^^ THE NEW EVOLUTION f^~^'^ 



So it is a reasonable assumption that, although 

 those mutants capable of existence which appear 

 among the young of the animals of the present day do 

 not differ greatly from their parents, in the geological 

 past successful mutants differing very widely from 

 their parents would from time to time appear. And 

 the further we went back into the geological past — 

 the nearer we approached the bases of the evolu- 

 tionary trees — the greater would be the possibility 

 for the production of successful mutants varying 

 widely from the parent type. 



The primitive single cell, having within the poten- 

 tiality for the production of all types of animals, 

 might be assumed to be possessed of the ability to 

 produce simultaneously mutants which would be 

 widely different from each other, both by structural 

 changes in the single cell and through development 

 involving cell multiplication in various directions. 



From this it is apparent that from what we know 

 of mutants — especially as we see them in nature — and 

 from what we know of the development of animal 

 forms through progressively increasing specialization 

 we arrive at the conclusion that from the primitive 

 single cell there simultaneously appeared through 

 mutation as many different types of animals as were 

 capable of successful existence, while each of these 

 several types through progressive mutation in each 

 successive geological age branched out into every 

 economically possible form. 



In other words the study of the possibilities of 

 mutation, combined with the study of progressive 



[2.10] 



