42 Mr. John M. MacCormac on 



becoming collected in the generative cells, can reproduce the 

 whole organism. This theory was too complex to commend 

 itself to physiologists. 



Sanson defines heredity as the transmission of natural or 

 acquired qualities from predecessor to descendants. Professor 

 Weisman founds a theory of heredity, which assumes that 

 acquired characters cannot be transmitted, while many consider 

 that they can be inherited. It is clear that acquired characters, 

 such as mutilations, e.g., the clipping of dogs' ears and tails, 

 the piercing of women's ears, the deformity of the feet of 

 Chinese women, affect the individual only. Dr. Arcbdall Reid 

 remarks that there are two classes of characters, inborn and 

 acquired, and the question of the transmission of the latter 

 has been warmly debated. This difference of opinion arises 

 from the difficulty of deciding what is due to heredity, and 

 what to environment. It is commonly said that all theories of 

 heredity are in essence theories of evolution, but theories of 

 evolution depend directly upon environment, while theories of 

 heredity are closely associated with the nervous system. 

 Professor Titchener maintains that every child is born with 

 certain tendencies, which differ according as the child takes 

 after this or that predecessor. The nervous system of each is 

 the product of a long course of development, and all sorts of 

 influences have combined to affect it. Hence the different 

 mental characteristics. 



But are physiological and psychological heredity mutually 

 dependent or not ? Science cannot settle this, unless we are 

 prepared for materialism, and to deny the existence of the soul. 

 This must be considered. The ancients believed that souls 

 migrated from men to animals and vice versd, and this belief, 

 finding its way into the early church, gave rise to different 

 theories of the soul's existence. Later arose the question 

 whether the soul was not generated at the same time as the 

 body, and the theory a Traducianism," arising out of this, was 

 adopted by many of the early Fathers. Lactantius asked from 

 which parent the soul sprang, and exploded the theory. 



