362 TRANSMISSION 



This, and not the introduction of new characters, is the basis 

 of variation between individuals of the same race. Differences 

 between races may be either qualitative or quantitative, or 

 both ; but differences between individuals of the same race are 

 essentially quantitative. 



Quantitatively, that which is transmitted from parent to off- 

 spring is a certain capacity for development. But possession 

 of the capacity for development is no guaranty that development 

 will follow. Whether or not it will follow depends upon the 

 nature of the conditions of life, and whether they will afford the 

 opportunity for development. 



The limits of development of any racial character are fixed, 

 therefore, by two factors : first, the initial impulse born into the 

 individual, the intensity of which is a matter of breeding ; and 

 second, the attitude of the environment, whether favorable or 

 unfavorable. 



Manifestly with any individual the highest development will 

 be in those characters whose inherited intensity is strongest and 

 for whose development the environment is most favorable. Next 

 in order will come those with high intensity but which are forced 

 to struggle against an unfavorable environment, as well as those 

 whose inherited intensity is less. Weakest of all will be the de- 

 velopment of those characters whose inherited intensity is low and 

 for which the environment is especially unfavorable. As we have 

 seen, no matter what may be the environment, no development 

 will take place except along lines that are clearly recognized 

 as within racial possibilities and therefore due to transmitted 

 impulses. These contingencies cover all cases of variation 

 between individuals, and the real question before the student 

 is not whether acquired characters are inherited, but it is this : 

 Will the extreme development of a racial character under unusu- 

 ally favorable conditions of life augment even to the slightest 

 degree the transmitted tendency for development in the next gen- 

 eration ? or are intensities the product only of changes internal 

 to the germ plasm ? 



Stated more broadly the question is this : Does the develop- 

 ment attained by the individual influence his powers of transmis- 

 sion ? This question should stand out clear-cut in the student's 





