The Ethics of Medical Homicide and MutilationO'Malley, Austin
Religion
The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation
O'Malley, Austin
Medical ethics
In a paper read at the Darwinian Memorial Congress in 1909, Weismann
said: "With others I regard the minimal amount of substance which
is contained within the nucleus of the germ-cells in the form of
rods, bands, or granules, as the _germ-substance_, or _germ-plasm_,
and I call the individual granules[37] _ids_. There is always a
multiplicity of such _ids_ present in the nucleus, either occurring
individually or united in the forms of rods and bands (chromosomes).
Each _id_ contains the primary constituents of the _whole_
individual, so that several _ids_ are concerned in the development
of a new individual." Actually there are such things as chromosomes,
and when these are stained and are under the highest power of the
microscope they appear to be granular. These granules Weismann calls
_ids_. Beyond the fact that there are such granules, all else is
sheer guessing.
[37] _Id_ is a word derived from Nägeli's term idioplasm, which
means the chromosome granule.
He says further: "In every complex structure thousands of primary
constituents must go to make up a single _id_; these I call
_determinants_, and I mean by this name very small individual
particles, far beyond the limit of microscopic visibility, vital
units, which feed, grow, and multiply by division. These determinants
control the parts of the developing embryo,--in what manner need not
here concern us."
There is some truth here. The _id_ is made up of molecules and atoms,
ions and electrons, and in some manner, of course, these have to do
with the development of the embryo; but as to the manner we have not
the slightest knowledge, and just this knowledge is what we need
to make the theory anything more dignified than a child's game at
guessing. There is a structural differentiation in the unsegmented
ovum, with all the embryonal axes foreshadowed in it, but this tells
us nothing more than that the egg contains the man in germ.
He goes on: "The determinants differ among themselves; those of a
muscle are differently constituted from those of a nerve-cell or a
glandular cell, etc., and each determinant is in its turn made up of
minute vital units, which I call _biophors_, or the bearers of life."
That these so-called determinants differ among themselves may be
true, if they exist at all, which is just the point to be proved.
Giving Greek names to inventions does not turn invention into fact.
These supposed determinants, he says, "may vary quantitatively if
the elements of which they are composed vary; they ... and their
variations may give rise to _corresponding_ variations of the organ,
cell, or cell-group which they determine." Professor Dwight said:[38]
"This is what is palmed off on us for science!" Weismann assures us
we _must_ admit this farrago of clumsy fiction, otherwise we should
be forced "to assume the help of a principle of design."[39] In the
name of common sense, then, admit a principle of design, and be done
with it!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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