THEORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANISMS 139 



food, institutions, health) ; then reflect how much 

 greater in the animal and the plant is the domina- 

 tion of the whole, and the subordination of the units, 

 as in them cell is directly joined to cell indeed, 

 in most cases united materially by threads of proto- 

 plasm. In such cases the self-sufficiency of the 

 cell as an elementary, living organism is so far pre- 

 vented, that it becomes a subordinate part, with its 

 function in dependence on the whole. 



One other point our comparison will make 

 clearer : I refer to the relation of the specific nature 

 of the rudiment to the specific nature of the pro- 

 duct of the rudiment. 



The different organisations and qualities of the 

 communities formed by different animals may be 

 explained by the special characters of the animals 

 forming them. Those of the bee colonies depend 

 on the nature of bees ; of ant colonies on the 

 nature of ants; of the societies of men on the 

 nature of men ; indeed, in the latter case we see how 

 they differ as they are formed by Italians, Germans, 

 Slavs, Turks, Chinese, or Negroes. Similarly, the 

 specific organisation of the cell determines the kind 

 of animal which may be built up by it. 



In my theory two assumptions of totally con- 

 trasting nature are made : I assume a germplasm 

 of high and specific organisation, and I assume that 

 this is transformed into the adult product by epige- 

 netic agencies. To a certain extent, therefore, I 

 reconcile the opposition between evolution and epi- 

 genesis, these opponents so prominent last century. 



But my theory does not pretend to explain all 



