Note 296 — VIII. THE SUPPOSED TRANSMISSION OF MUTILATIONS.
Reading edition
[One of the most remarkable forms of this revival of Lamarckism is the establishment in America of a ‘Neo-Lamarckian School,’ which includes among its members many of the most distinguished American biologists. One of the arguments upon which the founders of the school have chiefly relied is derived from the comparative morphology of mammalian teeth. The evolution of the various types are believed to be due to modifications in shape, produced by the action of mechanical forces (pressure and friction) during the life of the individual. The accumulation of such modifications by means of heredity explains the forms of existing teeth.
It may be reasonably objected that the most elementary facts concerning the development of teeth prove that their shapes cannot be altered during the lifetime of the individual, except by being worn away. The shape is predetermined before the tooth has cut the gum. Hence the Neo-Lamarckian School assumes, not the transmission of acquired characters, but the transmission of characters which the parent is unable to acquire!—E. B. P.]