Kvii MAN 209 



duction of specific poisons by other tissues, or both 

 together, is at present uncertain. 



Little as is known to-day of heredity in man, 

 that little is of extraordinary significance. The 

 qualities of men and women, physical and mental, 

 depend primarily upon the inherent properties of the 

 gametes which went to their making. Within limits 

 these qualities are elastic, and can be modified to a 

 greater or lesser extent by influences brought to bear 

 upon the growing zygote, provided always that the 

 necessary basis is present upon which these influences 

 can work. If the mathematical faculty has been 

 carried in by the gamete, the education of the zygote 

 will enable him to make the most of it. But if the 

 basis is not there, no amount of education can trans- 

 form that zygote into a mathematician. This is a 

 matter of common experience. Neither is there any 

 reason for supposing that the superior education of a 

 mathematical zygote will thereby increase the mathe- 

 matical propensities of the gametes which live within 

 him. For the gamete recks little of quaternions. It is 

 true that there is progress of a kind in the world, and 

 that this progress is largely due to improvements in 

 education and hygiene. The people of to-day are 

 better fitted to cope with their material surroundings 

 than were the people of even a few thousand years 

 ago. And as time goes on they are able more and 

 more to control the workings of the world around 

 them. But there is no reason for supposing that 

 this is because the effects of education are inherited. 

 Man stores knowledge as a bee stores honey or a 

 squirrel stores nuts. With man, however, the hoard 

 is of a more lasting nature. Each generation in 



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