The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-03-29

certain orient. What be has 20 cay upog
/ this theme constitutes the most important
! feature Of his book. Before, however
We direct attention to his remarks on thu
/ LAmsrckian factors OF evolution. let N
note his answers to the questions, hrst
1 u there such thing - tslegony; and
second, h there . collective death rate ir
the case Of mani
II b well known that the term teiegony
or so-oalled infection Of the germ. h applied
/ to certain cases apparently showing the
influence Of . previous fertilization on the
structure Of Subsequent offspring by an
other father. The test case always quoted
/ to prove the existence Of this phenomenon
10 that Of Lord Morton's mare. This animal
bore hybrid to quagga, and subsequently
produced two colts by . Black Arabian
horse. These colts. both In the hair Of
their names, their partial dun color and
stripping on the legs, strongly resembled
the quagga. Other cases have been 3D.
duced in support Of this phenomenon
but DR.. Vernon refrains from reproducing
them. on the ground that none 10 absolutely
convincing. Prof Ewart has made Z
number Of attempts TO obtain evidence OF
teleeony. but 20 far With entirely negative
results. Sir Everett Millais undertook
considerably larger series Of experiments
on q variety OF animals. but vas equally
unsuccessful. Many German breeders also
believe telegony unproven. Again. Prof.
Pearson has shown that exact ststistioa
examination Of appropriate data gives no
support whatever to the hypothesis. Pear
sons method Of testing the question was to
determine whether younger children are
more closely correlated to their parents
In respect Of some character. such a. stature,
than are older children. Were 1t true that
q male parent u able TO exert any abiding
influence on the maternal tissues, and 70
indirectly on the offspring, clearly this
influence would be greater for the younger
children than for the older children. Our
authors conclusion b that probably nosuch
thing a. telegony exists. In any case. II Ia
so exceedingly rare that, as a possible
source Of variations. 1t may be neglected.
Our author does not dispute the adequacy
OF tho proof given by Prof. Pearson In his
Grammar Of Science Of the existence Of
selsctive death-rats In the case OF man.
though no Think II scsroely entities him
to describe the phenomenon a. . case Of
natural selection What Prof. Pearpon
has shown II that there 10 q fairly close
correlation between the ages at death Of
brother and brother, and q lees close one
bstween those Of fathers and sons. For
instance, tho mean age at death OF pen
not dying a. minors Is axty-one years. II.
however, one brother Of . pair dies at rs.
then the other will on an average die at
SIC. or 90 years earlier than the mean; II
one dies Ut IS. thcn the other will. on an
average, die at 673, or 81 years later than
the mean. There Ii. therefore. something
in tho constitution Of Q man which, to q
largo extent. determines when he shall die
or undergo elimination. His death IL not
at all q matter OF chance. Further analyses
Of data by Miss Beeton and Prof Pearson
(snalyses reported In the Proceedings Of
the Royal Society. 1897 indicate the same
thing, though they also lead to other and
somewhat unexpected conclusions. Thus,
from the pedigree records Of members Of
the Society Of Friends, the authors found
that elder (adult) brothers and sisters, on
an average, live distinctly longer than
younger (adult) brother and sisters. and
greater tie difference in expectation Of
life. For instance, o man born six years
after his elder brother will probably live
four years less than that elder brother:
one born ten years after, seven years less;
nna one s t~sy. yssrs . Put IL Other
words. the eldest children Of q family have
the best chance Of life. and tho youngest.
the worst. This decrease Of vitality may,
perhaps, be looked upon a. . direct result
OF the diminished vigor OF the parent at the
time Of conception, and Of tho mother
during the period Of intra-uterine develop
ment II this be actually the case, we
ought to hnd that the expectation Of life
Is more closely correlated with the age Of |
the mother at the time of conception than
with that OF the father.
Tho trans instability Of characters ac-
quired during the lifetime Of an organism
will be found dis Nss,d In the las. chapter
but one Of the book before US Il 10 un.
disputed that Evolution 10 brought about I
by the action OF Natural Selection on varia-
TONS II s,lecting some and rejecting others,
and - gradually altering the average
Of Q race. But are blss.ogenic.
such sslective agency. and are somatic
VARIATIONS. or s,-called acquired characters,
In this respect? Il 10 we'll known
hat the ques lon OF the heritableness OF
acquired characters has been one Of the
ems and Il Is one which even now separates
NOS. biologis into two opposite and APP
irreconcilable camps. the Neo-
and the Neo-Lamarckians
DR., Vernon. for h's part. mas s.riyen TO
, u0 msdia. which, though unable TO admit
u the heritabIensss OF locaiised tiss 10
,hsnges. sach ss injuries and mutilations,
d yet able to adopt reas Enable evidence.
10Th experimental and theoretic al. In favor
u Q partial inheritance OF certain esR-
'yaiissd tlss ,e-chanUs
Our author rsminds W that the chief
experimental svidsnos In support Of the
lpparsnt hsritablsness OF acquired charao-
ers lies In the numerous and undoubtHd
,roofs Of the cumulative action Of oondi-
ions Of NE. OF .suoh proofs. one Of the
nos. Striking 10 that reoordsd by Darwin
nth refsrenos 10 the elects Of European
Innate on the American varisties 81 mAise
Thus nstsGer cultivated In Germany q
all kind Of maize brought from the warmer
he plants wers twelve fest high. and few
,eds were pedec'ed. In the second gen
ration, The plan,s we're from nins 10 ten
ct ~ bslshf. and rpsnsd their . I'D hestss.
sope VI the sssds had even become yellou,
md ~ thssr nos founded form. they ap.
.fesslssd oosmsa EuSoDssa ,aAixs. IN tie
bird ssssrsiloa. nearly All sss sssbIASas
ssssnt-foSm sss los 10 Ne ssth Ssnsss.
e, ... ~. ,. S:.,. p'"'''i' ''s''aL'sd
Aasopg snsal.sss " tis sAinsl klasdom
I. =. s =. !. e ~ srslY.... Lss
y. ~ Il. .' .. ssss,, . .s. 80. ss E
lsis cad l.sesg.s sysss.sa sslL yhllt .la %