Palingenesis with heredity 17 



approximately the same time in the two 

 eases — that of a single persisting individual 

 and that of a continuous succession of 

 perishing individuals — the recapitulatory 

 process, peculiar to the second case, proves 

 to be vastly more rapid. It took thousands 

 of years, say, to produce the first chicken, 

 but the hen's q^^ reaches the same level in 

 three weeks. To be sure the recapitulation 

 is not precise and complete in every detail ; 

 yet most biologists, I believe, allow that it is 

 very full and substantial. Nevertheless even 

 in the most complex organisms far the 

 greater part of it is accomplished within a 

 year. How may we account for this extra- 

 ordinary brevity in the repetition of a process 

 that took so long at first ? The consideration 

 of this question in the light of our preliminary 

 investigation may lead us towards a solution 

 of our problem. 



2 



