Essays on Life 



ally that we should not expect to find them 

 conspicuous ; their frequency would be enough, 

 if they could be accumulated. The same 

 applies here, if stirring events that occur to 

 the somatic cells can produce any effect at 

 all on offspring. A very small effect, provided 

 it can be repeated and accumulated in suc- 

 cessive generations, is all that even the most 

 exacting Lamarckian will ask for. 



Having now made the reader acquainted 

 with the position taken by the leading Charles- 

 Darwinian authorities, I will return to Pro- 

 fessor Weismann himself, who declares that 

 the transmission of acquired characters "at 

 first sight certainly seems necessary," and that 

 " it appears rash to attempt to dispense with 

 its aid." He continues : 



"Many phenomena only appear to be in- 

 telligible if we assume the hereditary trans- 

 mission of such acquired characters as the 

 changes which we ascribe to the use or 

 disuse of particular organs, or to the direct 

 influence of climate. Furthermore, how can 

 we explain instinct as hereditary habit, unless 

 it has gradually arisen by the accumulation, 



