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The Mechanism of Heredity
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words all the organs are potentially present therein at the same time and unfold in a certain order, 17 e. g. the fertilized ovum contains in miniature the entire structure of the organism (man ).18 Skeleton (atthiya ), muscle ( maṁsa ), blood ( sonita ), arteries (širās ?), Veins (dhamanis ?), nerves (îharos = snāyus), etc. 18a which appear separated and distinct in the full man, though from their excessive minuteness, they are undistinguishable in the fertilized ovum. 19
The inheritance of specific characters is explained in Jaina Biology in accordance with this view. It assumes that the sperm-cell (sukka ?) of the male parent, 20 contains minute elements derived from each of its organs and tissues (pitr-angas.")20a. Similarly it is suggestive that the egg (oyam)21 of the female parent contains minute elements derived from each of its organs and tissues (mat; -angas).21/a The sperm-cell (the seed in the case of a plant) and the egg cell represent in miniature every organ of the present organism and contains in potentia the whole organism that is developed out of it.22
The fertilized ovum 23 is composed of elements which arise from the whole parental organism but it is not the developed organ24 of the parents, with their idiosyncracies or acquired characters that determine or contribute the elements of the sperm-cell. Here lies the variation. The parental germ-plasm (piusukka ? 25 contains the whole parental organism in miniature (or in potentia ) but it is independent of the
17. "Imo Khalu Jiro ammāpiusamyoge māu - uyam piusukkham tam tadubhay -
samsattham Kalusaṁ gabbhattāe Vakkamai (1) Sattāham Kallam hoi upto
atthame māse Vittikappo havai /" (2) Tandula Veyaliya 1, 2. p. 6. 18. Ibid. 18/a Tandula Veyaliya, 1, 2, 3, 16. 19. Ibid., 1. 2 3. (gabbham ) 20. Imo Khalu Jivo ammapiusamyoge mau-uyam piusulkami tam tadubhayasan
sathan Kalusam gabbhattãe vakkamai (I)" etc. Tandula Veyaliya, 1-2.
Sūtrakļānga 11.3.:1, 2 /a Bhagavati Sūtra 1.7.61 ; Tandula Veyaliya, p. 10 21. Tandula Veyaliya 1-2. (mau-uyam) 21/a Bhagavati Sūtra 1.7.61 ; Tandula Veyaliya 6.
Tandula Veyaliya 1 2. 2. Ibid. 23. Ibid. Bhagavati Sūtra -.7.01.
letn 21. Tanju a Veyaliya 16, p. 35 25. Tandula Veyaliya, 1,2.
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