76 THE SURVIVAL OF THE UNLIKE. [ll. 



cells in such a manner that the latter will cause the 

 spontaneous appearance of corresponding changes in the 

 next generation. This is the question which demands 

 an answer; and, as has been shown above, such an an- 

 swer would decide whether the Lamarckian principles 

 of transformation must be retained or abandoned." 



If, then, to repeat, organisms are adapted to their 

 environment, it must be equally true that this environ- 

 ment directly affects its inhabitants; and, considering 

 the intense struggle for existence under which all organ- 

 isms live, it is highly probable that any advantageous 

 variation can be seized upon at once. I cannot conceive 

 that nature allows herself to lose every possibility of 

 obtaining the result of any effort. 



3. My third conviction against Neo - Darwinism arises 

 from the fact that its advocates are constantly explain- 

 ing away the arguments of their opponents by verbal 

 mystifications and ingenious definitions. This charge is 

 so frequently made, and the fact is so well know^n, that 

 it seems almost useless to refer to it here; and yet there 

 are some phases of it upon which I cannot forbear to 

 touch. 



Weismann declares that he uses the term "acquired 

 character" in its original sense. This term, or at least 

 the idea, was first employed, as we have seen, by 

 Lamarck, who used it or an equivalent phrase to desig- 

 nate "every change acquired in an organ by a habitual 

 exercise sufficient to have brought it about." In fact, 

 the basis of Lamarck's philosophy is the assumption of 

 the hereditability of characters arising directly from use 

 or disuse ; and his idea of an acquired character is, 

 therefore, one which appears in the lifetime of the indi- 

 vidual from some externally inciting cause. Darwin's 



