74 ARE THE EFFECTS OF USE INHERITED ? 



tendency to these paces, and imitation of the mother 

 by the colt, may have been the real causes. *" The 

 evidence, to be satisfactory, should show that 

 such influences were excluded. Men acquire 

 proficiency in swimming, waltzing, walking, smok- 



X" 



ing, languages, handicrafts, religious beliefs, 



but the children only appear to inherit the innate 

 abilities or constitutional proclivities of their 

 parents. Even the songs of birds, including 

 their call-notes, are no more inherited than is 

 language by man {Descent of Man, p. 86). They 

 are learned from the parent. Nestlings which 

 acquire the song of a distinct species, " teach 

 and transmit their new song to their offspring." 

 If use-inheritance has not fixed the song of birds, 

 why should we suppose that in a single 

 generation it has transmitted a newly-taught 

 method of walking or trotting ? 



It is alleged that dogs inherit the intel- 

 ligence acquired by association with man, 



