Ti2 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION J. 
has set in; and, even were it so, this might be 
accounted for by the force of example in early 
years, or by the greater vigour and more sanguine tempera- 
ment of a son born when the father was in his youthful 
prime.* 
Let us take, as a crucial instance, the use of language. 
Urged on by the imitative impulse, the child begins to speak 
before the end of his second year, and soon acquires the use 
of his native language, with a vocabulary which is very 
limited at first, but which he may enlarge in accordance 
with his need. The power of understanding and using 
language, in some one or other of its forms, remains with 
him to the end of life. Even in silence, be usually thinks 
in words. His mental associations between words and sen- 
tences are connected, on the psycho-physical theory, with 
subtle but well-worn paths in the mental structure of the 
brain. The use of language, thus pervading the conscious 
life of each individual, has been going on through countless 
generations. Language changes, it is true, but the change 
which takes place in the course of centuries is gradual, and 
the roots of words run back to a hoary antiquity. If use- 
inheritance were a reality, we should expect to find it: 
exemplified here. But there is not the slightest sign of it. 
The language which a child learns—English, French, or 
German, or what not—depends on his environment. He 
has simply the power of acquiring the tongue which he is 
taught; and in this respect he shows no advance on his 
parents or on his remote ancestors. 
Turn now to instances of genius or exceptional talent. 
Here we have such examples as the Bach family, which 
during two hundred years produced’ musicians of a high 
order ; and the Gregories, who made their mark for genera 
tions in various departments of science. On the other hand, 
we have men who shone as single stars. In these last cases, 
the evidence is opposed to the theory of use-inheritance. 
We find no traces, as the theory would require, of succeed- 
ing generations cultivating some gift which gradually in- 
creased with use, and as gradually decreased with disuse. 
= ‘When I speak, here or éleewhor e, of an original constitution or dis- 
position, I do not mean to say that this consists of definite psychical facts, 
known to exist, and capable of being pointed out from the very beginning 
of mental life. Tt is only the subsequent development which makes known 
to us the original tendency ; and thus, as Mr. Bradley has remarked, state- 
ments about native psychical dispositions or tendencies are only ‘‘ state- 
ments as to what will happen under certain conditions.”” The awakening 
mind, like the physiological germ, exhibits certain characteristics as it 
develops, and in this sense, and this alone, I speak of an inherited mental 
constitution. 
