160 THE THEORIES OE EVOLUTION 



external factors on the constitution of germ cells, 

 Weismann opened a door of escape, but this very 

 admission contradicts his theory for it is inconsistent 

 with the idea of a rigorous predetermination. 



If we now examine the factors of predetermination, 

 we find more details to criticise. First of all, what 

 are the biophors, bearers of hereditary characters? 

 The notion of character is an abstract notion born 

 of our mental habit of analysing the impressions made 

 upon us by external objects. An object has as many 

 characters as it produces distinct impressions on us 

 which we are able to abstract. Those characters, on 

 the other hand, have no actual existence of their own 

 and cannot, therefore, be incarnated in any particle of 

 matter. Besides, the fact of possessing characters is 

 common to all the objects of the universe and is not 

 the exclusive attribute of organised beings. Shall 

 we then suppose that inanimate bodies also owe their 

 properties to some kinds of biophors? And where 

 would these biophors come from? 



The very mode of action of the Weismannian 

 biophors appears improbable. Every cell is supposed 

 to be determined by biophors migrating from the 

 nucleus into the cytoplasm. But whence come the 

 biophors? From the ids in the nucleus. There is, 

 however, more than one id in the nucleus; there is a 

 large number of ids, since every one of them repre- 



