46 THE METHODS AND 



all bear doubleness, while the egg-cells are 

 some singles and some doubles. We can- 

 not think yet of interpreting these complex 

 phenomena in terms of a common plan. 

 All that we know is that there is now open 

 for our scrutiny a world of varied, orderly 

 and specific physiological wonders into which 

 we have as yet only peeped. To lay down 

 positive propositions as to the origin and 

 inter-relation of species in general, now, would 

 be a task as fruitless as that of a chemist 

 must have been who had tried to state the 

 relationship of the elements before their 

 properties had been investigated. 



For the first time Variation and Reversion 

 have a concrete, palpable meaning. Hitherto 

 they have stood by in all evolutionary debates, 

 convenient genii, ready to perform as little or 

 as much as might be desired by the conjuror. 

 That vaporous stage of their existence is 

 over; and we see Variation shaping itself as 



BHI 



