360 The Morality of Nature 



suggests that two cells might begin such an alliance because 

 they were unequal; and one, the primary, had produced an 

 offspring of inferior power, which was thus unable to launch 

 into independence ; and which, to preserve its existence at all, 

 must remain in alliance. It is not to be supposed that a 

 primitive creature selects a course for its activities; when 

 a question arises in nature, if it is one of any consequence, 

 it appears in many cases; and is answered by many re- 

 sponses, and some of the answering creatures die and their 

 solution is pronounced wrong, while others survive and their 

 solution is found to be right. 



Thus it arose that some combinations of two cells found 

 their experiment beneficial, and cells issuing subordinate 

 cells, prospered thereby. Now these subordinate cells need 

 not be sterile. The impetus of division, established in habit 

 as earlier studies revealed, impels the continued division un- 

 til nutrition or affinities fail, or heredity is fulfilled. The 

 master cell also, must be imagined to itself produce other 

 issues of equal or subordinate cells. So that in time the 

 master cell would be possessed of a number of attendant 

 cells doing accessory service. These accessory cells, as ob- 

 served in nature, are called somatic cells ; that is, body mak- 

 ing cells, as distinguished from the master cells, which are 

 the germ-plasm or self -perpetuating cells. The somatic cells 

 are qualified only for subordinate work, while the germ cells 

 are portions of the immortal germ-plasm, and are qualified 

 to issue germ cells with all the heredity of the life-plasm. 

 The somatic cells receive only a part of the inherited chro- 

 matin qualities, while the germ cells receive all of them. 

 Thus the latter alone are capable of becoming new master 



