CHAPTER II. 



HEEEDITY OF NOEMAL CHARACTERS. 



THE inheritance by the offspring of the characters 

 of the parents, at the time of procreation, has been 

 generally accepted as a law of the animal organiza- 

 tion. 



Although there are many apparent exceptions to 

 this law, an examination of all the facts relating to 

 the hereditary transmission of structure and qualities 

 will, however, show that it is not only constant in its 

 action, but extends to every feature of the organiza- 

 tion, and that the supposed exceptions are the result 

 of the predominant influence of other laws that ob- 

 scure the hereditary tendency, for the time being, 

 without wholly suppressing it. 



The resemblance of offspring to parents, so fre- 

 quently remarked, is not, as might at first be sup- 

 posed, confined to the external and more obvious 

 characters, but manifests itself in the internal struct- 

 ure and functional activity of the system. In fact, at 

 the moment of birth, the sum of the characters and 

 qualities of the young animal have been derived from 

 its parents, and we shall find reason for the belief that 

 they include every peculiarity in the organization of 

 both parents. 



