A REJOINDER 179 



characters which are hereditarily transmitted as a 

 whole. Now, I know an instance where a young 

 girl child when three years old had the same charac- 

 teristic intonation in her voice that marked the 

 speech of a feminine cousin of her father's. The 

 young child had never seen this cousin, and the 

 father's speech was quite devoid of the intonation. 

 It could not therefore be due to imitation or in- 

 struction. The young child's brother did not manifest 

 it, neither the father nor his two brothers ; neither 

 the two grandparents, nor any of their brothers. 

 Neither did the only sister of the cousin, nor any of 

 her brothers, or either of her parents. Though 

 characteristic it was essentially a feminine intonation. 

 It must therefore have been carried as a recessive 

 character in the gametes of the child's father and 

 paternal grandfather, and the cousin must have 

 received it through the gametes of the child's grand- 

 uncle. I do not see how we are to interpret this case, 

 except on the basis of segregable unit-characters. Of 

 course, it is only right I should -say that in comparing 

 the intonation of the voice in the two people con- 

 cerned I am trusting entirely to ear and memory, 

 and that the comparison has not been made with the 

 two people side by side, nor under other conditions 

 that scientific precision would demand. But I do 

 not think I am mistaken, and I recognised the intona- 

 tion some years ago, as an ordinary fact of life. It is 

 only now that Miss Wodehouse has raised the question 

 that I recall the matter. 



