ON THE WANING- OF WEISMANNISM. 



327 



ON THE WANING OF WEISMANNISM. 

 By G. F. Scott-Elliott, M.A., F.R.G.S., F.L.S. 



In Britain, the ordinary practical man is inclined to be a little distrustful 

 and suspicious of scientific theory. He does not understand science, and 

 at the same time both fears and dislikes scientists. 



Therefore one has to be very careful indeed in laying down laws of 

 plant-breeding, or of inheritance, for if such dogmas are known by the 

 man of business from his own experience to be quite untrue, then science 

 is further discredited and the practical man is hardened in his natural 

 unbelief. 



That " characters acquired during the life of an individual cannot 

 possibly be transmitted to its descendants " is a doctrine which has been 

 authoritatively laid down by most scientific writers. 



When those of us who have, from the first, protested against this 

 dogma, asked for proofs, we obtained the stony answer that it was quite 

 impossible for such inheritance to take place. When we alluded to 

 hundreds of examples of the inheritance of characters which were obviously 

 and provably due to the action of the environment, we were told that 

 we did not understand the later developments of Weismann's theory. 



Practical farmers, however, refused to be stopped in their experiments 

 by mere assertions, and in consequence discoveries have been made which 

 are of the first importance in agriculture. 



One of the most interesting of these discoveries is the fact that the 

 capacity of yielding an unnaturally enormous amount of milk is distinctly 

 inherited. The experiment has been tried on a large scale in Australia, 

 and in detail is being carried on in almost every dairy farm in Great Britain. 

 A heifer or even a bull-calf, if its mother is known to be an exceptionally 

 good milker, will fetch a very high price in the open market. 



There is even a tendency to discriminate between the various strains 

 of Ayrshire and of Shorthorn cattle. It is now the calf of a thousand-gallon 

 Ayrshire cow, not the fully-pedigreed aristocrat of the showyard that is 

 really valuable. Moreover, amongst Shorthorns there are both beefy and 

 milking strains which are quite distinct and different. 



It is almost certain, also, though there is not as yet quite sufficient 

 evidence to prove it, that a high percentage of butter fat in the milk is 

 also an inheritable quality. 



The flow of milk and the fat-content are distinctly affected by 

 climatic changes, by feeding and especially by skilful milking ; every 

 dairyman is not only thoroughly aware of these facts, but usually knows, 

 from bitter experience, that an excellent cow may be ruined by a careless 

 milk-maid. 



It is not possible to make an inferior cow into a first-rate milker, 

 however skilful the management, but the difference brought about by good 

 treatment is very remarkable and rests on incontrovertible evidence. 



