Habit and instinct / by C. Lloyd Morgan.

  • Morgan, C. Lloyd (Conwy Lloyd), 1852-1936.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Habit and instinct / by C. Lloyd Morgan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    which the evolution of truly congenital instinctive activities has been effected; not to decide between them. The first is based on the hereditary transmission of acquired modifi- cations of activity; the latter is based on congenital variations in definiteness. Both factors may be accepted, as they were, indeed, by Darwin and by Romanes; some instincts being regarded as due to the first, others as due to the second, and yet others as due to the combination of the two, being, in fact, as Romanes phrased it, of blended origin. The tendency of modern biological thought in Germany and in England, under the influence of Professor Weismann’s writings, has been towards the latter view— that which denies the transmission of definiteness which is acquired. And whatever may be the result of our discussion of the matter, it cannot be denied that Professor Weis- mann’s contention has done great service in forcing us to examine and test our facts with renewed and added care. It is questionable whether there is much to be gained by considering at any length what may appear to be the general biological advantages of the one view or the other. The transmissionist, on the one hand, claims that his con- ception of organic nature has the advantage of relative simplicity; he contends that, so long as the conditions of life remain uniform, the resulting uniformity of habits will ensure as much congenital stability as can be of advan- tage to the race; while under changing conditions of life the breaking up of this stability through the trans- mitted effects of new habits is decidedly advantageous to the species, and must contribute not a little to racial progress. On the other hand, the non-transmissionist, after a reminder that transmission is not only not proven, but, if it exist, is difficult to explain on the basis of our present knowledge of the relation of the germinal cells to the other bodily tissues, argues that if the organic progress