CHAPTER XI 



ACQUIRED CHARACTERS AND MUTATIONS 



A young mother expressed the greatest disappointment 

 over the fact that her daughter was not musical. 



" I simply cannot understand it," she exclaimed. " Before 

 the child was born I spent hours every day practicing the 

 piano, because I was determined to have at least one musical 

 person in the family. Does n't science say that we can stamp 

 our children this way or that before they are born ? I have 

 proved that we can't." 



" Has she no musical ability whatever? " I asked. 



" None at all," was the answer ; " neither have I ; neither 

 has her father. That's precisely why I practiced so. I was 

 trying to help the family out. I wanted to put musical power 

 into it." 



"And you failed ? " I asked. 



"Absolutely," was the answer. 



" The trouble was with your own lack of information," I 

 continued. She looked surprised, but I gave her no time to 

 speak. "The process of evolution proves that we stamp our 

 children according to what we are in ourselves, not accord- 

 ing to what we make ourselves do. The doing is n't going to 

 stamp children before they are born ; it is the being that does 

 it. Is n't your daughter rather persistent ? " 



" Indeed she is," said the woman, looking at me 'in as- 

 tonishment. " She 's the most persistent thing you ever saw. 

 But what gave you the idea ? You have n't even seen her." 



72 



