CHAPTER VII 



HEREDITY 



In the two preceding chapters the law of 

 biogenesis and its application to man were consid- 

 ered. One is impressed with the prodigality of 

 Nature in the enormous waste of germ cells. This 

 is a waste that progress in scientific knowledge is 

 unable to lessen or to take advantage of. Chance 

 is the only word that correctly describes which 

 sperm cell shall unite with a given ovum; 

 chance also is the word to use in regard to the 

 maturing of ova preparatory to fertilization in all 

 living things that reproduce sexually. In man not 

 one in ten thousand of the ova nor one in one 

 hundred thousand of the sperms participate in 

 producing new human beings. Among other 

 forms of life the death rate is even greater. The 

 fundamental question of human progress is inti- 

 mately linked with this chance union of sperm 

 and ovum. Even our limited knowledge of their 

 behavior enables us to predicate that there will 

 always be a certain uniformity in the results. But 

 within all of this uniformity, there exist sufficient 

 possibilities for variation and for new combina- 



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