conclusive, appear to
corroborate Sir Richard's astounding statements; and as they may perhaps
prove of interest to the reader, I now set them forth.

It chanced that a few months ago I was a guest at a dinner party at
which men only were present, and that I was seated next to a very
brilliant young American physician who was devoting himself especially
to the study of Heredity. It being his hobby, he soon contrived to turn
the conversation toward that topic, and, after a few general remarks,
told several very startling stories illustrative of certain contentions
which he advanced. Among others he related the case of a young Western
farmer whose ancestors had emigrated from the little village of
Langonnet, in Brittany, to America, some two hundred and fifty years
ago. They had passed through the usual vicissitudes of fortune
experienced by the early settlers, and in process of time had become so
absolutely Americanised that even their very name had become corrupted
almost out of recognition as of French origin. The young farmer in
question possessed only a very elementary education, and had never been
taught French, yet almost from the moment when he first began to speak
he occasionally interpolated a French word in his conversation, and the
practice extended as he grew older. Finally, it transpired that certain
property in the neighbourhood of Langonnet which his ancestors had
abandoned as practically worthless had become so valuable that enquiries
as to the whereabouts of the owners had been set on foot, the
descendants had been with much difficulty traced, and the young farmer,
as being the person most directly interested, crossed to France to
investigate. And now comes the marvellous part of the story. The young
man had no sooner arrived in Langonnet--which, be it remembered, he was
now visiting for the first time in his life--than he began to recognise
such of his surroundings as remained unaltered since the emigration of
his French ancestors, and, more strange still, perhaps, was able to
converse in the Breton dialect with little or no difficulty by the time
that he had been twenty-four hours in the village!

The point which the narrator sought to illustrate and emphasise was that
not only is heredity responsible for the transmission and persistence of
certain peculiarities of face, form, and character, but also that in a
few isolated cases it has actually been known to _transmit knowledge_!

As soon as