quired" characters), and this is not only undemonstrable,
but is scarcely theoretically conceivable, for the secondary variations
which accompany or follow the first as correlative variations, occur
also in cases in which the animals concerned are sterile and THEREFORE
CANNOT TRANSMIT ANYTHING TO THEIR DESCENDANTS. This is true of WORKER
BEES, and particularly of ANTS, and I shall here give a brief survey of
the present state of the problem as it appears to me.

Much has been written on both sides of this question since the published
controversy on the subject in the nineties between Herbert Spencer and
myself. I should like to return to the matter in detail, if the space
at my disposal permitted, because it seems to me that the arguments I
advanced at that time are equally cogent to-day, notwithstanding all the
objections that have since been urged against them. Moreover, the matter
is by no means one of subordinate interest; it is the very kernel of the
whole question of the reality and value of the principle of selection.
For if selection alone does not suffice to explain "HARMONIOUS
ADAPTATION" as I have called Spencer's COADAPTATION, and if we require
to call in the aid of the Lamarckian factor it would be questionable
whether selection could explain any adaptations whatever. In this
particular case--of worker bees--the Lamarckian factor may be excluded
altogether, for it can be demonstrated that here at any rate the effects
of use and disuse cannot be transmitted.

But if it be asked why we are unwilling to admit the cooperation of
the Darwinian factor of selection and the Lamarckian factor, since this
would afford us an easy and satisfactory explanation of the phenomena,
I answer: BECAUSE THE LAMARCKIAN PRINCIPLE IS FALLACIOUS, AND BECAUSE BY
ACCEPTING IT WE CLOSE THE WAY TOWARDS DEEPER INSIGHT. It is not a spirit
of combativeness or a desire for self-vindication that induces me to
take the field once more against the Lamarckian principle, it is the
conviction that the progress of our knowledge is being obstructed by the
acceptance of this fallacious principle, since the facile explanation it
apparently affords prevents our seeking after a truer explanation and a
deeper analysis.

The workers in the various species of ants are sterile, that is to say,
they take no regular part in the reproduction of the species, although
individuals among them may occasionally lay eggs. In addition to this
they have lost the wi