The germ-plasm : a theory of heredity / by August Weismann ; translated by W. Newton Parker and Harriet Rönnfeldt.

  • Weismann, August, 1834-1914.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The germ-plasm : a theory of heredity / by August Weismann ; translated by W. Newton Parker and Harriet Rönnfeldt. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    PREFACE. NY attempt at the present time to work out a theory of heredity in detail may appear to many premature, and almost presumptuous : I confess there have been times when it has seemed so even to myself. I could not, how- ever, resist the temptation to endeavour to penetrate the mystery of this most marvellous and complex chapter of life as far as my own ability and the present state of our knowledge permitted. , Even though the present attempt may be very imperfect and incomplete, I cannot regard it as premature. Our knowledge has increased during the last twenty years to such an extent, that it does not seem to be altogether a hopeless task to inquire into the actual processes on which the phenomena of heredity depend. It is, moreover, very essential that we should possess a thecry of heredity, worked out in such a manner as to suggest new problems, which in their turn will lead to new solutions. Previous hypotheses have been insufficient in this respect, owing to the fact that they have not been worked out in detail. They are rather to be regarded as paving the way to future theories, by merely formulating explanatory prin- ciples without professing to apply them to all the different groups of phenomena which come under the head of heredity, by which means alone their true value can be tested. Even Darwin's theory of ' pangenesis' was inade-