268 SECRETS OF ANIMAL LIFE 
Mr. Bonhote is not much concerned with the 
question of the possible transmission of individually 
acquired bodily modifications due to peculiarities 
of, or changes in, function and environment; his 
central idea is that the physiological state of the 
parent, when functioning as a parent, may influence 
the offspring. There is abundant experimental 
evidence to show that a slight change in the chemical 
and physical medium of the germ-cells and the 
early embryonic stages may have a profound effect 
on the development. To a degree previously 
unsuspected, appropriate liberating stimuli are 
required to release the primordia of the various 
organs and qualities. And there are inhibitors as 
well as liberators. Add a drop from one philter 
and the embryo will be blind, from another and it 
will have no food-canal. It must be remembered, 
too, that much depends on the tempo of develop- 
ment, and that great changes may be brought about 
by accelerating here and slowing there. In this 
connection our author might have found, had he 
known, some vindication of the emphasis which he 
puts on “the rate of metabolism.” 
To make Mr. Bonhote’s point quite clear, we 
must emphasize the fact that he is not merely con- 
cerned with the conclusion that nurture counts for 
much in the development or expression of the indi- 
vidual’s hereditary nature; his suggestion is that 
nurture goes farther back. There is no doubt that 
appropriate food and warmth and moisture and the 
like may conspire to heighten the vigor of the parent 
