70 Hypothetical Bearers of Hereditary Characters 



of Darwin's pangenfesis, at which almost all later investi- 

 gators arrived more or less clearly. At least, the critical 

 discussion of tfieir opinions leads, in the end, to this 

 postulate. Whether we speak of the molecules of the pro- 

 toplasm, or of the germ-plasm and idioplasm, as bearers 

 of the entire specific character; or whether we place in 

 the foreground the phenomena of hereditary; or, again, 

 whether, like Sachs and Godlewski, we use as a basis the 

 processes of growth and regeneration, 44 we always finally 

 end by assuming different bearers of the inherited attri- 

 butes. But we reach this conclusion in the most certain 

 and clear manner if, following Darwin's example, we 

 regard the whole world of organisms from the most 

 general point of view possible. 



According to the hypothesis concerning their nature, 

 these units have been given different names. For the one 

 adopted by me I have chosen the name, pangen. 



These pangens do not each represent a morphological 

 member of the organism, a cell or a part of a cell, but 

 each a special hereditary character. These can be recog- 

 nized by each being able to vary independently from the 

 others. Their study opens a very promising field to ex- 

 perimental investigation. 



The pangens are not chemical molecules, but morpho- 

 logical structures, each built up of numerous molecules. 

 They are the life-units, the characters of which can be 

 explained in an historical way only. 



We must simply look for the chief life-attributes in 

 them, without being able to explain them. We must 

 therefore assume that they assimilate and take nourish- 



44 Sachs, J. Stoff und Form der Pflanzenorgane. Arbeit. Bot. 

 Instit. Wiirzburg. 2: 452. 1880. Godlewski, E. Bot. Centralb. 34: 

 82. 1888. 



