Heredity of Acquired Characters 



45 



matter of course that in the Protozoa the offspring would 

 receive the acquired characters as well as the other char- 

 acters of the parent. But as we have seen, it does not 

 receive even the other characters of the parent ; but produces 

 them anew. Is there any reason why the offspring should 



Figure 14. Inheritance from mutilated parents, in Difflugia corona. 

 The three parents, A, B and C, have had their shells and spines broken. 

 The offspring of each is seen below it, with normal, unmutilated shells 

 and spines. The mutilations of the parents are not inherited by the 

 offspring. (From observations by the author.) 



produce anew characters that the parent has acquired merely 

 accidentally, owing to special circumstances? Let us look 

 at a few of these. There is no place so favorable for getting 

 in a simple way a clear idea of the problems and difficulties 

 involved in the "inheritance of acquired characters" as in 

 the Protozoa. To many persons who have not examined the 



