HEREDITY HAS NO POWER, ETC. 87 



ity, etc. But has nothing to say about the cause, nor 

 the mechanism of heredity. 



It is undoubtedly true that the human body is a 

 compound physical structure ; that each organ and 

 part of every such body has to be made, anew, of 

 fresh materials, for that body; that the child dees 

 not "take over," bodily, any organ nor part of either 

 parent, but has its own new organs, unique and pe- 

 culiar to itself ; that neither the father nor the mother 

 has any voluntary power to select, assemble nor group 

 the atoms and cells, of which the embryo body is made ; 

 nor to generate, guide, nor control the forces and mo- 

 tions by which this work is done. All this being true, 

 how is it possible for the parents, or either of them, 

 to transmit any of their qualities, characteristics or 

 traits to their child? 



The notion of mankind in general appears to be 

 the body of the child is a sort of offshoot or branch of 

 the bodies of the parents, as if the child had budded 

 out on the trunk of the mother; and finally dropped 

 off and become a distinct individual. But this view 

 is wholly erroneous. The embryo becomes a separate 

 and distinct entity the moment the germ-cell is 

 formed; and it develops and grows, anew, for itself 

 independently of the bodies of its parents, which have 

 no more to do with its development and growth than 

 the body of any other person has. 



If we assume that each human being is a new 

 direct and special creation by Almighty God, we can 

 readily understand the mysterious phenomena called 

 11 heredity.' 



At first, the germ-cell does not resemble either 



