34 A$Q THE EFFECTS OF USE INHERITED f 



LACK OF EVIDENCE. 



The " direct proofs " of use-inheritance are not 

 as plentiful as might be desired, it appears (pp. 

 24-28). This acknowledged "lack of recognized 

 evidence " is indeed the weakest feature in the 

 case, though Mr. Spencer would fain attribute this 

 lack of direct proof to insufficient investigation 

 and to the inconspicuous nature of the inherit- 

 ance of the modification. But there is an almost 

 endless abundance of conspicuous examples of 

 the effects of use and disuse in the individual. 

 How is it that the subsequent inheritance of these 

 effects has not been more satisfactorily observed 

 and investigated ? Horse-breeders and others 

 could profit by such a tendency, and one cannot 

 help suspecting that the reason they ignore it 

 must be its practical inefficacy, arising probably 

 from its weakness, its obscurity and uncertainty 

 or its non-existence. 



