The Biological Problem of To-day: Preformation Or Epigenesis?: The Basis of a Theory of Organic DevelopmentHertwig, Oscar
Science
The Biological Problem of To-day: Preformation Or Epigenesis?: The Basis of a Theory of Organic Development
Hertwig, Oscar
Developmental biology; Embryology; Genetics
It seems probable to me, although as yet I cannot get complete proof of it,
that sexual and vegetative affinity, that is to say, the relationship
between the egg-cell and the pollen of two species, and the relation
between twig and stem, depend upon the same intrinsic qualities of that
elementary organism the cell.
Vöchting distinguishes as harmonic or disharmonic the modes of union
between twig and stem, according to whether or no they reach the formation
of functional unity. Among cases of disharmony there are several
interesting gradations. Generally speaking, in the case of plants not
adapted to each other, no attempt at union occurs, and the grafted twig
speedily perishes; sometimes even the stem dies, as if it had been poisoned
by the graft. In other cases the disharmony is not shown so strongly. The
twig and the stem begin to unite, but, sooner or later, disturbances occur,
and complete destruction results. According to Vöchting, in the case of
some _Cruciferæ_ the disturbances are as follows: the twig begins to form
roots at its lower end, and these grow into the stem of the host. Through
them the twig uses as food the juices and salts of the stem, refusing to
unite with the stem so as to form a single individual. As Vöchting says,
this formation of roots simply is an attempt on the part of the twig to
complete its own individuality. Instead of growing into corporate union
with the stem, the twig attempts to become a parasite upon it. A further
consequence often is, that the stem, too, begins to respond to the
unadaptive stranger's influence. Thus, when Vöchting grafted a _Rhipsalis
paradoxa_ on an _Opuntia labouretiana_, he found that round the roots of
the graft the tissues of the host threw out a protective sheath of cork, or
turned in places to a gelatinous mass.
In some cases experimenters have overcome disharmony between two species, A
and B, by making use of a third species, C, with a vegetative affinity for
both A and B. Thus, an intermediary between the two disharmonic forms is
made, and by such an arrangement a single functional individual is produced
from pieces of three different species. Thus, upon A, as stock, a shoot of
C is grafted, while upon this shoot of C, as stock, a shoot of B in turn is
grafted.
In the matter of these different grades of disharmony, a comparison may be
made between sexual and vegetative affinities. In many cases the
spermatozoa of one species will not impregnate the eggs of another species.
In other cases, the alien spermatozoon may penetrate the egg and unite with
its nucleus, making, however, an unsatisfactory combination in various
degrees of infertility. Sometimes the fertilised egg divides only a few
times and then dies; sometimes development proceeds to the stage of the
blastula, the gastrula, or even further; but it then comes to an end,
through intrinsic causes beyond our ken, and, finally, complete destruction
follows.
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