An acquired character is simply a modification, due to
some cause external to the germ-plasm acting on an inborn character. In
looking at an individual, one can not always say with certainty which
characters are which; but with a little trouble, one can usually reach a
reliable decision. It is possible to measure the variation in a given
character in a group of parents and their children, in a number of
different environments; if the degree of resemblance between parent and
offspring is about the same in each case, regardless of the different
surroundings in which the children may have been brought up, the
character may properly be called germinal. This is the biometric method
of investigation. In practice, one can often reach a decision by much
simpler means: if the character is one that appears at birth, e.g.,
skin color, it is usually safe to assume that it is a germinal
character, unless there is some evident reason for deciding otherwise,
as in the case of a child born with some disease from which the mother
had been suffering for the previous few months. In general, it is more
difficult to decide whether a mental trait is germinal, than whether a
physical one is; and great care should be used in classification.
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