The Double Nature of Organisms 221 



limits of our present microscopical vision. Compared 

 with the enormous complexity of the herditary characters 

 of the organisms the anatomical structure of the cells and 

 their nuclei, as it is known to us, is much too simple. The 

 individual traits of father and mother can not yet be found 

 in the cells of the offspring, but the investigations of most 

 recent times indicate clearly that here also the limits of 

 knowledge are being constantly extended. 



The double nature of all beings that have sprung into 

 existence through fertilization, is seen in their external 

 appearance, as well as in the finest structure of their nu- 

 clei. The principle of duality obtains everywhere, even if, 

 in individual cases, the demonstration of it is yet in its 

 beginnings. But as far as the visible marks can be an- 

 alyzed and the individual component parts of the nuclei 

 can be traced, so far can the validity of the principle be 

 proven even at present. 



Let us consider first the external part, then the inter- 

 nal. 



Goethe derived his stature from his father, and not 

 from his mother, and it was not a stature between the 

 two. The sum total of his qualities he had partly from 

 his father, partly from his mother. The illustration ex- 

 plains the rule in a clear manner. In the offspring the 

 characters of the parents are combined. Not always does 

 the child get an even half from each; on the contrary, as 

 everybody knows, it resembles the mother more in some 

 respects, and the father more in others. 



It is exactly the same with hybrids. With them a 

 single character is generally derived either from the father 

 or from the mother. The hybrids of white and blue flow- 

 ers usually bloom blue, those of a hairy or a thorny 

 parent crossed by one without hairs or thorns are usually 



