144 THEORY OF EVOLUTION 



Conclusions 



I have passed in review a long series of re- 

 searches as to the nature of the liereditary 

 material. We have in consequence of this 

 work arrived within sight of a result that 

 seemed a few years ago far beyond our reach. 

 The mechanism of heredity has, I tliink, been 

 discovered — discovered not by a flash of intui- 

 tion but as the result of patient and careful 

 study of the evidence itself. 



With the discovery of this mechanism I 

 venture the opinion that the problem of hered- 

 ity has been solved. We know how the factors 

 carried by the parents are sorted out to the 

 germ cells. The explanation does not pretend 

 to state how factors arise or how they influ- 

 ence tlie development of the embryo. But 

 these have never been an integral part of the 

 doctrine of heredity. The problems which they 

 present must be worked out in their own field. 

 So, I repeat, the mechanism of the chromo- 

 somes offers a satisfactory solution of the tra- 

 ditional problem of heredity. 



