CHAPTEE X 



SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS VI TO IX 



WE have seen how regular and automatic are the- 

 ordinary processes of growth and reproduction. 

 This regular sequence we call heredity, and, to the 

 best of my judgment, Professor Hering's theory of 

 unconscious memory is the only one which offers us 

 an adequate explanation. It is not a complete ex- 

 planation, because we do not know what mind is, and 

 how it works ; but it is a great simplification of the 

 phenomena, and perhaps represents the limits of 

 possible knowledge in that direction. 



There is evidence that mind exists in every living 

 cell, not only in animals but even in plants; and 

 where there is mind we presume that there must 

 be the capacity for memory. We have evidence that 

 habits, which are due to unconscious memory, can 

 be transmitted from one generation to another, and 

 so become instincts ; and we cannot draw a line be- 

 tween recognised instincts and development. We 

 must, it seems to me, allow that every cell has a 

 store-house of memories, and that it moves by 

 instinct. 50 



50 Prof. H. W. Conn says in his "Method of Evolution." 

 " Consciousness thus becomes an indirect factor in evolu- 

 tion. Indeed the attempt is sometimes made to extend this 



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