INVERSE INHERITANCE. . 123 



INVERSE INHERITANCE. 



Mr. Galton contends that the reproductive ele- 

 ments become sterile when used in forming and 

 maintaining the individual, and that only a small 

 proportion of them are so used. 1 He holds that 

 the next generation will be formed entirely, or 

 almost entirely, from the residue of undeveloped 

 germs, which, not having been employed in the 

 structure and work of the individual, have been 

 free to multiply and form the reproductive elements 

 whence future individuals are derived. Hence the 

 singular inferiority not infrequently displayed by 

 the children of men of extraordinary genius, 

 especially where the ancestry has been only of a 

 mediocre ability. The valuable germs have been 

 used up in the individual, and rendered sterile in 

 the structure of his person. Hence, too, the " strong 

 tendency to deterioration in the transmission of 



1 Contemporary Review, Dec. 1875, P- 88. 



