The Name Molecule Inappropriate 49 



Therefore the material bearers of hereditary charac- 

 ters cannot be identical with the molecules of chemistry; 

 they must be conceived of as units, built up from the latter, 

 much larger than they, and yet invisibly small. 



It does not seem to me correct to apply the name mole- 

 cule, or living molecule, to these units. This appellation 

 must lead to confusions and misunderstandings, and 

 I suppose it is employed only from lack of a simple desig- 

 nation. As such a term, the name "pangen," proposed in 

 the Introduction (p. 7), may be adopted. 



