34^ ON THE NUMBER OF POLAR BODIES, ETC. 



the secrets of life has not yet been found, and a considerable 

 period of time must elapse before its discovery. But although 

 I can only offer an hypothesis, I hope to be able to show that 

 it has not been rashly adopted, but that it has grown in a 

 natural manner from the secure foundation of ascertained 

 facts. 



Nothing impresses the stamp of truth upon an hypothesis 

 more than the fact that its light renders intelligible not only 

 those facts for the explanation of which it has been framed, 

 but also other and more distantly related groups of phenomena. 

 This seems to me to be the case with my hypothesis, since the 

 interpretation of polar bodies and the ideas derived from it 

 unite from very different points of view, the facts of repro- 

 duction, heredity and even the transformation of species, into 

 a comprehensive system, which although by no means com- 

 plete, is nevertheless harmonious, and therefore satisfactory. 



Only the most essential elements of the new facts which 

 form the foundation of the views developed in this essay will 

 be briefly mentioned. My object is to show all the theoretical 

 bearings of these new facts, not to describe them in technical 

 detail. Such a description accompanied by the necessary' 

 figures will shortly be given in another place ^ 



A. W. 

 Freiburg i. Br., May 30, 1887, 



^ See Berichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Freiburg i. B., 

 Band III. (1887) Heft i, ' Ueber die Bildung der Richtungskorper bei 

 thierischen Eiern,' by August Weismann and C. Ischikawa. 



