chap, ii.] PROCESSES IN HEREDITY. 5 



in features and disposition from their earliest years, 

 though brought into the world under the same condi- 

 tions and subsequently nurtured in an almost identical 

 manner. It may be that some natural peculiarity does 

 not appear till late in life, and yet may justly deserve 

 to be considered natural, for if it is decidedly exceptional 

 in its character its origin could hardly be ascribed to 

 the effects of nurture. If it was also possessed by some 

 ancestor, it must be considered to be hereditary as 

 well. But "Natural" is an unfortunate word for 

 our purpose ; it implies that the moment of birth is 

 the earliest date from which the effects of surrounding 

 conditions are to be reckoned, although nurture begins 

 much earlier than that. I therefore must ask that the 

 word "Natural" should not be construed too literally, 

 any more than the analogous phrases of inborn, con- 

 genital, and innate. This convenient laxity of expres- 

 sion for the sake of avoiding a pedantic periphrase need 

 not be accompanied by any laxity of idea. 



Transmutation of Female into Male Measures. — We 

 shall have to deal with the hereditary influence of parents 

 over their offspring, although the characteristics of the 

 two sexes are so different that it may seem impossible 

 to speak of both in the same terms. The phrase of 

 " Average Stature " may be applied to two men without 

 fear of mistake in its interpretation ; neither can there 

 be any mistake when it is applied to two women, but 

 what meaning can we attach to the word " Average " 

 when it is applied to the stature of two such different 



