271 
Dec., 1913. The Queensland Naturalist. 
Attention was drawn to the fact, that during the reducing 
division of nuclei which contain chromosomes of unequal size, 
gemini are constantly produced by the pairing of chromo- 
somes of equal size, which led to the conclusion that one 
comes from the father and one from the mother. It would 
seem that the component parts of each pair might pass to 
either pole, so that the paternal and maternal chromosomes 
would be distributed in varying proportion between the 
daughter nuclei, and it is not impossible that one daughter 
nucleus might occasionally contain paternal chrornosomes 
only, and the other maternal chromosomes only. The fact 
that in nuclei containing chromosomes of different size, the 
joining chromosomes are always of equal size, constitutes 
a further proof of their qualitative difference. This has been 
proved to be the case by experiments. To recapitulate, — 
the chain is not parent — germ- cell— embryo, but parent, 
egg fused egg — asexual germination.- — priinary germ-ceU, — 
secondary germ-cell, which divide into two lines one forming 
the individual, the other forming germ cells, to be used for 
the continuation of the species. 
These are the facts that have been established in connec- 
tion with the process of fertilisation and dnision. They 
go to prove, that, though built up by speculation, they give 
a groundwork to Weismann’s theory. What requires 
elucidation is not, how are the chromosomes or idants ar- 
ranged in the subsequent division, but what determines the 
formation of the idants in the parent — the sperm and the 
ovum — and whether, environment during the life of the 
individual has any direct influence on the formation of the 
chromosomes of the germ-cells. 
The evidence so far seems to show that there is no such 
influence, because germ-cells are formed from germ-cells only 
which are present already in the embryo, and are not formed 
from body — or soma cells. Each germ cell, sperm and ovum, 
contains all the potentialities to form complete individual, 
not necessarily material entities, such as biophores. At 
fertilisation these are joined together. In the developing 
process one complete set only of these is unfolded, and ■while 
the corresponding set remains dormant, the set employed 
may be composed of characters of either set. The second 
set is eliminated at the reduction stage, and those characters 
are chosen which are best adapted to the environment, and 
in this way the environment influences the variation and 
adaptation of the new organism An alteration of natural 
conditions will be followed by the alteration of the species, 
not the alteration of the individual. New varieties arise in 
adaptation to the new environment, for on this faculty the 
living organism depends for continuation. 
