TJie Inlicrilance of Acquired Characters 31 



of the pre-existing genes. Such a demonstration has as 

 yet not been approached among higher ])lants; it is aj)- 

 proximated for animals by Guyer's white rabbit experi- 

 ments. 



Attention should be called to another ])hen()menon 

 which can easily be confused with inheritance of acquired 

 characters. If corn is planted in poor soil, weak indi- 

 viduals result. Seed from these weak indi\nduals, when 

 planted in good soil will develop again somewhat weak- 

 ened indi\iduals, suggesting the inheritance of acquired 

 characters. This, however, is merch' the direct effect 

 of environment continuing through the second genera- 

 tion. The weak individuals in the poor soil develop 

 small seeds with low nutritive capacity, and ])lants 

 developed from abnormally small seeds are always weak, 

 whether the individual that produced the seed grew in 

 poor soil or not. 



There has been fairly good agreement on the point 

 that trees deformed by prevailing winds, like the willows 

 that line the canals in Belgium and Holland, or storm- 

 crippled trees along exposed seacoasts, do not produce 

 progeny showing these characters when the adverse 

 environmental conditions are removed. Mavr (15) has 

 written a notable work on silviculture, in which he claims 

 that only species characters are inherited in trees, and 

 that the effects of climate are not inherited, and there- 

 fore that the source of the seed makes no dilTerence. l\\ 

 other words, seeds of Scotch pine would alwa}s produce 

 Scotch pine progeny, no matter at Avhat latitude or alti- 

 tude the ancestors had been growing. According lo 

 Mayr, therefore, there is no inheritance of acquired 

 characters in trees. 



