THE EVOLUTION OF SEX 17 



one the immortal stream unmodified by the experience 

 of the body. What we call the individual, male or 

 female, is the protecting husk. In a sense the body is 

 transient — temporary. Its chief ^^ purpose" is not 

 its individual life, so much as its power to support and 

 carry to the next point the all important reproductive 

 material. 



Modern research has gone far towards establishing 

 Weismann's claims in this regard. It is true that the 

 germ-plasm must sometimes change — otherwise there 

 could be no evolution. But the evidence that the germ- 

 plasm responds directly to the experiences of the body 

 has no substantial evidence in its support. I know, of 

 course, that the whole Lamarckian school rests its 

 argument on the assumption that the germ-plasm re- 

 sponds to all profound changes in the soma ; but despite 

 the very large literature that has grown up dealing with 

 this matter, proof is still lacking. And there is abun- 

 dant evidence to the contrary. 



On the other hand, there is evidence to show that 

 the germ-plasm does sometimes change or is changed. 

 Weismann's attempt to refer all such changes to recom- 

 binations of internal factors in the germ-plasm it- 

 self has not met with much success. Admitting that 

 new combinations may be brought about in this 

 way, as explained for paramoecium, yet it seems un- 

 likely that the entire process of evolution could have 

 resulted by recombining what already existed ; for 

 it would mean, if taken at its face value, that by re- 

 combination of the differences already present in the 

 first living material, all of the higher animals and plants 

 were foreordained. In some way, therefore, the germ- 



