Breeding Experiments on the Inheritance of Acquired Characters

Abstract

ALTHOUGH I agree with Dr. Kammerer in holding the opinion that somatic modifications do, sooner or later, affect the gametes or reproductive cells in such a way as to produce an inherited development of a corresponding change of structure, I regret that the evidence presented in his lecture printed in NATURE of May 12 is in some respects open to the objection that it is not in accordance with the present state of biological knowledge. Another objection, which may be partly due to the fact that the lecture is only a brief summary, is that the evidence does not include sufficient detail, or precise comparison with controls.