Abstract
THE fundamental property of all living matter is assimilation and consequent growth; and reproduction is merely discontinuous growth. This is most apparent in the Protozoa, where the primitive form of reproduction—division into two parts—is common. Each part exactly resembles the other part, and both the parent. Heredity in them merely means identity of bodily substance, and consequent identity of vital phenomena. In Metazoa there is a sharp distinction between reproductive cells and body cells. In many cases it is certain that the reproductive cells of each new organism arise directly from the reproductive cells of the parent. Here there is as manifestly a continuity or identity of the germ-plasma as in the Protozoa. As has already been explained by Prof. Moseley in this paper, Weismann extends this phylogenetic continuity of germ-cell, or at least of germ-plasma—the essential constituent of the germ-cell—to all the Metazoa.
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References
"Ueber die Vererbung," von Dr. August Weismann . (Jena, 1884.)
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MITCHELL, P. Weismann on Heredity 1 . Nature 38, 156–157 (1888). https://doi.org/10.1038/038156a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/038156a0