1042 The American Naturalist. - [December, 
written by the most orthodox of neo-Darwinians. Nowhere in his 
paper does Lombroso offer any proof that the characteristics mentioned 
are not fortuitous variations. He -takes it for granted that because a 
character is new and adaptive, that it is an acquired character become 
hereditary. There seems to be in his mind the very common confusion 
between the terms “new ” and “ acquired.” 
The editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal is suffering 
from a much worse confusion of the terms, for he has not yet learned 
to distinguish between infection and heredity. When the medical 
profession has demonstrated that syphilis is not an infectious disease, 
we shall be ready to accept congenital syphilis as an acquired charac- 
ter that has been inherited. Besides other cases of this kind, the edi- 
tor cites the case of a child born of a mother who had taken from eight 
to fourteen grains of morphine daily, commencing soon after marriage. 
The three preceding children had died soon after birth. In this case 
the child, a ten pound girl, on the third day became sleepless, pale and 
prostrate, and five minutes later died. What possible bearing can a 
case like this have upon the question of the inheritance of acquired 
characters? Knowing the effect of morphine upon the adult, it is far 
from surprising that a child that had been bathed in and fed on morphine 
from the moment of conception until birth, should show some results 
of such treatment. We may have here an acquired character, but the 
evidence of inheritance is absolutely nil. It is a case of poisoning, not 
of inheritance. 
The report of the proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Boston 
Society of Natural History’ has been lying upon our table for some 
time. We are glad to note that Prof. Hyatt has nearly completed the 
descriptive part of his work on the Achatinellinz of the Hawaiian 
Islands. It is to be hoped that this very complete collection of land 
shells purchased by the Society in 1890 from the Rev. J. T. Gulick, 
will soon be placed on exhibition. It is one that will be of the greate 
est interest to all students of evolution. 
It is annouced, also, that considerable progress has been made upon 
the collection illustrative of “dynamical zoology,” and it is gratifying 
to know that it will be put in place during the present year. 
; 3 Proceedings Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. 28, No. 2, p. 45-72. 
