________________
210
Reals in the Jaina Metaphysics human race for instance, of all times were “infolded in minute and minuter forms in the generating cells of the first man'.
EPIGENESIS: PANGENESIS
The theory of Pre-formation is an exploded doctrine and has been replaced by the theory of Epigenesis or new formation. It points out that the body of an animal is not a preformed minute organism, contained in the generating cell but is a series of new constructions from and out of it. Darwin's theory is a theory of Epigenesis in as much as it is opposed to the doctrine of Pre-formation but he chooses to call his theory Pangenesis. He supposed that the cells of all the various parts of an animal's body throw off ultramicroscopic granules, called Gemmulae by him which are at first dispersed throughout the whole system but are thereafter collected from all the parts of the system at the time of reproduction. These collections or packets of Gemmulae constitute ova and spermatozoa and as they had originally emanated from all the cells of all the tissues of an organism, they subsequently develop themselves into those very parts of the organism from which they had emanated.
DARWIN'S THEORY REJECTED
Darwin's theory of Pangenesis is now generally rejected by other upholders of the theory of Epigenesis. These contend that differences in the parts of an organism are not due to any essential differences in Gemmulae but are caused by the mutual influences of the cells. The nature of each cell is determined by the other cells surrounding it and the cells thus mutually influenced and modified, account for the growth and development of different parts of an organism. Different parts or limbs thus are not due to any essential difference in the basic Gemmulae but are caused by the peculiar environments of the cells.
DIFFICULTY OF THE THEORY OF EPIGENESIS
The above theory of Epigenesis in its extreme form
is
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
