Heredity, Variation and Genius 105 



gence of the animal world, yet is unable to 

 produce the glitter and artifice of a neurotic 

 poet's imagery ! 



VII. 



In the ascent of the human species to a higher 

 plane of social organization by the development 

 of nature through and by it are we henceforth 

 bound to think that the acquisitions of the 

 individual being do not count in the process of 

 hereditary transmission, counting only in the 

 contributions, good or bad, which he makes while 

 alive to the good or bad work of the society in 

 which he lives : that how righteous or unrighteous 

 soever, he bequeaths no acquired constitutional 

 legacy to his children or his children's children ; 

 affects not their nature in the least ; does nothing 

 by his doings to lay well or ill the foundations 

 of their doings ? Without doubt the general 

 qualities of the stock are more deep-laid and 

 stable than the particular characters of individual 

 parents, and are more plainly inherited. Not only 

 are these less likely to be inherited, but they 

 are sometimes plainly not transmitted when not 

 acquired. It is natural then to think that acquired 

 characters are still less likely to be transmitted ; 

 and if that be so the procreating person is freed 

 from reproductive responsibility so far as he 

 personally improves or debases his nature, and can 

 comfortably leave matters to the " universal plan " 



