Hertzvig 235 



munity against ricin, just so according to Hertwig's view 

 do all the cells behave toward acquired characters in gen- 

 eral. "In the same way as the cell is sensitive to the 

 action of ricin, which brings about an enduring material 

 modification of it, and this becomes inherited as im- 

 munity to ricin, so I think every cell is sensitive also to 

 the influence of the general condition of the body, which 

 brings about material modifications of its substance, that 

 is of its idioplasm or hereditary material, which is es- 

 pecially susceptible of such material modifications, and 

 these correspond to the cause as its effect both in the cells 

 of the soma and also in the sexual products." 181 



We shall not consider here the fact demonstrated by 

 Ehrlich, that in the instance in which only one of the 

 parents was immunized, the immunity was transmitted 

 very well to the young of an immunized mother but on 

 the contrary was not transmitted to the young of an im- 

 munized father; a fact which seems to confirm the 

 hypothesis of Ehrlich that the immunity against ricin was 

 due to the formation of an anti-ricin, with which the 

 protoplasm of all the cells became impregnated, but with 

 which the spermatazoon could not become impregnated 

 because it is almost entirely devoid of protoplasm, show- 

 ing consequently that one has to do here not at all with a 

 permanent modification of the nuclear idioplasm. But 

 even apart from that and even admitting the hypothesis 

 that the immunity against ricin was due from the be- 

 ginning or at the time to the acquisition by the idioplasm 

 of a new and persistent character, 182 it is still evident 

 that this is not a just comparison. 



For in the case of infections, immunizations, and so 



181 Oscar Hertwig: Ibid. II. P. 242. 

 182 Oscar Hertwig: Ibid. P. 241. 



