DENIALS OF INHERITANCE 23 



bers of which could not endure the smell of cheese, and some of 

 them were thrown into convulsions by it " (R. W. Felkin). 

 Here again we are forced back to the general thesis that the 

 germinal organisation is a coherent individualised unity, which 

 may find similar expression in the most detailed peculiarities 

 of the body. 



§ 6. Denials of Inheritance 



The resemblance between offspring and their parents, both 

 in general and in particular, as to abnormal as well as normal 

 characteristics, cannot be denied as a fact, but it has often been 

 denied as the result of transmission. Although the denials, 

 which have varied greatly in degree and motive, are for the 

 most part due to misunderstanding, they may deserve brief 

 consideration, since even to-day we sometimes hear cultured 

 men declaring that " they do not believe in heredity." 



The extreme position may be represented by Wollaston, a 

 scientific philosopher of the end of the eighteenth century, who 

 sought to conserve the integrity and sanctity of the human spirit 

 by altogether denying transmission. Each new life was to his 

 mind a fresh start, unrelated in any real sense to parents or 

 ancestors. 



The speculative naturalist Bonnet and many others admitted 

 the inheritance of generic and specific characters, but denied 

 that of individual characteristics. 



Buckle is the most illustrious example of those who, while 

 admitting the inheritance of bodily characters, firmly deny 

 that the same is true in regard to the mind. Buckle maintained 

 that the ordinary method of demonstrating the inheritance of 

 talents by collecting examples of similar mental peculiarities 

 in father and son is in the highest degree illogical ; it neglects, 

 for instance, the frequency of coincidence, and yet more the 

 results of similar upbringing and environment. 



