INHERITANCE OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERS 77 



Darwin also believed in the inheritance of acquired 

 characters, although he differed from Lamarck with 

 respect to how such characters are acquired. 



Francis Gal ton in 1875 was one of the first to ex- 

 press skepticism regarding this generally accepted 

 belief but the man who, in a masterly manner, fo- 

 cused the growing doubt, and who did more than 

 any other to inspire thought and investigation upon 

 the subject, was August Weismann, for nearly fifty 

 years professor in the University of Freiburg in 

 Baden. Weismann made the issue so clear that the 

 heritability of acquired characters became the parting 

 of the ways which divided biologists into the two 

 camps of Neo- Lamar ckians who affirm, and Neo- 

 Darwinians who deny, such inheritance. If the 

 question could be decided by a vote or by an expres- 

 sion of opinion, the result would be doubtful, since 

 each column contains the names of men whose scien- 

 tific accomplishments entitle them to a respectful 

 hearing. Geneticists and embryologists, represent- 

 ing the two lines of study which furnish the most 

 immediate approach to this problem, are well-nigh 

 agreed, however, that acquired characters are not 

 inherited. 



But just what are the facts of the case ? 



5. Confusion in Definitions 



The source of much of the lack of agreement in 

 this controversy lies in the definition of what con- 

 stitutes an "acquired character." One is reminded 

 of the two knights who fought so bitterly over the 



