The Term “Acquired Characters.”

Abstract

I AM afraid that as Sir Edward Fry has endeavoured to show that the explanation, given by Mr. Galton and accepted by me, of the term “acquired characters” is an absurdity when applied to the consideration of the question as to whether those characters can be transmitted by generation, I must proceed to convict Sir Edward of a loose and unwarranted use of language whilst availing himself of the plausible form of strict logical statements. I am a little disappointed with the value of the results hitherto accruing from the intervention of high judicial authority in a scientific discussion.