280 THE SCIENCE OF POWER 



species experimented upon the whole of this powerful 

 influence, representing a most dominant and in- 

 eradicable habit of animal nature, was entirely the 

 result of social heredity imposed on the young of 

 each generation by training and example and nearly 

 always under conditions of strong emotion. 



As the experiments were extended it was found, 

 also in the face of generally accepted ideas, that 

 in many cases deep-seated habits of species, extend- 

 ing even to such fundamental matters as the nature 

 of their food and the usual manner of living, were 

 not matters of inborn heredity but were acquired as 

 part of the social inheritance which the adults of 

 the species imposed by example and training on 

 the young of each generation. Once acquired the 

 habits were as fixed and unchangeable as those 

 which are the result of inborn heredity. But it was 

 found that a different habit, proving equally un- 

 changeable once acquired, could be imposed in 

 the beginning in the same way. 



It has been already pointed out that the dis- 

 tinctive characteristic of social heredity, as con- 

 trasted with inborn heredity, is that the elements 

 of social heredity can be completely changed and 

 different elements imposed in a short time. It 

 became evident in these experiments that, if 

 control could be obtained of the social heredity of 



