Characters, Hereditary and Acquired. 145 



ground of any other experiments yielding negative 

 results in but one generation or even in a large 

 number of sequent generations. 



For instance, the latter consideration applies to the 

 negative results of Mr. Francis Galton's celebrated 

 Experiments in Pangenesis^ . These consisted in 

 transfusing the blood of one variety of rabbit into 

 the veins of both sexes of another, and then allowing 

 the latter to breed together : in no case was there any 

 appearance in the progeny of characters distinctive 

 of the variety from which the transfused blood was 

 derived. But, as Mr. Galton himself subsequently 

 allowed, this negative result constitutes no disproof 

 of pangenesis, seeing that only a portion of the 

 parents' blood was replaced ; that this portion, even 

 if charged with "gemmules," would contain but 

 a very small number of these hypothetical bodies, 

 compared with those contained in all the tissues of 

 the parents ; and that even this small proportional 

 number would presumably be soon overwhelmed by 

 those contained in blood newly-made by the parents. 

 Nevertheless the experiment was unquestionably 

 worth trying, on the chance of its yielding a positive 

 result ; for, in this event, the question at issue 

 would have been closed. Accordingly I repeated 

 these experiments (with the kind help of Professor 

 Schafer), but with slight differences in the method, 

 designed to give pangenesis a better chance, so to 

 speak. 



Thus I chose wild rabbits to supply the blood, 

 and Himalayan to receive it — the former being the 

 ancestral type (and therefore giving reversion an 



* Proc. R. S. 1 87 1. 



II L 



