Variation—Germinal and Environmental ¹

Abstract

“THE most critical and momentous period in the life-history of any plant or animal,” says Prof. Cossar Ewart, “is during the conjugation of the male and female germ-cells.” The variation which flows from this blending of the reproductive elements he speaks of as “germinal.” That which occurs in the germ-cells up to the moment of conjugation, together with the variations during development and growth, he designates as “environmental.”