282 Theories Treating of Inheritance 
Because of the fact that the theory of Darwin derives 
the germinal substance from all parts of the soma. rather 
than from one well defined region of it, its partisans 
could certainly not object to these experiments that they 
leave the conception still possible that the germinal sub- 
stance might perhaps be transmitted from such a special 
well defined region to the sexual organs only along certain 
very definite special ways, which might be quite different 
from the blood vessels. And on account of the nature and 
properties attributed to the gemmules they would be still 
less able to advance the conjecture that a substance might 
possibly be reproduced at a distance, quite like another 
substance, by the direct influence of the latter, by means 
of some other means of connection of such nature that 
it would not require any real and proper material trans- 
mission. From this the conclusion may be drawn, that 
all theories which do not exclude or perhaps even include 
one or the other of these two hypotheses upon the manner 
of transmission or upon the means of reproduction at a 
distance of the germinal substance, are completely justi- 
fied in accepting Darwin’s conception of the sexual 
glands, acording to which the latter have nnly the func- 
tion of receiving and accumulating a substance the real 
origin of which is outside these organs. 
In the case of Galton we shall recall only that he was 
the first who introduced the theory that stirp,—i. e., the 
germ plasm consisting of numerous germs or of gem- 
mules which remain behind after the extrusion of the 
particles concerned directly in the formation of the new 
organism—separated itself entirely from the soma 
immediately, at the commencement of development. 
Through this separation of the stirp from the soma he 
opened the way which later led necessarily to the uncon- 
