Note 148 — IV. THE CONTINUITY OF THE GERM-PLASM AS THE FOUNDATION OF A THEORY OF HEREDITY. (continued 2)

I purposely abstain from using a more precise term, for the complicated terminology employed in spermatogenesis hardly contributes anything to the elucidation of the phenomena themselves. Why do we not simply speak of sperm-cells and spermatoblasts, and distinguish the latter by numbers when they occur in successive generations of different form? Moreover, all the names which have been suggested for successive stages of development, can only be applied to the special group of animals upon which the observations have been made. Hence great confusion results from the use of such terms as spermatoblasts, spermatogonia, spermatomeres, spermatocysts, spermatocytes, spermatogemmae, etc.