EDMUND MONTGOMERY-ORGANIC REPRODUCTION. 
7 
living beings from non-living things. And infinitely more marvelous 
than the rest, the dawn of consciousness will break from its sense-lit sum¬ 
mit; will open on the immensity of the universe, understanding^ to 
mirror its multitudinous formations; will in its inward workings shake 
its habitation with emotions of love and hate, of hope and fear; and will 
make of its vital abilities subservient tools to satisfy its desires and to 
realize its heaven-scaling aspirations. 
No wonder that, this in mind, we investigators of life feel drawn day 
after day, month after month, year after year, to watch with scrupulous 
attention every least sign of vital activity manifested by the living sub¬ 
stance. Thus it happened that a few years ago observers became fascin¬ 
ated with the so-called karyoliinetic phenomena — phenomena displayed 
by the nucleus of cells while in process of fissiparous division. The com¬ 
pactly coiled constituents of the cell-nucleus are seen gradually to display, 
so as to form regular bi-polar figures. Exposed to tincturing, a number 
of beaded filaments were rendered prominent in the making-up of the 
spindle form figures. These were named chromosomes, and every slight¬ 
est change in their position and constitution was eagerly noticed. 
Concentrating thus one’s attention exclusive^ on these salient evolu¬ 
tions of the nuclear substance, it lay near to conclude that the entire 
process of fissiparuus division, and therewith of reproduction, was in¬ 
itiated and controlled by it. 
Weismann’s famous theory of heredity is wholly based upon this in¬ 
terpretation of the karyokinetic phenomena. He takes the substance of 
the chromosomes, of those beaded filaments, to be the sole bearer of the 
properties that are transmitted from parents to their offspring, and he 
names it, in consequence, germ-plasm. Starting from this foundation, 
believed to be given by directly observable facts, he formulates with 
great ingenuity and commanding biological knowledge a view of repro¬ 
duction differing toto genere from those of Darwin and Haeckel. We 
have seen that both these theories, that of Pangenesis and that of Peri- 
genesis, were governed by the conception that the variations from the 
present type occurring in the successive cell-generations which build up 
the complex organism were mainly induced b}' external influences at 
work upon them during phylogenetic evolution. And as each cell thus 
differentiated was taken to be a separate autonomous being, it had of 
necessity to convey centripetally a reproductive element of itself into 
the general or collective germ-cells. 
Weismann, in opposition to this, teaches that all variations from the 
parent type, which eventually lead to the widely disparate differentia¬ 
tion of cells and the tissues they constitute; that, in fact, all organic de¬ 
velopment is wrought exclusively by influences emanating from within 
the germ-plasm; that, consequently, the reproduction, as well as the 
