AMERICAN NATURALIST 
Vet. XXVI. November, 1892. 311 
HEREDITY OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERS.* 
By Dr. Manty MILES. 
The remarkable progress of science for nearly half a century 
must be largely attributed to the general recognition and ex- 
tended applications of the laws of evolution and the conserva- 
tion of energy. 
In the biological departments of science, evolution has had 
a predominant influence in suggesting lines of investigation, 
and in the interpretation of results, while the significance of 
energy as a factor in all organic processes has not been as 
fully recognized. 
- In both vegetable and animal physiology there is a growing 
tendency to look upon the collocations of matter as incidents, 
or manifestations of the transformations of energy, and the 
changes taking place in vital activities are conveniently 
expressed by the general term metabolism that includes the 
dynamic as well as the material factors, which cannot be sep- 
arately considered, from the complexity of their intimate rela- 
tions. Even in the processes of nutrition it appears that the 
demands for the material elements of tissues are limited, while 
the expenditures of energy in the constructive processes and 
their collateral functions are enormous. 
It is not my purpose to attempt a general discussion of the 
conservation of energy as a factor in biological activities, but 
*(Read before Section of Biology, A. A. A. S., Aug. 19th, 1892.) 
63 
