72 EVOLUTION, SOCIAL, AND ORGANIC 



if that son increases the estate, during his 

 life-time to two thousand, the second thou- 

 sand is an "acquired character" of a property 

 nature. There the analogy ceases for there is 

 no dispute as to his ability to transmit both 

 thousands to his heirs by inheritance. 



But with "acquired characters" of a biolog- 

 ical nature, W^ismann maintains this to be 

 impossible. Many specific instances were put 

 forward in refutation of this contention. Her- 

 bert Spencer cited the case of the supposed 

 degeneration of the little toe in civilized man 

 as a result of the shoe wearing habit. This 

 it was urged could only have occurred through 

 the transmission of acquired characters and 

 not by natural selection as this diminished toe 

 could not be of any value in the struggle for 

 existence. 



But it was shown by measuring the feet of 

 savages, who do not wear shoes, and whose 

 ancestors never wore them, that the small 

 toes of savages had degenerated quite as 

 much. 



Then Cesare Lombroso entered the arena 

 leading a camel. According to the Italian 

 criminologist, the camel's hump had been first 

 acquired by bearing loads and then transmit- 

 ted by heredity. From the fact that the camel 

 and the llama, which is smooth backed, have 



