D$ D$ D$ D$ D$ D$ 



NATURE AND NURTURE 93 



beneath. The facts were communicated to the writer 

 by Miss P., one of his former students, in whom the 

 dimple is very distinct. In the following pedigree the 

 generations are marked (i), (2), etc., $ = male, ? = 

 female, D = dimple present, d = no dimple. X = 

 married, and the vertical line below shows the offspring. 

 The P. family is of French-Scotch ancestry, the Scotch 

 side from the Macdonalds. 

 Dx?9 

 D 





Dimple is evidently dominant, but in the fourth' and 

 fifth generations we should expect some non-dimple chil- 

 dren. Their absence may be due to chance, just as the 

 children of a given family may be all boys or all girls. 



Other inherited qualities, such as musical ability, 

 might appear much more irregularly, their successful 

 development depending upon a favorable environment. 

 Thus, while dimple is due to heredity, and appears in 

 any environment which permits development and 

 growth, 'success as a pianist requires not only favorable 

 heredity but special environment. Other qualities, de- 

 pending on the environment and not on heredity, such 

 as ability to speak English rather than French, are not 

 inherited at all. A person of French descent has as 

 much difficulty in learning French as one of English 

 descent, provided that he has had no more opportunity 

 to hear it spoken. This in spite of the fact that his 

 remoter ancestors for many generations may have 

 spoken French. 



