Evidence from Metazoan Germ-Cells 23 



(c) Critical Examination of ConkUuH Interpretation 



One is stinick at the outset of a critical exainiiiation of 

 these sentences by the fact that what is chiinied is that ob- 

 servations have been made wliereby a nietliod is "sufrfrested 

 of harmonizing tlie facts of cytophismic h)cahzati()n with 

 the nuclear inheritance theory"; and that tiiis siiggestcd 

 harmonization of sucli localization with the "nuclear in- 

 heritance theory" (not "cliromatinic inlicritancc theory" 

 be it noticed) is the final count in a mass of evidence wiiich 

 "practically amounts to a demonstration" that tlie "chro- 

 mosomes are the seat of the inheritance material." 



In other words objective facts which are only suggestive 

 of a conclusion as touching the inheritance role of the xvhoU 

 nucleus rise to the demonstrational level as touching tlic 

 same role of very small parts of the nucleus. 



The method by which this particular piece of h:)gical 

 sleight-of-hand is performed is easy to see, for though va- 

 ried to meet the exigencies of the special case, it folh)ws the 

 general sclieme of elementalistic interpretation with which 

 we have become famihar. In the first place, the fact that 

 the observations furnisli very little if anv direct evidence 

 that the chromosomes cause the cytoplasmic flowing and 

 localization is made innocuous as evidence against the chro- 

 mosome dogma by assuming that the flowing and localization 

 do not themselves come under heredity. That such an as- 

 sumption is implied in the argument seems certain fiom 

 the fact that Conklin did not consider that tlie general 

 theory of chromosomes as the bearers of heredity which he 

 had espoused made it incumbent u})on him to take cognizance 

 of the fact that he himself had in reality testified that 

 portions of the nucleus other than chromosomes are the 

 seat of inheritance material. We have here another and a 

 very notable case of shielding a pi-evalent theory l)v defini- 

 tion; that is, of shutting relevant but inimical facts away 



