i 4 o GRAND STRATEGY OF EVOLUTION 



on, in definite succession, the more and more particular 

 ^semblance of a jelly-fish, worm, arachnid, fish, reptile 

 and mammal ; and finally the semblance of its more 

 immediate human ancestors, more or less qualified 

 throughout by its own personal peculiarities. 



In all cases, a very small part of this material, per- 

 haps a small fraction of one per cent, if we may so 

 estimate it, is less stable. Its fluctuations are visibly 

 expressed in those minor details which constitute the 

 last finishing touches, as it were, to a particular stage 

 of development, or which distinguish one particular 

 species, race, or individual, from another. It is these 

 relatively minor variations which now so absorb the 

 attention of the specialists in genetics, narrow their 

 horizon, and envelop their teachings in obscurities. 



Although the germinal material plays such an im- 

 portant part in the upbuilding of the animal body, and 

 there has been a very great increase in its directive and 

 constructive power, that increase cannot as yet be di- 

 rectly measured in terms of germ-plasma, that is in its 

 structure, or volume, or quality. The germ-plasma of 

 the simple animals and plants is not recognizably dif- 

 ferent in kind, or less complex in structure, or less 

 voluminous, than that of man. In all cases the germinal 

 material itself is microscopic in volume, its basic struc- 

 ture and its basic mode of action inaccessible. The 

 differences are measurable only in terms of growth, or 

 in the things they ultimately produce. These proper- 

 ties are in marked contrast with those of all the other 

 estates which form a part of life's heritage. 



3. Quick Assets or the Endowments of Organic 

 Capital to Embryonic Life. An essential part of the 



