THE REPRODUCTION OF LIFE. 85 



sical basis to heredity, but the anatomy of a germ- 

 cell is only an instrument and can no more be 

 made to explain the phenomena of reproduction 

 than the physical organism of man can be made 

 to explain the phenomena of life. According to 

 Weismann and others, chromatin forms the phys- 

 ical basis of heredity and is the means of the trans- Heredity, 

 mission of all ancestral traits. If this be true, 

 then the anatomical basis or substance of all forms 

 of life is the same in the germ-cell and the varia- 

 tions of life remain unaccounted for. 



All attempts to explain the process of repro- 

 duction on a purely physical basis must necessa- 

 rily fail. Life inheres in and is transmitted by 

 the psychical rather than the physical nature. The Lifg j n j ieres ^ 

 difference between the germ-cells of the various the Soul. 

 forms of life is not in their chemical compound, 

 nor in their organic structure, but in the resident 

 life. So far as our power of analysis goes, the 



similar to the parent. In the eighteenth century came what 

 is known as the older "evolution" theories of Bounet and 

 Haller, in which it was held that the egg or spermatozoon 

 contained a minute but perfect repetition of the parent, and 

 that the development of the embryo was but the expansion 

 or "evolution" of this germ. In this germ was found the 

 germs of the next generation, and so on ad finitufn. 



No other theory was advanced for over a hundred years, 

 when Darwin published his "Origin of Species." This 

 renewed speculation on this line, and several theories were. 

 advanced ; among the more important were Spencer's 

 "Physiological Units," Darwin's "Pangenesis," "the flavor 

 and odor substance'' theory of Jagers, and the "plastidule" 

 theories of Haeckel and Elsberg. All of these theories, Darwin's 

 while differing substantially in detail and presentation, are 

 based upon the assumption that life has its beginning in 

 gemmules, or "physiological units," which are an epitome 



