ACQUIRED CHARACTERS. 35 



able ; but this theory is hardly less difficult of belief 

 than the old theory of the germ cell containing the 

 animal to be produced in miniature. These physio- 

 logists hold that the cells possessing these wonderful 

 powers of production, having started the condition we 

 know as life in the new being, separate themselves 

 from the organising mass of the foetus at an early 

 period, take no part in its development, but simply 

 lie apart, dormant and unimpressionable within it, 

 until the new creature reaches the procreative period, 

 when they wake up and are ready to be passed on to 

 the next generation, there to light up life, and having 

 lost nothing in the operation and gained nothing, 

 again lie dormant until the maturity of that genera- 

 tion calls them forth once more. 



This is an ingenious and a pretty theory, but it is, 

 as I have said, difficult of belief. In the first place, 

 these germ cells must, like all other living protoplasm, 

 be nourished. This nourishment is received from the 

 organism in which they lie. We know .that every- 

 where in nature the creature is influenced by its 

 environment. Why should these cells be the only 

 exception? Again, it is clear that these cells which 

 bear such extraordinary potentiality must proliferate 

 to a marvellous extent, for while the amount of 

 protoplasm set aside for this purpose on the formation 

 of a new creature is a microscopic quantity, on that 

 creature attaining the procreative stage equally potent 

 germ cells are thrown off with lavish prodigality, and 

 this is continued through the whole period of pro- 



