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GENETICS IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE 

 TABLE LXIII. REDUCTION OF THE TROTTING RECORD 



the American Standard bred horse during the past century. As some indi- 

 cation of this improvement we reproduce here Table LXIII, which shows 

 how the trotting record has gradually been reduced. Not all of the de- 

 crease in the record represents a real advance, for along with improvement 

 in potential ability have gone improvements in methods of training and 

 in the circumstances under which records have been made. Aside from 

 these factors, however, the reduction in the record does indicate very 

 strikingly the improvement which has taken place in the American 

 trotter. It is a grave question, however, whether any of this improve- 

 ment can be ascribed to the inheritance of acquired characters, for such 

 a position fails to evaluate the effect of rigid selection which has been 

 followed in building up the American Standard bred. This matter 

 will be treated further in the next chapter. 



The Argument against the Inheritance of Acquired Characters. Just 

 as Lamarck was the moving spirit in formulating the belief in acquired 

 characters, so Weismann was the leading protagonist of the contrary 

 opinion. Weismann was forced to this position by his belief in amphi- 



