THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION ii 



amount of exercise. Then, if the child of this man 

 inherited his father's muscular acquirement, he 

 would develop the abnormal muscles without 

 taking the more than normal exercise. He would 

 start from a position of advantage ; and, if he 

 adopted his father's training, he would develop 

 his muscles to an extent exceeding his father's 

 muscular development. Obviously, if this process 

 were repeated for many generations, it would 

 result in great evolution. When a child differs 

 innately from his parent, the difference is termed 

 by biologists a variation. Lamarck, then, 

 believed that variations arise through the trans- 

 mission of parental acquirements to the child, and 

 that evolution results from the repetition of this 

 process during succeeding generations. 



But, even if Lamarck were right, even if the 

 transmission of acquirements be admitted, it is still 

 certain that all inborn differences between parent 

 and child cannot be attributed to this cause. For 

 instance, a child may be born with peculiarities of 

 which the parent had never a trace, for example, a 

 mole on the face. The child of a natural athlete, 

 who has trained himself to the point of perfection, 

 may be a natural weakling. The child of a 

 sedentary parent may have in him the makings of 

 an athlete. Most convincing fact of all, the 

 members of a litter of puppies often differ gready : 



