Essays on Life 



parents. But this does not appear to have 

 been by any means invariably the case. 

 Brown-Sequard himself says : ' The changes 

 in the eye of the offspring were of a very 

 variable nature, and were only occasionally ex- 

 actly similar to those observed in the parents.' 



" There is no doubt, however, that these 

 experiments demand careful consideration, 

 but before they can claim scientific recogni- 

 tion, they must be subjected to rigid criticism 

 as to the precautions taken, the nature and 

 number of the control experiments, &e. 



"Up to the present time such necessary 

 conditions have not been sufficiently observed. 

 The recent experiments themselves are only 

 described in short preliminary notices, which, 

 as regards their accuracy, the possibility of 

 mistake, the precautions taken, and the exact 

 succession of individuals affected, afford no 

 data on which a scientific opinion can be 

 founded " (pp. 81, 82). 



The line Professor Weismann takes, there- 

 fore, is to discredit the facts ; yet on a later 

 page we find that the experiments have since 



been repeated by Obersteiner, "who has 



294 



