320 
under of the little toe* had become very noticeable, and I drew 
Professor Harker’s attention to it.t 
Even from Weismann’s own works there is evidence of 
the inheritance of acquired characters. ‘‘ When horses of 
normal size are introduced into the Falkland Islands, the next 
generation is smaller in consequence of poor nourishment and 
the damp climate; and after a few generations they have 
deteriorated to a marked extent.” {| Weismann’s attempt to 
reconcile this with his theory is nothing more than an admission 
that the change of environment has produced a change in the 
offspring—produced an effect on the body of the individual, and 
the effect reacted on the germ; but this must always be the 
manner in which acquired characters are transmitted: they 
must of necessity produce a change in the molecular constitu- 
tion of the germ. According to Weismann, however, this 
ought never to be the case. “A small portion of the effective 
substance of the germ, the germ-plasm, remains unchanged 
during the development of the ovum into an organism, and this 
part of the germ-plasm serves as a foundation from which the 
germ-cells of the new organism are produced.” § Therefore, as 
the germ of the new generation was present in the parents 
before they were imported into the Falkland Islands, and as, 
according to Weismann, this germ is totally unaffected by any 
external conditions of environment, there ought to have been 
no change in the offspring. 
Short sight is certainly an acquired character. To my 
mind it is very doubtful if, in a normally good-sighted race, it 
has ever arisen as a spontaneous variation, totally unconnected 
with any habits of the individual or his parents. That the 
short sight now so prevalent cannot all have arisen as spon- 
taneous variations is certain. Weismann admits it is hereditary 
* The curling becomes fixed—the child has no power to straighten it, 
+ As both sexes in this country compress their toes, the effects would be more 
marked than if done only by one sex. (See page 276.) 
t Weismann, Ibid, p. 99. 
§ Weismann, Ibid, p, 266, 
