1899] NER VO US S YSTEM IN OR GANIC E VOL UTION 2 5 9 



be further illustrated in this way: — The functions of organisms, 

 especially the higher ones, are divided into two sets — the first " vital" 

 the second " organic." The " vital functions " are those of nutrition, 

 reproduction and protection, those on which the life of the individual 

 and the perpetuation of the species depend, and which in the higher 

 organisms are satisfied through desire. On the other hand, the "organic 

 functions " depend on the structure of the special organs. Thus, for 

 instance, in respiration, the exchange of gases is effected according 

 to the special structure of the breathing organs. Now all habits of 

 animals are acquired through the vital functions originating, either as 

 a reflex action as in the lower, or in response to desire as in the higher 

 orders. Singularly enough Mr. Herbert Spencer, instead of recognis- 

 ing the importance of the acquisition of habits, has discussed the 

 matter under the head " distribution." Now, whilst' the distribution 

 of animals does lead to the acquisition of new habits, it is only an 

 indirect cause, the direct cause being the efforts made by the animals 

 themselves to suit their life to the new circumstances. And they do 

 this to satisfy their vital functions — in particular, that of nutrition. 

 There are woodpeckers in the United States that feed on fruit, and 

 Darwin saw woodpeckers in Patagonia feeding on insects in the air. 

 How was the new habit of feeding on other than their customary food 

 acquired ? Clearly in their desire to satisfy the craving for food. 

 Darwin also saw and examined certain birds, originally webbed, 

 showing the beginning of web-disappearance. But, and here we see 

 the significance of such a fact, the birds in which he saw such a 

 beginning of web-disappearance had become habituated to another 

 mode of life than that on water. They had then acquired a new 

 habit of life, and through disuse the web had begun to disappear. 

 We thus learn that the habits of animals, whether through reflex 

 actions as in the lower organisms and as in plants, or in the higher 

 orders in response to the desire to satisfy the vital functions on which 

 the life and perpetuation of the species depend, are the results of the 

 demands which the exigencies of the organism require for the satisfac- 

 tion of the vital functions. These demands of the organism Lamarck 

 clearly understood ; and why, in the present day, biologists fail to 

 consider them is a matter of surprise to me. Not to recognise them 

 in the light in which Lamarck, and doubtless Goethe too, recognised 

 them, renders the doctrine of organic evolution less intelligible, and 

 thus more difficult to harmonise with other truths. 



Let us now consider the question : Why, and how, are the modi- 

 fications functionally produced by change of habits inherited ? As 

 already stated, I distinguish between the Neo-Lamarckians and the 

 true Lamarckians in this way. The former believe in the inheritance 

 of functional modifications, but only as brought about through cell- 

 activity, thus failing to see how correlative parts are modified ; whereas 

 the secret of the true Lamarckian's position is, that he understands 



