206 The Science of Life. 



As Professor Lloyd Morgan says, "by his patient col- 

 lection of data, by his careful discussion of these data in 

 the light of principles clearly and definitely formulated, 

 by his wide and forcible advocacy of his views, and 

 above all by his own observations and experiments, 

 Mr. Romanes left a mark in this field of investigation 

 and interpretation which is not likely to be effaced ". 



When Weismann, aided by Galton and others, ran 

 the doctrine of Use-inheritance to earth, and showed, at 

 Weismann's least, that it was an illegitimate postulate 

 Position. until definite evidence was forthcoming, the 

 supporters of the Lamarckian theory of instinct began 

 to recant. Thus, A. Forel, famous for his observations 

 on ants, says, (( I formerly believed, as others did, that 

 instincts were inherited habits. I am now convinced, 

 however, that this is an error, and have accepted Weis- 

 mann's conclusion. Indeed, one cannot see how a truly 

 acquired habit, as in piano-playing or bicycle-riding, 

 can transmit its mechanism to the germ-plasm of the 

 offspring." In 1883 Weismann distinctly committed 

 himself to the conclusion that all instincts have their 

 roots in germinal variations. Following Darwin, he 

 showed how difficult it was to give a Lamarckian inter- 

 pretation of such cases as the nuptial flight of the 

 queen-bee, which occurs but once in a lifetime, or the 

 slave-keeping instincts of some sterile worker-ants. 



As in other departments of biology, so here, the only 

 way of escape from the muddy quagmire of verbal dis- 

 Lioyd P ute anc * the will-o'-the-wisps of irrespon- 



M organ's sible speculation is the way of experiment. 

 lts - The most notable pioneer on this path is 

 Professor C. Lloyd Morgan. Following the old experi- 

 ments of Spalding, and influenced perhaps by the new 

 movement in human psychology towards experimental 

 work, Mr. Lloyd Morgan set himself to observe young 

 chicks hatched in an incubator, away from all taint of 

 parental education or possibility of imitation. He after- 

 wards extended his observations to other birds. It is 

 plain that this is the only method of precisely determin- 

 ing what powers are really born in the creature, and 

 much success has attended his investigations. Mr. 



