A Possibility 103 



things to be more easily accomplished, but 

 the gain thus made in particular directions 

 is accompanied by a loss in that general 

 responsiveness upon which consciousness de- 

 pends. Reduction and regeneration may bring 

 back the responsiveness which the somatic 

 cells have lost, yet if a lack of differentia- 

 tion is the test of the heights to which cell 

 life can ascend, germ cells would still be 

 the superior cells and those in which con- 

 sciousness reaches its highest form. We have, 

 however, a tendency against consciousness in 

 the fact that reproduction takes from the 

 body the cells which, if retained, would be 

 the best medium of consciousness. This, in 

 part, is counteracted by the retention of the 

 sex products within the body and their trans- 

 formation into nerves. But admitting this, 

 nerves are specialized products, and while 

 they permit a freer and readier flow of nerve 

 currents, they do not form the undifferentiated 

 centres where consciousness might dwell. To 

 account for nerves is one thing; to account 

 for a head and brain is another. A body may 

 have instincts, emotions, nerve currents, yes, 



