INADEQUACY OF NATURAL SELECTION, ETC. 681 



Even if left without reply, Professor "VVeismann's interpreta- 

 tion commits him to some insuperable difficulties, which I must 

 now point out. L^nquestionably he has " the courage of his 

 opinions ; " and it is shown throughout this collateral discussion 

 as elsewhere. He is compelled by accumulated evidence to admit 

 " that there is only one kind of egg from which queens and 

 workers as well as males arise." * But if the production of one 

 or other form from the same germ does not result from speciality 

 of feeding, what does it result from ? Here is his reply : — 



'* We must rather suppose that the primary constituents of two distinct 

 reproductive systems — e.g. those of the queen and worker — are contained in 

 the germ-plasm of the egg." f 



" The courage of his opinions," which Professor Weismann 

 shows in this assumption, is, however, quite insufficient. For 

 since he himself has just admitted that there is only one kind of 

 Q:gg for queens, workers, and males, he must at any rate assume 

 three sets of " determinants." (I find that on a subsequent page 

 he does so.) But this is not enough, for there are, in many 

 cases, two if not more kinds of workers, which implies that four 

 sets of determinants must co-exist in the same egg. Even now 

 we have not got to the extent of the assumption required. In 

 the address above referred to on " Social Insects from Psychical 

 and Evolutional Points of View," Professor Riley gives us (p. 33) 

 the— 



Forms in a Termes Colony under Normal Conditions. 

 1. Youngest larvae. 



2. Larvae [of those] unfit 3. Larvae [that will be] fit 



for reproduction. for reproduction. 



4. Larvae of 5. Larvae of 8. Nymphs of 1st 9. Nymphs of 2nd 

 workers. soldiers. form. form. 



I I I 



6. "Workers. 7. Soldiers. 10. Winged forms. 



11. True royal pairs. 



Hence as, in this family tree, the royal pair includes male and 

 female, it results that there are Jive diiferent adult forms (Grassi 

 says there are two others) arising from like eggs or larva? ; and 

 Professor Weismann's hypothesis becomes proportionately com- 

 plicated. Let us observe what the complications are. 



It often happens in controversy — metaphysical controversy 

 more than any other — that propositions are accepted without 

 their terms having been mentally represented. In public pro- 

 ceedings documents are often " taken as read," sometimes with 

 mischievous results ; and in discussions propositions are often 



* Romanes Lecture, p. 29. f Ibid., p. 36. 



