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THE GERM-CELLS 133

to the obscure cases, and to say that the germ-cells
are those cells which retain the complete complement
of heritable qualities. Adopting the conception of the
germ-plasm as the material within the nucleus which
bears all the properties transmitted in inheritance,
we may still say, in Weismann's words, " In every
development a portion of this specific germ-plasm,
which the parental ovum contains, is unused In the
upbuilding of the offspring's body, and Is reserved
unchanged to form the germ-ceils of the next
generation. . . . The germ-cells no longer appear
as products of the body, at least not In their more
essential part—the specific germ-plasm j they appear
rather as something opposed to the sum-total of body-
cells ; and the germ-cells of successive generations
are related to one another like generations of
Protozoa." In terms of this conception, which fits
many facts, we may say that in plants and lower
animals the distinction between germ-plasm and
somato-plasm has not been much accentuated, and that
in some organisms the body-cells retain enough
undifferentiated germ-plasm to enable them in small
or large companies to regrow an entire organism.

It may be said that Spencer must also have
regarded the germ-cells as containing the whole
complement of hereditary qualities. // must be so.
The point is that he rejected the theory which gives
a rational account of how the germ-cells have this
content and their power of developing into an organism,
like from like. The sentence in which he points
out that the reproductive organs have " none of the
specialities of structure which might be looked for,
did the sperm-cells and germ-cells need endowing 'with



	THE GERM-CELLS 133 to the obscure cases, and to say that the germ-cells are those cells which retain the complete complement of heritable qualities. Adopting the conception of the germ-plasm as the material within the nucleus which bears all the properties transmitted in inheritance, we may still say, in Weismann's words, " In every development a portion of this specific germ-plasm, which the parental ovum contains, is unused In the upbuilding of the offspring's body, and Is reserved unchanged to form the germ-ceils of the next generation. . . . The germ-cells no longer appear as products of the body, at least not In their more essential part—the specific germ-plasm j they appear rather as something opposed to the sum-total of body- cells ; and the germ-cells of successive generations are related to one another like generations of Protozoa." In terms of this conception, which fits many facts, we may say that in plants and lower animals the distinction between germ-plasm and somato-plasm has not been much accentuated, and that in some organisms the body-cells retain enough undifferentiated germ-plasm to enable them in small or large companies to regrow an entire organism. It may be said that Spencer must also have regarded the germ-cells as containing the whole complement of hereditary qualities. // must be so. The point is that he rejected the theory which gives a rational account of how the germ-cells have this content and their power of developing into an organism, like from like. The sentence in which he points out that the reproductive organs have " none of the specialities of structure which might be looked for, did the sperm-cells and germ-cells need endowing 'with