108 THE CELL IN RELATION TO 



point of view the fertilization of the egg might 

 iahnost be compared to an intracellular injection 

 of enzymes. 



The apparent simpHcity of such an hypothesis 

 should not delude us into the belief that it touches 

 the root of the matter. It presupposes a specific 

 " organization " of the chromosomes of which we 

 know nothing, and upon which must depend the 

 perpetuation of their characteristic chemical con- 

 stituents. In this direction we are thrown back 

 upon purely speculative constructions which it 

 would be unprofitable to follow out here. But 

 so far as the hypothesis goes it seems to offer a 

 really practical point of attack for the chemical 

 study of differentiation and heredity. In the 

 Mendehan phenomenon we see a synthesis, split- 

 ting apart, and recombination of determinative 

 factors that is singularly like that of chemical ele- 

 ments or radicals. In the Mendehan heredity 

 of color, for instance, the orderly resolution by 

 the germ-cells of compound pigment-producing 

 factors into simpler ones, their recombination to 

 form new compounds, the intensification or dilu- 

 tion of color by specific and separable factors, the 

 production of particular colors by mixing to- 

 gether factors which are singly incapable of pro- 

 ducing color — ^in all this we see a series of oper- 

 ations that show an astonishing similarity to the 

 procedure of the chemist in his laboratory. That 

 such things are possible in the case of relatively 

 simple characters, such as colors, gives strong 



