Chapter 10

_PANGENESIS._

A provisional hypothesis supplementing "Natural Selection."--Statement of the hypothesis.--Difficulty as to multitude of gemmules.--As to certain modes of reproduction.--As to formations without the requisite gemmules.--Mr. Lewes and Professor Delpino.--Difficulty as to developmental force of gemmules.--As to their spontaneous fission.--Pangenesis and Vitalism.--Paradoxical reality.--Pangenesis scarcely superior to anterior hypotheses.--Buffon.--Owen.--Herbert Spencer.--Gemmules as mysterious as "physiological units."--Conclusion ... _Page_ 208