CHAPTER XIV 



THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AND 



HEREDITY 



I. The question as to how far the central nervous 

 system comes into consideration for the processes of 

 heredity is of great importance in educational prob- 

 lems. If we could hope that, as a result of the activ- 

 ity of a generation, its descendants would be born 

 with a talent for this special activity, there would be a 

 fertile field for the improvement of the human race. 

 In order to decide this question, we must first turn our 

 attention to those peculiarities which we know to be 

 hereditary namely, the form of the body and the in- 

 stincts. The analysis of the instincts given in the 

 previous chapter places us in a position to answer the 

 question as to how they can be transmitted through 

 the egg. All hereditary qualities of form, instincts, 

 and reflexes must be transmitted through the sex- 

 ual cells. The difficulty that appears is this : How 

 can the sexual cells, which only represent a liquid 

 mass enclosed in solid membranes, be the bearers of 

 such apparently complicated structures as the forms 

 that originate from them with their instincts and 



2OI 



