Acquired Characters 31 



ment starts from some unspecialized part and 

 follows a path divergent from earlier develop- 

 ments. Use creates energy, but the energy 

 must act on an undifferentiated part capable of 

 development in several directions. Use thus 

 has an effect, but it ends in the elimination 

 of its product. Great changes are antagonis- 

 tic to the specialization that has gone before. 

 We must therefore look to the surplus energy 

 which use creates, and not to its direct effects, 

 when we seek to account for the enduring and 

 uplifting changes in organisms. 



SUMMARY 



1. The fact that children do not naturally and cheerfully 

 perform the acts which have become habitual to parents 

 indicates that acquired characters are not directly inherited. 



2. If the acquired characters were inherited, the great 

 mass of social customs, habits, and traditions would be 

 unnecessary. 



3. Acquired characters secure a better economic support 

 which improves the condition of children. They can now 

 act more naturally than the parents did, and evoke qualities 

 that lay dormant in the parents. Acquired characters also 

 increase energy, and the new energy is utilized by a move- 

 ment into a new environment. 



4. Secondary characters are the natural expression of the 

 surplus energy which the primary characters create. 



