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    128                                   THE ENZYME TREATMENT OF CANCER

 

The unit from which anything arises is the single cell. There was only one source from which such a sexual generation could arise this was by the evolution or unfold­ing—the self-sacrifice-—of one germ-cell for the well-being of the rest, and to contain them. At the epoch of the formation of the primary germ-cells all were alike in origin and potentialities. All were so many potential individuals of the species. If two developed indepen­dently, the result would be identical twins; if three, triplets, and so on.

Reviewing matters, starting with the fertilized egg, this gives rise to an asexual generation—the trophoblast, upon which there arises an “apical cell “—the primitive germ-cell. This latter divides a certain limited number of times, this number being a fixed one for the species; but while it is n in the male, it is n plus 1 in the female. The products are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, etc. In the diagram it is depicted as 128. These 128 germ-cells are the primary germ-cells. It is they which enter the embryonic body (Fig. 4) when this arises, and it is some of them which come to occupy all sorts of abnormal positions. But all the line of primary germ-cells are not destined for future generations. Some few of them, 1, 2, 4, or 8, are embryonic in destiny. At least one of these must unfold to form an embryo. If any of the others do so, the result is identical twins, triplets, etc. If any of these “embryonic” germ-cells lie dormant within the developed embryo, they may become the seed of future tumours, as will appear later on. The line of heredity, so far revealed, leads from fertilized egg to the primary germ-cells, and thence through all the history of the germ-cells within the “reproductive glands” to new eggs and sperms; that is, all things considered, the cycle is one of unicellular organisms, the germ-cells, in

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