Art and Science 



is endorsing Professor Weismann's view, but 

 I have found it impossible to collect any- 

 thing that enables me to define his position 

 confidently in this respect. 



This is natural enough, for Mr. Wallace has 

 entitled his book " Darwinism," and a work 

 denying that use and disuse produced any 

 effect could not conceivably be called Dar- 

 winism. Mr. Herbert Spencer has recently 

 collected many passages from " The Origin of 

 Species " and from " Animals and Plants under 

 Domestication," l which show how largely, after 

 all, use and disuse entered into Mr. Darwin's 

 system, and we know that in his later years he 

 attached still more importance to them. It 

 was out of the question, therefore, that Mr. 

 Wallace should categorically deny that their 

 effects were inheritable. On the other hand, 

 the temptation to adopt Professor Weismann's 

 view must have been overwhelming to one 

 who had been already inclined to minimise 

 the effects of use and disuse. On the whole, 

 one does not see what Mr. Wallace could do, 

 other than what he has done unless, of course, 



1 See Nature, March 6, 1890. 

 263 



