42 



FOOT-NOTES TO EVOLUTION. 



Darwin himself with a fullness, fairness, and clearness 



which none of his opponents has been able to reach. 



Increasing knowledge has steadily di- 



jec ions to minished the apparent value of these 

 the theory of ... 



descent objections. None of them can now be 



regarded as of any serious importance. 

 Our chief questions as to the origin of species relate to 

 the relative importance of the various elements which 

 enter into "natural selection," to a better definition of 

 the laws of variation, and especially to the existence of 

 a possible unknown factor in evolution which causes the 

 transmission of the results of the efforts and experiences 

 of the individual. 



Just now evolutionists are nearly equally divided on 

 this great question, on which even their conventional 



beliefs have been lately rudely shaken. 

 Relation of pres- ^j-g acquired characters ever inherited, 



ent heredity to j -r j u .■. j-^- j 



. ^ and, if so, under what conditions and 



past environ- .... , t i , , 



_„„, limitations ? Is the experience of the 



ment. '^ 



parent part of the heritage of the child ? 

 Does the environment of the father enter into the hered- 

 ity of the son ? Are the reactions which follow the 

 various external conditions restricted to the individual 

 alone, and is the next generation untouched by its par- 

 ents' successes or failures, as though it were a new 

 creation ? 



To ask these questions is not to answer them, and 

 and the final solution of the relation of present heredity 

 to past environment will be the work of the student of 

 the twentieth century. 



Darwin's work was addressed at first only to natural- 

 ists, with no expectation that the public would pay any 



attention to it. He had confidence that 

 Darwin's hope. ^, , , ^ r i • 



the younger and more observant of his 



fellow workers would find in their own work confirma- 



