IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



well established characters. It is on this hypothesis that, accord- 

 ing to my views, the theory of heredity ought to rest. 



Moreover, the continuous and repeated segmentation of the 

 nuclei, and the equal division of their chromatine in the daughter 

 cells, has been the cause, most undoubtedly, of the uniform distribu- 

 tion of the characters of the entire organism in the cells imbued with 

 reproductive power, whether sexual or gemmoidal ; consequently, 

 the oftener the segmentation has been repeated, the more perfect 

 will be the reproduction of the organism with constant characters. 

 And this consideration also points to an acceptation of the theory 

 that hereditary force must have gone on increasing with time, in due 

 proportion to the number of generations which a given individual 

 can reckon in its genealogical tree. 



As far as plants are concerned, it is not alone in the reproductive 

 cells that the elementary constituents of the entire individual are 

 centred, but also in numerous other cells disseminated in the more 

 vital portion of the plant, that is, in the cambium of every vascular 

 bundle. Each of these cells virtually represents an entire individual, 

 and probably more specially the organ of which it is a portion ; thus 

 to render possible the accumulation of the characteristics of the 

 entire organism in the reproductive cells it would suffice that there 

 should be a transference into these of the micellae of a limited 

 number of such cells. When presented under this aspect, the theory 

 of pangenesis appears much more simple. 



And now let us return to Borneo, and, with facts and deduction 

 to guide us, endeavour to find out whether there is any probability 

 that ancestors of Man have existed on that island. 



Admitting species to be dependent on climate, can Man have 

 been evolved in Borneo ? Can the orang-utan be an archaic form 

 of mankind ? 



The opinion that the races of Man are climatic productions is 

 a very old one ; and that this may originally have been true 

 can hardly be objected to by evolutionists who accept the theory of 

 adaptability to the environment. Only — on account of the inter- 

 mingling of living races, brought about by various causes — such a 

 belief is now no longer altogether borne out by facts. 



But even admitting for the moment that the indications furnished 

 by climate are not sufficient to give us the clue to Man's origin, there 

 are other means of discovering the place of his first appearance. 

 Giving due consideration to the laws which rule the geographical 

 distribution of animals on the surface of the earth, it is difficult not 

 to believe that Man had his origin in the same regions as those in 

 which we find the anthropoid apes. Indeed, according to the Dar- 

 winian theory of descent, not only the species, but also the genera 

 of a given group of living beings must be the direct offspring of a 

 common ancestor ; and thus, even when the descendants of the 



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