( cv ) 



plation of its relation to one majestic example we are prepai^ed 

 for the belief that our subject is essential for the solution of all 

 the widest and deepest problems concerned with organic nature 

 as a whole. Secondly, the attempt for the first time to mar- 

 shal the whole of the evidence supplied by the study of insects 

 will make it possible to strengthen and amplify certain parts, 

 and thus render the whole fabric better balanced and more 

 stable. 



I should wish at the outset to express my indebtedness to 

 the columns of "Nature," by means of which nearly the whole 

 of the controversy has been followed. We are happy in the 

 possession of a single journal in which discussions on general 

 scientific questions are, by common consent, carried on. 



" Acquired Characters " defined. — Before beginning a dis- 

 cussion it is important to remove any possibility of dovibt or 

 uncertainty as to the precise meaning of the terms which are 

 employed. The word "acquired" as used in this controvei'sy has 

 been the source of as much confusion as the word " mimicry." 

 Just as almost every one who hears of " mimicry " for the 

 first time assumes that the Avord means a power of inten- 

 tional imitation, so the inexperienced think that an acquii'ed 

 character is any new structure which a species has gained 

 in the course of its history. " Why should we not consider 

 every character acquired as an ' acquired character ' 1 " they 

 not unnaturally ask. And the answer is the same in both 

 cases. Because these ordinary and untechnical words were 

 given a special and technical meaning by the writers of 

 memoirs which have become classical. In spite of all incon- 

 venience both words are, in their scientific use, historic, and 

 we must reckon Avith the fact that they have a special meaning 

 which differs from their ordinary meaning. 



Erasmus Darwin was, I believe, the first to use " acquired " 

 in this restricted sense. " Fifthly," he says, " all animals 

 undei'go transformations which are in part produced by their 

 own exertions, in response to pleasures and pains, and many 

 of these acquired forms or propensities are transmitted to 

 posterity."* Although Lamarck made a preliminary state- 



* "Zoonomia," 1794. Quoted by Professor H. F. Osborn, "From the 

 Greeks to Darwin." New York, 1894, p. 145. 



