CAUSE OF HEREDITY 301 



bute a memory to every nerve cell, to every organic e)e- f 

 ment in the body. Dr. Maudsley states : 'The perman- 

 ent effects of a particular virus, such as that of variola or 

 syphilis in the constitution show that the organic ele- 

 ment remembers for the remainder of its life certain modi- 

 fications it has received. The manner in which cicatrix 

 in a child's finger grows with the growth of the body, 

 proves, as has been shown by Paget, that the organic 

 element of the part does not forget the impression it has 

 received. What has been said about the different nervous 

 centers of the body demonstrates the existence of a mem- 

 ory in the nerve cells diffused through the heart and the 

 intestines ; in those of the spinal cord, in the cells of the 

 motor ganglia, in the cells of the cortical substance of 

 the cerebral hemisphere.' " 



You notice that he calls the cell "Organic elements" 

 and "Cortical substance," similar to Haeckel, who called 

 them "Plasm" or "Living substance." There seems to 

 be no one yet who seems to realize what the cell really is. 

 They seem to think that because he is small he is merely 

 a living matter or substance. Those who know his vari- 

 ous activities seem never to stop to consider that he is a 

 very highly organized and specialized being, and that he 

 is possessed of a number of special organs, the purpose 

 of which we do not know. While we see and know con- 

 siderable about him, still our knowledge is very limited 

 and very likely he has many powers and senses we yet 

 know nothing about. We know practically nothing about 

 the inner life of the primordial being of which the cell is 

 composed. We may some day be able to produce a micro- 

 scope powerful enough to be able to see the separate ac- 

 tions of these primordial beings that we now call cell 

 granules, and if so, we shall likely discover the first 



