f 



TRAXSACTIONS OF SECTION II. 7.'»7 



the department of Anatomy and Pbysiolopry, in the section of Geography and 

 Ethnolo{,'y, in that of Geolopr^-, or in that of Statistif.«i. It is true thata vi^'orous 

 attempt was made about that time to give it a more independent po8iiion,'^but it 

 was not until tlie Association met in Nottinfjham, in 18(!(i, tiiat it was assigned a 

 definite department, and at the Montreal meeting, in 1«8-1, Anthropology a^umed 

 the dignity of a section. 



But although the youngest section of the Association, the Science of Man is 

 uot the youngest of the sciences. Long before the British Association came into 

 existence, man, in his physical, racial, geological, and psychological aspects, had 

 been studied by luists of able and industrious inquirers. All tliat the Association 

 had done in establishing a special section of Anthropological Science has Ijeen to 

 bring together, as it were, into a single focus all those workei-s who apply them- 

 selves to the study of man in his various aspects. 



As presiding over the proceedings of the Section on this occasion, it is a part of 

 my duty to open its public business with an address. For me, as doubtless for 

 many of those who have preceded me in tliis honourable office, njy mind has been 

 somewhat exercised in the choice of a subject. In a brancli of biological science 

 so vast as Anthropology, in which tlie room for selection is so ample, the difficulty 

 of making a choice is perhaps still further increased. As a professional anatomist, 

 whose life's work it has been to study the structure of the human body in its 

 normal aspects, to inquire into the variations which it exhibits in different indi- 

 viduals, and to compare its structure with that of various forms of animal life, it at 

 first occurred to me that an address on the physical cliaracteristics of some of the 

 races of men would be appropriate. But further consideration led me to think 

 that such a subject would be too technical for a general audience, and that it might 

 perhaps be productive of greater interest on the part of mv auditors if I selec"ted 

 a topic which, wliilst strictly scientific in all its bearings,' 3-et appeals more dis- 

 tinctly to the ]iopular mind, and is now attracting attention. ' Hence I have chosen 

 the subject of Heredity, by which I mean that special property through which the 

 peculiarities of an organism are transmitted to its descendants throughout succes- 

 sive generations, so that the olTspring, in their main features, resemble their 

 parents. 



The subject of Heredity, if I may say so, is in the air at the present time. 

 The journals and magazines, both sc-ieutific and literary, are continually discussin" 

 it, and valuable treati.ses on the subject are appearing" at frequent intervals. But 

 though so important a topic of existing scientific thought and speculation, it is by 

 no means a new subject, and certain of its aspects were under discus-sion so far 

 back as the time of Aristotle. The prominence which it has assumed of late 

 years is in connection with its bearing on the Darwinian Tlieory of Natural 

 Selection, and, consequently, biologists generally have had their attention directed 

 to it. But in its relations to Man, his structure, functions, and disease.s, it has 

 long occupied a prominent position in the minds of anatomists, physiologists, 

 and physicians. That certain diseases, for example, are hereditarv was "recognised 

 by Hippocrates, who stated generally that heredit;iry diseases' are difficult to 

 remove, and the influence which the hereditary transmission of disease exercises 

 upon the duration of life is the subject of a chapter in numerous works on practical 

 medicine, and forms an im])ortant element in the valuation of lives for life 

 insurance. 



The first aspect of the question which has to be determined is whether any 

 ])hysical basis can be found for Heredity. Is there any evidence that the two 

 parents contribute each a portion of its substance to the production of the offspring 

 80 that a physical continuity is established between successive generations? The 

 careful study, especially during the last few years, of the development of a number 

 of species of animals mostly but not exclusively amongst the luvertebrata, by 

 various observers, of whom 1 may especially name Biitsehli, Fol, E. Van Beneden, 

 and Hertwig, has established the inj])ortan"t fact that the young animal arises by 

 the fusion within the egg or germ-cell of an extremely minute particle derive"d 

 from the male parent with an almost eqiially minute particle derived from the germ- 

 cell produced by the female parent. These particles are technically termed in the 



