154 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



See for the purpose of testing the application of La- 

 marck's theory to the known improvement, is not statis- 

 tics. Neither does that kind of work become statistics 

 when it is applied to the different animals individually in 

 a second pedigree, or to the animals in a thousand pedi- 

 grees. Statistics have been used in this work, but the 

 demonstration of the accuracy of Lamarck's laws does 

 not come from statistics. Neither does it come from the 

 detailed examination of a case like that of Jay-Eye-See. 

 And it does not come from finding a large number of 

 cases of the same kind. It comes from a series of things. 



1. The fact that gain in inherited power in offspring 

 is never found in any case except those in which the im- 

 mediate ancestors made excess acquirements in accord- 

 ance with Lamarck's first law. 



2. The fact that a reduction of either of the factors of 

 activity or age in parents so that the product of those 

 factors at the time of reproduction is less than the aver- 

 age for the breed, invariably results in a decrease in in- 

 herited power in offspring. 



3. The fact that when a considerable number of cases 

 are taken and tested out one at a time, and are compared 

 with each other, it is found that the amount of gain or 

 loss per generation in the inherited power is always pro- 

 portional to the product of the Lamarckian factors, with- 

 in the limits of unavoidable errors. 



On this third point, just refer back to Lamarck's laws. 

 The first law says that when there is "frequent and con- 

 tinuous use" of an organ, the development is "propor- 

 tional to the length of time" of such use. The second 

 law says that "all of the acquisitions and losses wrought 

 in individuals by the predominant use or permanent dis- 

 use of any organ are preserved by reproduction". 



Lamarck stated his theory so that it might be tested by 

 the methods of exact science. 



