62 Can Science Explain Life! 



Since the chromosomes constitute the seat of 

 heredity, they must consist of clusters of parallel 

 spirazines, definitely coordinated with respect to 

 one another. The question then immediately pre- 

 sents itself whether these spirazines extend along 

 the lengths of the chromosomes, or transversely 

 thereof. According to the spirazine hypothesis, 

 each of the daughter chromosomes, upon cleavage 

 of the spireme thread, must receive a complete 

 replica of the spirazine pattern. Since the 

 daughter chromosomes of each pair separate 

 laterally from each other, it appears at first 

 glance that the spirazines would have to extend 

 transversely of the chromosomes in the direction 

 in which the chromosomes separate from each 

 other, and that the pattern which is characteristic 

 of the species would have to extend in a plane 

 perpendicular to that direction. The loss of ger- 

 minal material which was occasioned by longi- 

 tudinal division may then be replaced by subse- 

 quent growth in a direction transversely of the 

 chromosomes, which may take place during the 

 resting stage. 



In order to explain the elongated form of the 

 spireme thread and its ability to contract and 

 thicken, we may assume the spirazines to be segre- 

 gated into a series of separate groups which are 

 only loosely connected with one another by the 



