398 BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS 
out with such detail and apt illustration that if one follows 
him step by step without dissent on some fundamental prin- 
ciple, his conclusion seems justified. As a system it has 
been elaborated until it makes a coherent appeal to the 
intellect. 
Inheritance of Acquired Characters.—Another funda- 
mental point in Weismann’s theory is the denial that acquired 
characters are transmitted from parent to offspring. Prob- 
ably the best single discussion of this subject is contained 
in his book on The Evolution Theory, 1904, to which readers 
are referred. 
A few illustrations will be in place. Acquired characters 
are any acquisitions made by the body-cells during the 
lifetime of an individual. They may be obvious, as skill 
in piano-playing, bicycle-riding, etc.; or they may be very 
recondite, as turns of the intellect, acquired beliefs, etc. 
Acquired bodily characters may be forcibly impressed upon 
the organism, as the facial mutilations practiced by certain 
savage tribes, the docking of the tails of horses, of dogs, etc. 
The question is, Are any acquired characters, physical or 
mental, transmitted by inheritance? 
Manifestly, it will be difficult to determine on a scientific 
basis whether or not such qualities are inheritable. One 
would naturally think first of applying the test of experiment 
to supposed cases of such inheritances, and this is the best 
ground to proceed on. 
It has been maintained on the basis of the classical 
experiments of Brown-Séquard on guinea-pigs that induced 
epilepsy is transmitted to offspring; and, also, on the basis 
of general observations, that certain bodily mutilations are 
inherited. Weismann’s analysis of the whole situation is 
very incisive. He experimented by cutting off the tails of 
both parents of breeding mice. The experiments were 
carried through twenty-two generations, both parents being 
