36 ARE THE EFFECTS OF USE INHERITED ? 



inherited epilepsy can be most conveniently 

 introduced later on in connection with Darwin's 

 explanation of the inherited mutilation which it 

 usually accompanies, but which Mr. Spencer does 

 not mention. 



INHERITED INSANITY AND NERVOUS DISORDERS. 



Mr. Spencer infers that, because insanity is 

 usually hereditary, and insanity can be artificially 

 produced by various excesses, therefore this arti- 

 ficially-produced insanity must also be hereditary 

 (p. 28). Direct evidence of this conclusion would 

 be better than a mere inference which may 

 beg the very question at issue. That the liability 

 \o insanity commonly runs in families is no proof 

 that strictly non-inherited insanity will subse- 

 quently become hereditary. I think that theories 

 should be based on facts rather than facts on 



