Biological fact and the structure of society : The Herbert Spencer lecture delivered at the examination schools on Wednesday, February 28, 1912 / by W. Bateson.

  • Bateson, William, 1861-1926.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Biological fact and the structure of society : The Herbert Spencer lecture delivered at the examination schools on Wednesday, February 28, 1912 / by W. Bateson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and readily ascertainable knowledge, fraught with im- measurable practical consequence to mankind, hidden behind the word heredity had occurred to scarcely a single mind. Many were perfectly aware of the importance of heredity. All upholders of evolutionary doctrines, both those who preceded Darwin and those who followed him, were familiar with the fact that change of type came about through the inheritance of modification. In many admirable and striking works the late Francis Galton had endeavoured to direct attention to the practical significance of heredity. He had shown also that the descent of characters could be partially expressed in a system, which, though erroneous in fundamental con- ception, still gives an approximately correct representa- tion of several of the phenomena. But the discovery of Mendelian analysis, though as yet imperfectly developed, opens up a new world of physiology. Expressed in the briefest possible way the essence of the Mendelian principle is not difficult to grasp. It may be conveyed in the statement that organisms may be regarded as composed to a great extent of separate factors, by virtue of which they pos- sess their various characters or attributes. These factors are detachable, and may be recombined in various ways. It thus becomes possible to institute a factorial analysis of an individual. How far such analysis can be carried we do not }’et know, but we have the certainty that it extends far, and ample indications that we should probably be right in supposing that it covers most of the features, whether of mind or body, which distinguish the various members of a mixed population like that of which we form a part. From such a representation we pass to the obvious con-