeed. 



Why then this deviation from what is the common 

 practice ? Because we do not know very much about 

 evolution at all, because in this field we are just at the very 

 beginning of what deserves the name of exact knowledge. 

 But concerning individual morphogenesis we really know, 

 even at present, if not very much, at least something, and 

 that we know in a fairly exact form, aided by the results 

 of experiments. 



And it will not be without its reward, if we restrict our 

 aims in such a manner, if we prefer to deal more fully with 

 -a series of problems, which may seem at the first glance 

 to be of less interest than others. After a few lectures we 

 shall find already that we may decide one very important 

 question about life merely by an analysis of individual 

 form production, and without any regard to problematic 

 and doubtful parts of biology : that we may decide the 

 question, whether " life " is only a combination of chemical 



