96 WHAT EVOLUTION IS 



till the complete report is published. 

 They are nevertheless full of signifi- 

 cance. 



The whole problem of the inherit- 

 ance of acquired characters has ar- 

 rived at a stage where the results are 

 coming to be of the first importance, 

 and it must be admitted even by those 

 who oppose Lamarckism that the re- 

 cent tests have come much nearer 

 yielding conclusive results than those 

 attempted in the early stages of the 

 controversy. Nevertheless it is gen- 

 erally agreed by almost everyone 

 concerned that up to the present time 

 no entirely convincing instance of 

 the inheritance of acquired characters 

 has come to light and that from this 

 standpoint Lamarckism must be ad- 

 mitted to be without direct support. 

 There are, however, those like Samuel 

 Butler and, more recently, George 

 Bernard Shaw, as disclosed in his 



