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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



be explained by the deductions of pangenesis, if 

 we suppose that the gemmules which tend to form 

 the perfect being undergo a progressive develop- 

 ment, and a gradual elaboration in the earlier 

 stages of the process. And we can the more 

 readily apply this reasoning to the explanation of 

 the manner in which the winged butterfly, for 

 example, is evolved from the caterpillar, when 

 we find that within the chrysalis-case or cocoon 

 the body of the larva is literally broken down 

 and resolved into atomic parts, while, by a won- 

 drous process of reconstruction and rearrange- 

 ment of these atoms, the perfect insect is in due 

 time formed. Metamorphosis, in this respect, 

 may truly be described as a process of the read- 

 justment and rearrangement of the atoms and 

 gemmules of the insect's frame. The variations 

 of living beings may, in their turn, be explained 

 by assuming an irregularity to exist in the ar- 

 rangement of the gemmules which unite to form 

 the germ of the varying form. Modified cells 

 will give out modified gemmules, and these last 

 will produce variations in the new being. Any 

 cause producing alterations in the gemmules, 

 either in the direction of over-fertility, or in that 

 of deficiency, will tell with corresponding effect 

 on the germ which they tend to form. While, in 

 cases in which bodily structures, mental qualities, 

 or even diseases, lie dormant in one generation, 

 and become developed in the succeeding race, 

 the gemmules may be regarded as having been 

 transmitted in a latent condition in the former 

 race, and as having been awakened and redevel- 



oped in the latter. The transmission of active 

 disease to a particular generation, through an in- 

 intervening and latent stage, represented by the 

 preceding generation, is clearly explicable, if we 

 suppose that the dormant condition acts on the 

 gemmules as rest acts on wearied muscles in serv- 

 ing to restore their pristine strength. Some dis- 

 eases are known to gain strength and virulence 

 after the lapse of a generation, in which they 

 have lain dormant and inactive. And the reap- 

 pearance of the diseased condition becomes con- 

 nected by the explanation just given, to use Mr. 

 Darwin's words, with " the wonderful fact that 

 the child may depart from the type of both its 

 parents, and resemble its grandparents or ances- 

 tors removed by many generations." 



The relativity of our knowledge, however, 

 forms a subject which may well be suggested as a 

 closing thought. Whether pangenesis or any other 

 explanation of heredity be ultimately proved to be 

 true or not, the consideration must be ever with 

 us, that we are likely to remain ignorant of the 

 primary causes which determine and regulate the 

 more apparent laws of likeness. We may thus 

 scarcely hope to reach that " law within the law " 

 which operates through the medium of secondary 

 laws and ascertainable conditions. But it should 

 form, at the same time, no mean consolation, 

 that we have been able to approach theoretically, 

 at least, toward an understanding of one of the 

 commonest, but at the same time most abstruse, 

 parts of the puzzle of fife. — Gentleman 's Maga- 

 zine. 



FOREST AND FIELD MYTHS. 



By W. E. S. EALSTON. 



ONCE upon a time — says a tale widely spread 

 in Asia — four travelers spent a night in a 

 forest, and agreed that one of them should keep 

 watch by turns while the others slept. The first 

 watcher was a carpenter. By way of passing the 

 time, he took his axe, and out of the stem of a 

 tree lying prostrate hard by, fashioned the form 

 of a woman, shapely in figure and comely in face. 

 Then he awoke one of his comrades, and lay down 

 to rest. The second watcher was a tailor. And 

 when he saw the wooden woman lying bare on 

 the ground, he produced his work-basket and 

 bundle of stuffs, and clothed her handsomely 



from head to foot. Then he too resumed his 

 slumber, after having aroused the third of the 

 party, who was a jeweler. And the jeweler was 

 struck by the sight of the fair and well-dressed 

 female form leaning against a neighboring tree, 

 and he opened his caskets and decked her with 

 rings, and necklaces, and bracelets. Then he 

 called the last of the party, who was a holy man, 

 strong in prayer and incantation, and went to 

 sleep. And when the fourth watcher saw the 

 wooden woman, so well dressed and decked, he 

 set to work, and by spells and prayers turned 

 her wood into flesh and blood, and inspired her 



