INDIRECT RESULTS OF MODIFICATIONS 191 



the children had not been in the vineyard too. But if, as Ro- 

 manes said, the children were born with wry necks, we should 

 have to deal with the inheritance of an indirect result of the 

 parents' vagaries of appetite, and not with any direct repre- 

 sentation in inheritance of the particular modification produced 

 in the paternal dentition. 



Misunderstanding IX — Appealing to data from not more than 

 two generations. — It has often been pointed out that animals 

 transported to a new country or environment may exhibit 

 some modification apparently the result of the novel influence, 

 and that their offspring in the same environment may exhibit 

 the same modification in a greater degree. Thus sheep may 

 show a change in the character and length of their fleece, 

 and their progeny may show the same change more markedly. 



But it is perfectly clear that if the evidence does not go beyond 

 this, nothing is proved that affects the question at issue. It 

 was to be expected that the offspring should show the modifica- 

 tion in a more marked degree than their parents did, since the 

 offspring were subjected to the modifying influences from birth, 

 whereas their parents were influenced only from the date of 

 their importation. 



What would be welcome is evidence that the third generation 

 is more markedly modified than the second ; then there would 

 be data worth considering. Only then would it be necessary 

 to consider Weismann's somewhat subtle discussion as to the 

 influence of climate. 



§ 5. Various Degrees in which Parental Modification might affect 



the Offspring 



It may seem, at first sight, unscientific to discuss various 

 hypothetical degrees in which parental modifications might 

 affect the offspring, when we do not know that modifications can 

 be in any degree transmitted. But unless we are greatly mis- 



