This View of Life 
from the Origin of Species, Darwin only 
wanted to prove that true horses and 
asses can develop stripes without any 
zebra influence. As we shall see, this 
original explanation was apparently 
correct. 
Burkhardt argues that Darwin 
changed his mind and supported teleg- 
ony because it fit so well with the (ironi- 
cally) “non-Darwinian” theory of her- 
edity that he developed in 1868. Under 
this “provisional hypothesis of pangen- 
esis” (as Darwin called it), all cells of 
the body produce tiny particles, called 
gemmules, that course throughout the 
body, gather in the sex cells, and even- 
tually transmit the characters of par- 
ents to offspring. Since gemmules 
might be altered if the cells producing 
them are changed by the influence of 
environment or the activity of animals 
themselves, acquired characters can be 
inherited and evolution has an impor- 
tant Lamarckian aspect. 
Telegony meshed well with pangene- 
sis because gemmules included with the 
quagga’s sperm would have remained 
in the body of Lord Morton’s mare and 
extended their influence to her subse- 
quent offspring. (Darwin even once 
speculated that gemmules passed in 
sperm might explain why some women 
grow to resemble their husbands. As to 
why so many people resemble their 
dogs, Darwin maintained a discreet si- 
lence.) 
Telegony finally fell when a new the- 
ory of heredity rose to favor and ex- 
cluded it. August Weismann, who 
championed the strict Darwinism of 
natural selection against all forms of 
Lamarckian inheritance (including 
Darwin’s own pangenesis), argued for 
what he called “the continuity of germ 
plasm.” He held that reproductive cells 
are completely isolated from the rest of 
the body and cannot be influenced by 
whatever forces mold and alter other 
organs and tissues. Acquired charac- 
ters cannot affect the next generation 
because they cannot penetrate the “cas- 
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