HEREDITY AND EUGENICS. 291 
soul of each person brought into the world comes direct from the 
Creator, or whether it is derived from the parent. Professor Calde- 
cott declares for the former theory, and who shall gainsay him ? 
At least, if there be any natural law involved in the transmission 
of souls, it has not yet been discovered. Science, in that matter, 
is rather in the position of Harold, whose alarm at the appearance 
of Halley’s comet in 1066 is unmistakably depicted in the Bayeux 
tapestry, than in ours since its orbit has been accurately ascertained. 
It seems to me quite clear that genius is not the result of an 
ordinary process of mental evolution, but that it has no demon- 
strated connection whatever with the mental condition of its 
possessor’s progenitors. 
On only one more point in the paper will I venture to remark. 
I desire to associate myself with Professor Caldecott in his opposition 
to the extent with which collectivism is now being carried, and to 
express my hope that we shall continue to leave the individual as 
free as is consistent with the welfare of society. Some restrictions 
on individual freedom there must be. But it will be a fatal blow 
to the future of humanity if those restrictions are carried too 
far. 
Professor LANGHORNE ORCHARD said he had much pleasure in 
seconding the vote of thanks so felicitously proposed by Chancellor 
Lias. Indeed, they all seconded it. They thanked the learned 
author of the paper for the marked ability and suggestive thought 
with which he had assisted their consideration of a subject of special 
interest and importance, and in these days very much to the fore. 
They would all agree that whatever Heredity may, or may not, 
do in the human body, it does not hold for spirit. What, in fact, 
is Heredity? It is the inheritance of a peculiar nervous organiza- 
tion, including in that term the nerve-centres of the brain and the 
cerebro-spinal system. It has been shown by Dr. Hill of Downing 
College, Cambridge, that nerve tracks vary in character, and that 
will: mandates travel more easily and pleasantly along certain tracks 
than they do along others where the way is less smooth or broad. 
Therefore, since we are not usually fond of the difficult, we feel 
tendencies to act in particular directions, and the will is solicited 
to proceed along some line of least resistance. But such solicitation, 
however strong, can never pass into command. The will always 
retains its freedom, otherwise it were not will. 
