Ontogenetic and Mnemonic Phenomena 315 
which would be at the same time the basis of both the 
phenomenon of heredity and the mnemonic phenomenon. 
So that these latter instead of being explaine1 by each 
other, would both be explained by this single phenome- 
non, more simple and more general than either. 
So it will be worth while for us, in the last chapter 
which follows this, to subject the mnemonic phenomenon 
to a rapid examination in order to see if it likewise 
really finds an adequate explanation in this supposed 
elementary biological phenomenon of a specific accumu- 
lation of energy. And then we shall examine more 
closely the question whether this same hypothetical ele- 
mentary phenomenon cannot at the same time explain 
at least partially the fundamental properties of the vital 
phenomenon itself in all its generality. 
