FACTS OF INHERITANCE 171 



question, whether acquired characters are or are 

 not transmitted, underlies right beliefs, not only 

 in biology and psychology, but also in education, 

 ethics, and politics." 



A modification is a definite change in the 

 individual body, due to some change in " nurture." 

 There is no secure evidence that any such individual 

 gain or loss can be transmitted as such, or in any 

 representative degree. How does this affect our 

 estimate of the value of " nurture " ? How should 

 the sceptical or negative answer, which we believe 

 to be the scientific one, affect our practice in regard 

 to education, physical culture, amelioration of 

 function, improvement of environment, and so on ? 



(a) Every inheritance requires an appropriate 

 nurture if it is to realise itself in development. 

 Nurture supplies the liberating stimuli necessary 

 for the full expression of the inheritance. A 

 man's character as well as his physique is a function 

 of " nature " and of " nurture." In the language 

 of the old Parable of the Talents, what is given 

 must be traded with. A boy may be truly enough 

 a chip of the old block, but how far he shows him- 

 self such depends on " nurture." The conditions 

 of nurture determine whether the expression of 

 the inheritance is to be full or partial. It need 

 hardly be said that the strength of an (inherited) 

 individuality may be such that it expresses itself 

 almost in the face of inappropriate nurture. History 

 abounds in instances. As Goethe said, man is 

 always achieving the impossible. Semon relates 

 a pretty experiment with young acacias (Albizzia 

 lophantha). They had never been exposed to the 

 normal alternation of day and night, to which 

 their race responds by expanding and closing the 



