1896.] A New Factor in Evolution. 537 
ition, also, later on; and in human affairs it becomes social 
co-operation. Now it is evident that when young creatures 
have these imitative, intelligent, or quasi-social tendencies to 
any extent, they are able to pick up for themselves, by imitation, 
instruction, experience generally, the functions which their 
parents and other creatures perform in their presence. This 
then is a form of ontogenetic adaptation ; it keeps these crea- 
tures alive, and so produces determinate variations in the way 
explained above. It is, therefore, a special, and from its wide 
range, an extremely important instance of the general principle 
of Organic Selection. ; 
But it has a farther value. Jt keeps alive a series of functions 
which either are not yet, or never do become, congenital at all. It 
is a means of extra-organic transmission from generation to 
generation. It is really a form of heredity because (1) it isa 
handing down of physical functions ; while it is not physical her- 
edity. It is entitled to be called heredity for the further rea- 
son (2) that it directly influences physical heredity in the way men- 
tioned, i. e., it keeps alive variations, thus sets the direction of 
ontogenetic adaptation, thereby influences the direction of the 
available congenital variations of the next generation, and so 
determines phylogenetic development. I have accordingly 
called it “ Social Heredity ” (ref. 2, chap. xii; ref. 3). 
In “Social Heredity,” therefore, we have a more or less con- 
servative, progressive, ontogenic atmosphere of which we may * 
make certain remarks as follows :— 
1) It secures adaptations of individuals all through the anina 
world. “Instead of limiting this influence to human life, 
we have to extend it to all the gregarious animals, to all 
the creatures that have any ability to imitate, and finally to 
all animals who have consciousness sufficient to enable them 
to make adaptations of their own ; for such creatures will have 
children that can do the same, and it is unnecessary to say that 
the children must inherit what their fathers did by intelli- 
gence, when they can do the same things by intelligence ” 
(ref. 6). 
(2) It tends to set the direction of phylogenetic progress by 
Organic Selection, Sexual Selection, etc., i. e., it tends not only 
