HEREDITY 173 



every other part of the organism ? Lastly, is not 

 this recurrence of the former dynamic state really 

 analogous to memory, and therefore entirely in 

 accordance with the habitual mode of functioning of 

 the nervous system ? Darwin, as Miles remarks, " 

 seemed to have taken the view that the male element 

 in reproduction may act directly on the mother form. 

 ' The male element,' he says, ' not only affects, in 

 accordance with its proper function, the germ, but the 

 surrounding tissues of the mother plant.'* And 

 again : ' The analogy from the direct action of 

 foreign pollen on the ovarium and seed-coats of the 

 mother plant strongly supports the belief that the 

 male element acts directly on the reproductive organs 

 of the female, wonderful as is this action, and not 

 through the intervention of the crossed embryo.' t 



If we regard reproduction as a whole primarily and 

 chiefly as a dynamic phenomenon, we shall be the less 

 inclined to underrate the influence to which Darwin 

 draws attention. At the same time, however, we 

 must not forget that the spermatozoon itself is 

 essentially a vibratile body, nor overlook the fact that 

 reproduction may sometimes take place without actual 

 connection of the reproductive organs. One thing is 

 certain : the substance of the spermatozoon or ovum 

 is secondary to the force which animates them. 

 There is probably no difference of a chemical order 

 between the spermatozoon and ovum which unite to 



* ' Animals and Plants under Uoinestication,' vol. i., p. 483. 

 t Ibid., p. 486. 



