Essays on Life 



Darwin well said, a kind of elongation of the 

 life of the parent. 



Erasmus Darwin put the matter so well 

 that I may as well give his words in full ; he 

 wrote : 



" Owing to the imperfection of language 

 the offspring is termed a new animal, but is 

 in truth a branch or elongation of the parent, 

 since a part of the embryon animal is, or was, 

 a part of the parent, and therefore, in strict 

 language, cannot be said to be entirely new 

 at the time of its production ; and therefore 

 it may retain some of the habits of the parent 

 system. 



" At the earliest period of its existence the 

 embryon would seem to consist of a living 

 filament with certain capabilities of irritation, 

 sensation, volition, and association, and also 

 with some acquired habits or propensities 

 peculiar to the parent; the former of these 

 are in common with other animals ; the latter 

 seem to distinguish or produce the kind of 

 animal, whether man or quadruped, with the 

 similarity of feature or form to the parent." 1 



1 " Zoonomia/' 1794, vol. i. p. 480. 



