90 GENETICS 



one surviving young were born with degenerate eyes. 

 The affected young have carried the defect even in 

 the male line through eight generations without the 

 injection of any more serum containing the lens anti- 

 body. "The degenerating eyes are themselves, directly 

 or indirectly, originating anti-bodies in the blood serum 

 of their bearers which in turn affect the germ-cells." 

 If these conclusions are substantiated, the cardinal 

 principle of the inheritance of acquired characters is 

 conceded. The end is not yet ! 



14. VARIOUS RESULTS UPON OFFSPRING OF PARENTAL 

 ACQUISITIONS 



In Diagram 14 an attempt is made to visualize the 

 various results of parental acquisitions, both somatic 

 and germinal, upon the generations following. 



It will be noted that Case I, where the soma of the 

 parent is represented as determining the soma of the 

 offspring, is contrary to fact for in sexual reproduc- 

 tion the offspring arises from the undifferentiated 

 germplasm of its parents. 



The usual result of a somatic modification is shown 

 in Case II. 



Pangenesis, Case III, postulates a reversal of the 

 universal process of differentiation in that it demands 

 a return of the elaborated soma with the modifications 

 it has acquired during the course of its elaboration, 

 to the primitive condition of the germ. 



In Case IV the apparent inheritance of acquired 

 characters is due not to the fact that the parental soma 



