152 HEREDITARY CHARACTERS 



them with honey, until they are distended to many times 

 their normal size. Honey is not procurable at certain seasons 

 of the year, and the stored honey is regurgitated by these 

 individuals as it is required to feed the larvae and workers. 

 It is obvious that nothing of this kind can ever happen to 

 the queen. 



Considered from a general point of view, the effect of 

 the inheritance of acquired characters would be to cause 

 improvement in those races which live under favourable con- 

 ditions ; degeneration in those which live under unfavourable 

 conditions. If the struggle amongst individuals of the same 

 species is very slight and there is an ample supply of food 

 for all, if there are no enemies that must be escaped and 

 no hard physical conditions, such as cold, to contend against, 

 the individual organism would develop much better than 

 organisms that did not enjoy these favourable conditions. 

 If the environment of the parents has any effect on the 

 germ cells, conditions which favour the higher development 

 in the parents should react on the germplasm and improve 

 the race. On the other hand, unfavourable environments 

 where the struggle for existence is hard should cause the 

 race to deteriorate in succeeding generations. Such an 

 influence as an infectious disease should react upon the 

 germ cells. Even if the parents survive, the germ cells 

 must be injured in some way by the poison in the parent's 

 body. It is inconceivable that they could be benefited by 

 it. It may be argued that, as the parent acquires a certain 

 amount of immunity, possibly through the production of 

 " anti-bodies " to the poison of the disease, the germ cells 

 may share in acquiring immunity to the poison, and the 

 anti-bodies in the parent organism may act upon them also 

 and render them more immune. Even supposing this 

 happened, it is difficult to see how the whole effect upon 

 the germ cells can be otherwise than injurious. Even a 

 partial poisoning with subsequent recovery cannot do any 

 good, and must also certainly injure the individual. It 

 has been shown that growth and development are tern- 



