Conclusion 



7 HE IMPOSING MASS OF EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN THE 



chapter, The Ectoplasm, can not be gainsaid. In all 

 cells, of unicellular and multicellular animals, the existence 

 of the ectoplasm can be demonstrated. We have seen what 

 is its role in the phenomena of conduction, contraction, 

 respiration, the intake and output of water — these all being 

 general properties of all animal cells. More specifically for 

 the animal ^%<g^ we have seen that without the ectoplasm, 

 fertilization can not take place, that in both fertilization 

 and parthenogenesis the response of the ectoplasm to the 

 inciting means for development is prognostic for the quality 

 of the future development; that in cell-division the ecto- 

 plasm initiates the event by regulating the movements 

 within the cytoplasm and that by redistribution of its 

 structure and relocalization of its activity, it establishes 

 new cell-surface; and that during differentiation the ecto- 

 plasm increases in amount and reveals a differential activity. 

 This behavior of the ectoplasm was shown to be one causa- 

 tive factor in differentiation of development, the other 

 being the building up of nuclear material out of the cyto- 

 plasm. Thus the reactions underlying both differentiation 

 and heredity were shown to be under the domination of 

 cytoplasmic reactions, resulting from an interplay of both 

 ectoplasm and nucleus with the cytoplasm. On this basis 

 an interpretation of the action of the gene was offered. 

 The behavior of the chromosomes themselves in normal 

 cells and in experimentally induced mutations was shown 

 to be dependent upon ectoplasmic activity. It was finally 



362 



