256 Evolution and Adaptation 



if I were a Lamarckian, I should feel very uncomfortable to 

 have the best evidence in support of the theory come from 

 this source, because there are a number of facts in the results 

 that make them appear as though they might, after all, be the 

 outcome of a transmitted disease, as Weismann claims, rather 

 than the inheritance of an acquired character. Until we 

 know more of the pathology of epilepsy, it may be well not 

 to lay too great emphasis on these experiments. It should 

 not be overlooked that during the long time that the embryo 

 is nourished in the uterus of the mother, there is ample op- 

 portunity given for the transmission of material, or possibly 

 even of bacteria. If it should prove true that epilepsy is due 

 to some substance present in the nervous system, such sub- 

 stances could get there during the uterine life of the embryo. 

 Even if this were the case, it may be claimed that it does 

 not give an explanation of the local reappearance of the 

 disease in the offspring. But here also we must be on our 

 guard, for it is possible that only certain regions of the body 

 are susceptible to a given disease ; and it has by no means 

 been shown that the local defect itself is inherited, but only 

 the disease. Romanes insists that a very special operation is 

 necessary to bring about certain forms of transmission. 



It is well also to keep in mind the fact, that if this sort of 

 effect is inherited, then we must be prepared to accept as a 

 possibility that other kinds of injury to the parent may be 

 transmitted to the offspring. It would be of great disadvan- 

 tage to animals if they were to inherit the injuries that their 

 parents have suffered in the course of their lives. In fact, 

 we might expect to find many plants and animals born in a 

 dreadful state of mutilation as a result of inheritances of this 

 sort. Thus, while the Lamarckians try to show that, on their 

 principle, characters for the good of the species may be 

 acquired, they must also be prepared, if they accept this 

 kind of evidence, to grant that immense harm may also result 

 from its action. I do not urge this as an argument against 



