

THICKENED SOLES. 89 



at that earlier period being- overpowered by the 

 untimely inheritance of the effects of use at another. 

 On the other hand, it is clear that natural selection 

 would favour thickened soles for walking on, and 

 might also promote an early development which 

 would ensure their being ready in good time for 

 actual use ; for variations in the direction of delay 

 would be cut off, while variations in the other 

 direction would be preserved. Anyhow, the mere 

 transference of a character to an earlier period is 

 no proof of use-inheritance. The real question is 

 whether the thickened sole was gained by natural 

 selection or by the inherited effects of pressure, and 

 the mere transference or hastened appearance of 

 the thickening does not in any degree solve this 

 question. It merely excludes the effect of disuse 

 during lifetime, and thus presents a fallacious ap- 

 pearance of being decisive. The thickened sole of 

 the unborn infant, however, like the lanugo or 

 hairy covering, is probably a result of the direct 



