64 From Savagery to Civilization 



well known and is used by athletes in preparing 

 for physical contests. It is also used by govern- 

 ments in preparing soldiers for war. And it is 

 used by drivers in training trotters for racing. 

 In this last case we have definite records which 

 show continued development of muscular 

 strength for many years in succession. 



As a result of various investigations it is 

 learned that the offspring inherits that particular 

 muscular or mental development which existed 

 in the parents at the time the offspring was con- 

 ceived. For muscular development this has been 

 traced very accurately in the trotting horse for 

 a period of about one hundred years. In im- 

 proving lines among these animals, each genera- 

 tion in succession inherited more trotting power 

 than was inherited by its predecessor. But an 

 offspring cannot inherit what the parent did not 

 have. If the offspring is to inherit more than 

 the parent inherited, the question arises as to how 

 the parent got that which he did not inherit. 



When we take the best trotting stock of the 

 present day and run their pedigrees back four or 

 five generations, we find that these superior ani- 

 mals were not produced by any ordinary method 



