Ryder.] [May 16, 



of a whole brood conform in direction, within a degree or two, to a com- 

 mon axial plane. How was such an astonishing conformity to a common 

 axis brought about, if it was not developed in the ovary of the parent be- 

 fore oviposition ? If this is true then the axis of the parent and the 

 polarity of her body, as expressed in its fore and aft extension, exerted 

 such an influence upon the brood as to impress such a polar tendency, and 

 transmit it directly to every egg matured in her body. If this is true, 

 then the parent body does transmit characters directly to its offspring, 

 Weismann, Lankester and other deluded skeptics to the contrary not- 

 withstanding. Here is a whole brood of young fishes, fixed to the surface 

 upon which they were hatched, every one of which conforms, to within 

 a degree or two, to lines running parallel to each other in a common 

 direction. Does or does not either parent transmit this ; since one or the 

 other must do so, how is it done, and why is this not proof that the soma 

 of the parent transmits certain polarities, and those of the most important 

 character, directly to the germ-plasma from which the embryos are devel- 

 oped? The case here is just as clear as in the case of Yorticella or Para- 

 mcecium ; they are in exact conformity, so that we have here once more 

 direct evidence of the untenability and absolute falsity of some of Weis- 

 mann's deductions as to the non-transmissibility of acquired characters. 



In a similar way, how is the polar conformity of the chick in the egg to 

 the axis of the parent bird to be accounted for ? Though in this case the axis 

 of the embryo lies constantly at right angles to that of the parent as the 

 ovum descends through the oviduct. Equally striking are the constant 

 relations of the embryo Rabbit, in the uterus up to the tenth or twelfth 

 day, at right angles to the axis of the parent body. The same is true of 

 the Cat, Dog, Mouse, Rat, and other forms. The same principle also holds 

 in Arthropods, where egg- tubes are formed and where there are also con- 

 stant anterior and posterior poles of the eggs developed, which bear a 

 constant relation to those of the parent. Here are bodily habits directly 

 transmitted which involve nothing like a change of structure ; does the 

 germ-plasma accomplish this, or does the direct influence of the mother's 

 organism accomplish this remarkable result ? For me the latter alterna- 

 tive seems to be the only explanation. 



Similarly the phenomena of budding in Salpa, as worked out by Brooks 

 and Seeliger, tend to establish the same conclusion, namely, that the 

 polarities of the immediate parent influence those of the offspring directly. 

 It looks as if the bodily functions of the parent either impressed them- 

 selves as if from a distance, or through the pole of the germ most directly 

 in a nutritive relation to the parent upon the still unconscious germinal 

 matter giving it these tendencies to conform in these curious ways to the 

 polarities of the parent organism. It is also tolerably clear that the so- 

 called " promorphology " of the egg is preceded by a still earlier morpho- 

 logical history, which has been scarcely more than touched by students of 

 the Metazoa. The direct influence of the source of the nutriment sup- 

 plied to the growing embryos is probably indicated in these singular 



