212 LIFE AXD HABIT. 



into the woods, know the tactics to adopt quite as well 

 as the old dogs, and that without any instruction. Dogs 

 of other races, and unacquainted with the tactics, are 

 killed at once, no matter how strong they may be. 

 The American greyhound, instead of leaping at the 

 stag, attacks him by the belly, and throws him over, as 

 his ancestors had been trained to do in hunting the 

 Indians. 



" Thus, then, heredity transmits modification no less 

 than natural instincts." 



Should not this rather be " thus, then, we see that 

 not only older and remoter habits, but habits which 

 have been practised for a comparatively small number 

 of generations, may be so deeply impressed on the indi- 

 vidual that they may dwell in his memory, surviving 

 the so-called change of personality which he undergoes 

 in each successive generation"? 



"There is, however, an important difference to be 

 noted : the heredity of instincts admits of no exceptions, 

 while in that of modifications there are many." 



It may be well doubted how far the heredity of in- 

 stincts admits of no exceptions ; on the contrary, it 

 would seem probable that in many races geniuses have 

 from time to time arisen who remembered not only their 

 past experiences, as far as action and habit went, but 

 have been able to rise in some degree above habit where 

 they felt that improvement was possible, and who car- 

 ried such improvement into further practice, by slightly 

 modifying their structure in the desired direction on the 

 next occasion that they had a chance of dealing with 

 protoplasm at all. It is by these rare instances of in- 



