ct that the main characteristics of the human being, as of every other
animal and plant, are hidden in the germ or seed from which it sprang.

The laws of growth and development which govern organic matter were not
made for man and do not except man. Life begins with the cell and
evolves according to pattern. If the cell is that of a human being, it
will be black or white, male or female, tall or short, intelligent or
stupid, sensitive or stolid; it will develop a large or a small brain, a
fine one or a poor one, a sensitive nervous system or a defective one;
it will be ruled by instincts that are all-powerful and controlling,
and even the color of the hair and eyes are in the pattern. The whole
structure, potentially, is in the original cell, and infinite knowledge
could tell how the structure would respond to sensations as it passed
through life.

It is obvious that the kinds and differences of human structures are
infinite. It is no more possible for all men to respond equally to the
same stimulus, than it is for all machines or all animals to respond
alike. It is apparent that not one of the structures can ever work
perfectly, and that from the best down to the poorest structures are
infinite degrees of perfection, even down to the machine that has no
capacity for any kind of work.

No ordinarily intelligent farmer doubts for a moment that all of this is
true in the breeding of stock. He would never expect the same results
from various breeds of cattle or even from all cattle of the same breed.

There is no exception to the rule that the whole life, with every
tendency, is potential in the original cell. An acorn will invariably
produce an oak tree. It can produce no other tree, and it will always
develop true to its own pattern. The tree may be larger or smaller, more
or less symmetrical, stronger or weaker, but always true to the general
pattern of the oak. Variations will be certain, due in part to heredity
and in part to environment.

That the baby had nothing to do with its equipment will readily be
admitted by everyone. The child is born with a brain of a certain size
and fineness. It is born with a nervous system made up of an infinite
number of fine fibers reaching all parts of the body, with fixed
stations or receivers like the central stations of a telephone system,
and with a grand central exchange in the brain. If one can imagine all
of the telephone wires in the world centered in one station, he may