________________
some
AN EPITOME OF JAINISM.
happen. And why? Because of the difference of 'heredity,' as they say, which is the conservative principle accounting for the comparative persistency of the type of the organism. But the validity of this principle of transmission into the offsprings, is stil open to question.
Why is it that the children of the same parent show marked dissimilarities to their parents and to one another? Why do the twins develop dissimilar characters and possess irreconciliable tastes and tendencies, though coming almost at the same time, from the same stalk and nurtured and brought up with the same care and affection under similar conditions and environments? These cannot be explained away as accidents. There is nothing as such in science. Nothing in the universe of phenomena and form is exempt from the inexonerable law of the cause and effect. There must be some reason, therefore, underlying these inequalities. And what is that reason? To say that these inequalities in children are due to the parents is to admit the truth and validity of the principles of heredity
288
