Essays Upon Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems / Authorised Translation

A collection of linked essays examining biological inheritance and related problems. It opens with an inquiry into factors that determine organismal lifespan and then develops a theory of heredity centered on the continuity of the germ-plasm. Subsequent essays analyze the significance of sexual reproduction, the number and role of polar bodies, and the conditions that allow parthenogenetic development. Other pieces critically evaluate botanical and experimental claims for the transmission of acquired characters and for the heritability of mutilations. Empirical observations are combined with theoretical interpretation, and the essays are presented as successive stages in a progressively refined research program.