Arizona republican., 1899-10-30

Of the mother. even if it were possible
10 communicate these to the child
could possibly have any effect after
this time.
CYcl0ps, or one-eyed monsters, to
take another example are due to an
arrest in development after the two
outer halves but before the two inner
halves of the eyes are developed. The
arrest of development at this point
I then ceases and at the proper time the
TWO outer halves are joined. The sia-
i gle eye is thus derived from two outer
halves or separate eyes, and the or
gans between. including the nose, are
absent.
AS Dr.. Herman IF Chicago has for
chilly pointed out, the most of the cases
I reported are distinctly arrests of de-
/ Velopment and do not represent even
remotely Photographic reproductions o.
! impressions. A woman sees her en-
/ ragged husband cut off three toes from
the right foot of a chicken She fears
/ her child is born with three stubs of
fingers on his right hand. Further eX-
animation. however. reveals the fact
that these fingers are perfectly formed
with complete nails, ami do not repre-
sent anything cut off. 1t is an arrest
CT development occurring at 4 definite
period in embryonic lie and only #
the shock occurred at this special time
which does not appear, could it have
anything to 90 with the deformity.
1t is to be observed that. as Minot Of
Harvard points out. that the embryo
is simply an arrangement to prevent
the infringement of outside influences.
which environ the adult and enchain
him to the present. In the case of the
embryo. shut away from light. varia
lions of heat and other forms of force,
the inner possibilities of living matter
have a greater opportunity to assert
themselves. The one thing needed IS
the material for nutrition. which. given
passively by the mother, but filtered
through the fine placental capillaIies.
is directed entirely BY the germinat-
ing forces of the child Itself. There is
absolutely no nervous connection. The
blood is the only means OF coInmunica-
ton. and even here the placenta exerts
4 otecting-although not a perfectly
ecting-induence Wertheimer and
Meyer have recently SHOWN that ami
line injected into the blood system of
gestating lower animals is not discoV-
cred either in itself or its byproducts
in the blood of the embryo.
The plan of the embryo is thus re-
moval from outward impressions. This
is a condition which has gradually been
built up by evolution. because il has
allowed of fortuna e variations in the
organization of the child which fitted
it 10 survive better than its parents in
the struggle for existence The seciu-
sion Of the embryo is the condition of
progress and Improvement. 1t is some
times much grea ter than paltry mater
nal Impressions which is at work dur
ing these mysterious months The first
law of growth is not exercise. but thu !
removal from exercise and stimulation.
The higher condition of nature is not
originated. although it may be first re-
vealed after a long life Of action and
reaction to complex environment. 1t |
is the child which leads the race AMI |
the embryo which leads the child, and I
even in adult life it is not hurry and /
push, but a reversiOn to the embryonic /
conditions Of leisure and freedom I
which permits of real originality
The conception of arrest of develop |
ment focuses the attention upon the
inner forces OF growth rather than up
on she external Impressions Prenatal
from this standpoint extend
far beyond the period of CESSATION or
TIE life of the individual. The germ
pIasm from which every human being
develops has lived for many millions OF
years. In the line of descent. between
the first germ cell and every cell which
now cOmposes human bodies, there has
never been single cell which has ever
lied. The cells which did die are not
he ancestors OF any of those which
are now alive. We do not inherit
death. but life. and death of certain
groups OF cells is only an acquisition
n the struggle for existence to permit
IF larger life. The germ p!asm may
De regarded as a continuous race root
stock from which individuals bud, like
he shoots which come up from an I'M
foreground stem in spring. individuals
ire expressions of the root stock, or
germ plasln. The germ plasm is not
he expression of individuals. 1t is
nearly as true to say that a man in
lerits from his immediate children as
o say that his Immediate children in
lerit from him. The truth is that
very individual inherits not from an
,ther individual, but from the race
took of which they are both express
lions. When hereditary blindness APP
,ears in a family statistics show that
t is as likely 10 be transmitted by the {
brother OF sister who is not blind as by
he one who is. individuals are thus
PRODUCED as experiments by the race
md die.
The germ plasm. however as Weis-
mann himself admits. IS subject TO In
Iuence by it's environment in the bod
es Of individuals which contain it.
these influences. however. are never
pecial and can all be regarded as
ither producing better nutrition or ar
estfrg development by interfering
With nutrition. The same thing is true
E the embryo. Fere shows that when F
ems. eggs are Vanished in certain sec
ions the Development of the embryo
: arrested under these regions. Differ
Mt patterns of varnish viii produce
ifferenr patterns OF defective chick
ms. There has been no material i'm
ression. but a serious arrest of de-
eIopment has been occasioned by ir
ssul3r heating CT by preventing ths '
low exchange Of eases or circulation