134 Darwin, and after Darwin. 



stands. That is to say, it was the previous know- 

 ledge of this contrast between congenital and acquired 

 characters which led to the formulation of a theory of 

 continuity by Mr. Galton, and to its subsequent 

 development by Prof. Weismann. 



But, in the second place, there is a wide difference 

 between the certainty of this fact and that of the 

 theory based upon it. The certain fact is, that 

 a great distinction in respect of heritability is 

 observable between congenital and acquired char- 

 acters. The theory, as formulated by Weismann, is 

 that the distinction is not only great but absolute, or, 

 in other words, that in no case and in no degree 

 can any acquired character be ever inherited. This 

 hypothesis, it will be observed, goes far beyond the 

 observed fact, for it is obviously possible that, not- 

 withstanding this great difference in regard to herita- 

 bility between congenital and acquired characters, 

 the latter may nevertheless, sometimes and in some 

 degree, be inherited, however much difficulty we may 

 experience in obsei"ving these lesser phenomena in 

 presence of the greater. The Weismannian hypo- 

 thesis of absolute continuity is one thing, while the 

 observed fact of at least a high relative degree of 

 continuity is quite another thing. And it is neces- 

 sary to be emphatic on this point, since some of the 

 reviewers of my Examination of Weismannism con- 

 found these two things. Being apparently under the 

 impression that it was reserved for Weismann to 

 perceive the fact of there being a great difference 

 between the heritability of congenital and acquired 

 characters, they deem it inconsistent in me to 

 acknowledge this fact while at the same time 



